CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



207 



mind upon the subject, and so I think nearly 

 every thoughtful citizen of the United States 

 must have done. I shall therefore proceed at 

 once to call the previous question upon this 

 resolution, only saying that if the proposed 

 amendment to the Constitution shall become 

 operative, it will in no wise affect the eligibility 

 of the present incumbent for reelection at the 

 next presidential election. With that state- 

 ment I call the previous question." 



The previous question was seconded and the 

 main question ordered. 



Mr. G-arfield, of Ohio, said: "I desire to 

 make a suggestion to the gentleman to see 

 whether I understand this proposition, for I 

 am in favor of it. Suppose that after the adop- 

 tion of this constitutional amendment a Presi- 

 dent should die one week before his term of 

 six years had expired, and the Yice-President 

 should be sworn in and hold the presidential 

 office for a week ; under this provision, would 

 not the Vice-President, serving as President 

 for that one week, be thereby rendered for- 

 ever ineligible to the office of President ? I 

 ask this question as a matter of construction." 



Mr. Potter : " It is a perfectly proper ques- 

 tion. As I understand this proposition, it 

 would have precisely the effect suggested by 

 the gentleman. How else are you going to 

 prevent the Vice-President from being again 

 eligible when, by accident, the office of Presi- 

 dent devolves upon him ? " 



Mr. G-arfield : " I do not know that we could 

 do it in any other way. I should be in favor 

 myself of abolishing the office of Vice-Presi- 

 dent, and it seems to me this is a good time to 

 do it." 



Mr. E. R. Hoar, of Massachusetts, said : " If 

 this question is not to be debated, all I wish to 

 say on my own behalf is, that while I am not 

 of the opinion that there is likely to be any 

 occasion on which I should favor, or on which 

 I believe the people of the country would fa- 

 vor, the continuance of any person in the presi- 

 dential office beyond two terms, I do not be- 

 lieve the argument in regard to the corruption 

 of the people by executive power as one upon 

 the strength of which the people should con- 

 fess that they need such protection against 

 such influences that they will deliberately de- 

 prive themselves of the power of selecting 

 whom they please for their Chief Magistrate. 



"I remember a conversation which I had 

 with an eminent gentleman, standing high in 

 office in the country, in regard to the reelec- 

 tion of the late President Lincoln during the 

 war. He was very much opposed to Mr. Lin- 

 coln's renomination and reflection, and did 

 what was in his power to prevent it. I said 

 to him then that I believed the majority of 

 the American people intended to reelect Mr. 

 Lincoln, if .necessary, during the rest of his 

 life, until he was recognized in every part of 

 this country as the President of the United 

 States. I do not for one propose to aid in de- 

 priving the American people of the right of 



determining in any exigency or emergency 

 whom they will keep in the presidential 

 chair. 



" That we ever shall keep a man beyond the 

 time Washington's example sanctioned, which 

 is one of the traditions of the republic, I do 

 not believe. But the question whether we 

 shall deprive ourselves by constitutional amend- 

 ment of the right to do so, of the power to do 

 so, is a very grave and serious one, which I 

 think merits the consideration of this House 

 before they adopt it." 



Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts, said : " Now, 

 I want to say a word upon this question. 

 I do not understand that Congress can con- 

 trol the American people on the matter of 

 constitutional amendments except in one way. 

 If we practically refuse to submit an amend- 

 ment to them to vote upon, then they cannot 

 have a constitutional amendment except by a 

 convention of all the people of the States, for 

 that is open to them under the Constitution. 

 Therefore, when we offer a constitutional 

 amendment to the whole people of the coun- 

 try, I do not think it a correct statement 

 of the proposition to say that we attempt 

 to bind the American people. We offer to 

 them a proposition for them to dispose of 

 in the States after full consideration without 

 any previous question. But if we say we 

 will not offer them an amendment, then I do 

 not know any way in which they can secure 

 its passage, and we can stand here in the way 

 of constitutional amendments, but we cannot 

 bind the people in any other way. Therefore, 

 I should be pretty liberal in voting proposi- 

 tions for constitutional amendments to be sent 

 to the people. For if they want them they 

 ought to have them ; and if they do not want 

 them, they will take good care not to pass 

 them in the several States. 



" Now, for one I agree that the people ought 

 to have the right to elect a man just so many 

 times as they choose to do it, and nobody 

 ought to interfere with that right. But then 

 the people ought to have a correlative right, 

 the right of saying that they will not elect a 

 man but once. 



" Therefore, I think it might be well enough 

 to submit this amendment to the people, and 

 not to set up our judgment that the people 

 shall not have an opportunity to pass upon 

 this subject. So far from attempting to bind 

 the people upon that question by offering them 

 the amendment, we bind them on the question 

 when we refuse to offer them the amendment. 



" Now, almost any reasonable proposition in 

 which a large portion of the people seem to 

 be interested for an amendment of the Con- 

 stitution I should be in favor of submitting to 

 them, in order that the people might have the 

 opportunity to say in their primary capacity 

 as people of the States, by three-fourths of 

 their representatives in Legislatures chosen 

 with reference to that proposition, if they chose 

 to make it part of a political issue to say 



