216 



CONGRESS, U. S. 



signs to destroy itself ? Does anybody really 

 suppose a nation would be guilty of the folly 

 of raising soldiers for the purpose of desolating 

 and destroying its own fair proportions? Is 

 there any President, any prince, any potentate, 

 that would, with purpose and power, seek to 

 destroy his own power ? And will our Govern- 

 ment, our republican Government, disregard 

 this fundamental principle of self-preservation ?" 



On the motion to postpone the further con- 

 sideration of the bill to a future day, Mr. Bou- 

 Hgny, of Louisiana, when the vote was taken, 

 said: "'With all due respect to the gentleman 

 who introduced this bill, I must say and it is 

 my duty to say that it is the most infamous 

 and outrageous bill that has ever been presented 

 to Congress ; and I say, shame on the head of 

 the man who did it. I vote ' aye.' " 



The following resolution, censuring the Sec- 

 retary of the Navy, was reported to the House 

 by Mr. Dawes : 



Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy, in accept- 

 ing without delay or inquiry the resignations of officers 

 of the navy who were in arms against the Govern- 

 ment when tendering the same, and of those who 

 sought to resign that they might be relieved from the 

 restraint imposed upon them by their commissions on 

 engaging in hostility to the constituted authorities of 

 the nation, has committed a grave error, highly preju- 

 dicial to the discipline of the service and injurious to 

 the honor and efficiency of the navy ; for which he de- 

 serves the censure of this House. 



On taking the question, it was adopted. 

 Ayes, 95 ; noes, 62. 



Subsequently, the report of the Committee 

 of Thirty-three was taken up for final action. 

 The vote was first taken on the following prop- 

 osition of Mr. Burch, of California : 



Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 

 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

 That it be, and is hereby, recommended to the several 

 States of the Union, that they, through their respective 

 Legislatures, request the Congress o? the United States 

 to call a convention of all the States, in accordance 

 with article fifth of the Constitution, for the purpose 

 of amending said Constitution, in such manner and 

 with regard to such subjects as will more adequately 

 respond to the wants, and afford more sufficient guar- 

 antees to the diversified and growing interests of the 

 Government, and of the people composing the same. 



This proposition was rejected by a vote of 74 

 to 108. 



A motion was then made to lay the whole 

 subject on the table, which was lost. Ayes, 

 14 ; noes, 179. 



A vote was next taken on the following prop- 

 osition of Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois : 



Strike out all after the word " that," and insert : 

 The following articles be, and are hereby, proposed 

 and submitted as amendments to the Constitution of 

 the United States, which shall be valid, to all intents 

 and purposes, as part of said Constitution, when 

 ratified by Conventions of three-fourths of the several 

 States. 



ART. 13. That in all the territory now held by the 

 United States situate north of latitude 36 30' invol- 

 untary servitude, except in the punishment for crime, 

 is prohibited while such territory shall remain under 

 a territorial government ; that in all the territory now 

 held south of said line, neither Congress nor any Ter- 



ritorial Legislature shall hinder or prevent the emi- 

 gration to said territory of persons held to service 

 from any State of this Union, when that relation 

 exists by virtue of any law or usage of such State, 

 while it shall remain in a territorial condition ; and 

 when any territory north or south of said line, within 

 such boundaries as Congress may prescribe, shall con- 

 tain the population requisite for a member of Congress, 

 according to the then Federal ratio of representation 

 of the people of the United States, it may, if its form 

 of government be republican, be admitted into the 

 Union on an equal footing with the original States, 

 with or without the relation of persons held to service 

 and labor, as the constitution of such new State may 

 provide.. 



ART. 14. That nothing in the Constitution of the 

 United States, or any amendment thereto, shall be so 

 construed as to authorize any department of the Gov- 

 ernment to in any manner interfere with the relation 

 of persons held to service in any State where that re- 

 lation exists, nor in any manner to establish or sustain 

 that relation in any State where it is prohibited by the 

 laws or constitution of such State. And that this arti- 

 cle shall not be altered or amended without the con- 

 sent of every State in the Union. 



ART. 15. The third paragraph of the second section 

 of the fourth article of the Constitution shall be taken 

 and construed to authorize and empower Congress to 



Eass laws necessary to secure the return of persons 

 eld to service or labor under the laws of any State, 

 who may have escaped therefrom, to the party to 

 whom such service or labor may be due. 



ART. 16. The migration or importation of persons 

 held to service or involuntary servitude, into any 

 State, territory, or place within the United States, 

 from any place or country beyond the limits of the 

 United States or territories thereof, is forever pro- 

 hibited. 



ART. 17. No territory beyond the present limits of 

 the United States and the territories thereof, shall be 

 annexed to or be acquired by the United States, unless 

 by treaty, which treaty shall be ratified by a Tote of 

 two-thirds of the Senate. 



This proposition was rejected. Ayes, 33 ; 

 noes, 158. 



The vote of the Honse was next taken on 

 the following proposition, submitted by Mr. 

 Clemens, of Virginia : 



Joint Resolution. 



Whereas the Union is in danger ; and owing to the 

 unhappy divisions existing in Congress, it would be 

 difficult, if not impossible, for that oody to concur, in 

 both its branches, by the requisite majority, so as to 

 enable it either to adopt such measures of legislation, 

 or to recommend to the States such amendments to 

 the Constitution, as are deemed necessary and proper 

 to avert that danger ; and whereas, in so great an 

 emergency, the opinion and judgment of the people 

 ought to be heard, and woula be the best and surest 

 guide to their Representatives : Therefore, 



Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 

 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

 That provision ought to be made by law, without delay, 

 for taking the sense of the people, and submitting to 

 their vote the following resolutions as the basis for the 

 final and permanent settlement of those disputes that 

 now disturb the peace of the country and threaten the 

 existence of the Union. 



Joint Resolution* proposing certain amendments to the 



Constitution of the United States. 

 Whereas serious and alarming dissensions have 

 arisen between the Northern and Southern States, con- 

 cerning the rights and security of the rights of the 

 slaveholding States, and especially their right in the 

 common territory of the United States ; and whereas 

 it is eminently desirable and proper that those dissen- 

 sions, which now threaten the very existence of this 



