CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



173 





I 



tion thereof tho motion to reconsider was 

 agreed to. 



Th. ^pe.-iker pro tempore: "The question 

 is. Will tliu House refer this resolution to the 

 r.nmaittee on the Judiciary?" 



The question was decided in the negative. 



Mr. Lord : '' 1 now propose my substitute, 

 :m<l call for the previous question." 



Mr. Conger: u Then I insist upon the prop- 

 ii-itimi that this House has decided that this 

 matter is not in the hands of the Judiciary 

 Committee, and therefore cannot be reported 

 from that committee." 



The Speaker pro tempore: "The point of 

 onK'r is overruled." 



Mr. McCrary : ' I wish the gentleman from 

 New York would allow me a moment." 



Mr. Lord : " I will as soon as the substitute 

 is read." 



The Speaker pro tempore: " The substitute 

 will be read." 



The Clerk read as follows : 



Resolved by the Senate and House of Representation 

 of the United States of America in Congress assembled 

 (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That 

 the following be proposed to tho several States of 

 the Union as an amendment to the Constitution, 

 namely : 



ARTICLE XVI. No State shall make any law re- 

 specting un establishment of religion, or prohibiting 

 the free exercise thereof; and no money raised by 

 taxation in any State for the support of public 

 schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, 

 nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be 

 under tho control of any religious sect or denomina- 

 tion; nor shall any money so raised or lands so de- 

 voted be divided "between religious sects or denom- 

 inations. This article shall not vest, enlarge, or 

 diminish legislative power in the Congress. 



Mr. Lord : " Before demanding the previous 

 question, I yield five minutes to the gentleman 

 from Iowa (Mr. McCrary), who was not pres- 

 ent at the meeting of the committee this morn- 

 ing, and desires to occupy a few moments." 



Mr. McCrary : " Mr. Speaker, the situation 

 of this question before the House, as I under- 

 stand it, is this : The original proposition to 

 amend the Constitution as offered by the late 

 member from Maine, Mr. Blaine, is the nuiiri 

 proposition pending before the House. The 

 gentleman from New York offers a substitute 

 for that original amendment, and I suppose 

 the first vote will bo on adopting the substitute 

 for the original proposition. I desire to say, 

 sir, that I am in favor of the original resolu- 

 tion. and hope it will be adhered to by tho 

 House, and I am opposed to the amendment in 

 tho nature of a substitute offered by the gen- 

 tleman from New York. 



"The difference between the two is this: 

 the original is a plain proposition to amend 

 the Constitution upon the matter before it. 

 The substitute embodies the original propo- 

 sition and adds to it what I consider in no other 

 light than a nullifying clause." 



Mr. Ivasson: "That is it." 



M r. McCrary : " It amends the Constitution 

 and denies to Congress the power to legislate 



for enforcing the amendment after you have 

 made it. Now, sir, a proposition like thut i 

 too plain for discussion. If the House, if the 

 people of the country, desire the Constitution 

 of the United States to be amended in this par- 

 ticular, then it follows it ought to be so 

 amended that the legislative body that makes 

 laws for the national Government shall Lave 

 power to enforce it by proper legislation. 



"It would be an anomaly, it would be a 

 strange proceeding indeed, to put a provision 

 in the Constitution of the United States and 

 accompany it with another proposition that the 

 law-making power of the United States shall 

 have no power to enforce it. Therefore I hope 

 the substitute will not be adopted, but the 

 original proposition will be sustained, by the 

 House." 



Mr. Lord : "I mnst resume the floor. This 

 question has been before the Congress for 

 nearly eight months, and has been pressed upon 

 our attention by the President, by the press, and 

 by the most distinguished Republican leader 

 in the House. The Committee on the Judi- 

 ciary have unanimously adopted his amend- 

 ment almost in his verbis. I will say that the 

 gentleman who introduced the amendment 

 and I know his views upon this question, for 

 he stated them to me more than once never 

 contended that such amendment to the Con- 

 stitution, which was drawn by him, conferred 

 any legislative power on Congress whatever, 

 and he never intended that it should. But in- 

 asmuch as this question, as said by the gentle- 

 man from Massachusetts (Mr. Hoar), is one 

 that has been watched with some jealousy, and 

 inasmuch as several Congresses in the adoption 

 of past amendments have added a clause to 

 each amendment declaratory of the power of 

 Congress, it was deemed wise to add to this 

 article that it should not 'vest, diminish, or 

 enlarge' legislative power in Congress. It 

 was understood by the committee, and I be- 

 lieve that on reflection it will without excep- 

 tion be understood by the House, that this ad- 

 ditional clause does not in any manner change 

 the preceding part of the proposed article. 

 It is simply declaratory; more than this, if 

 Congress had any power over the question 

 before, it is thoroughly and absolutely re- 

 served. The criticism, therefore, of the learned 

 gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Banks) 

 falls utterly to the ground, because the pro- 

 posed amendment provides that this article 

 shall not ' vest, diminish, or enlarge ' the power 

 of the Congress. Mark the words, ' shall 

 not diminish the power of the Congress.' 

 Therefore if the Congress has any power now, 

 under any possible view, over the subject-mat- 

 ter of the proposed amendment, such power 

 remains in full force and vigor. The words of 

 limit tition only apply to the proposed article; 

 I repeat, any power the Congress has under 

 the Constitution is expressly affirmed and re- 

 served. Therefore, so far from the power of 

 Congress in the premises being affected, even 



