CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



871 



At the most critical periods of our history, my pre- 

 deoeuors in tho executive office have relied on this 

 great principle. It was on this principle that Presi- 

 dent Washington suppressed the whisky rebellion in 

 Pennsylvania in 1794. 



In l'so6, on the same principle, President Jefferson 

 broke un the Burr conspiracy by issuing " orders for 

 tho employment of such force either of the regulars or 

 I' tin- militia, and by such proceedings of tho civil au- 

 thorities, .... as might enable them to suppress ef- 

 t'cctiiiilly the further progress of the- eBtHpfiM.'' And 

 it was under tin- same authority that President Jack- 

 fi\ crushed nullification in South Carolina, and that 

 1 'resident Lincoln issued his call for troops to save 

 the Union in 18(51. On numerous other occasions of 

 less significance, under probably every administration, 

 and certainly under the present, this power has been 

 usefully exerted to enforce the laws, without objection 

 by any party in the country, and almost without at- 

 tracting public attention. 



The great elementary constitutional principle which 

 was the foundation of tho original statute of 1792, and 

 which has been its essence in the various forms it has 

 assumed since its first adoption, is that the Govern- 

 ment of the United States possesses under the Consti- 

 tution, in full measure, the power of self-protection 

 by its own agencies altogether independent of State 

 authority, and, if need DO. against the hostility of 

 State governments. It should remain embodied in our 

 statutes unimpaired, as it has been from the very ori- 

 gin of the Government. It should be regarded as 

 hardly loss valuable or less sacred than a provision of 

 the Constitution itself. 



There are many other important statutes containing 

 provisions that are liable to be suspended or annulled 

 at the times and places of holding elections, if the bill 

 before me should become a law. I do not undertake 

 to furnish a list of them. Many of them perhaps 

 the most of them have been set forth in the debates 

 on this measure. They relate to extradition, to crimes 

 against the election laws, to quarantine regulations, to 

 neutrality, to Indian reservations, to the civil rights 

 of citizens, and to other subjects. In regard to them 

 all, it may be safely said that the meaning and effect 

 of this bill is to take from the General Government an 

 important part of its power to enforce the laws. 



Another grave objection to the bill is its discrimi- 

 nation in favor of the State and against the national 

 authority. The presence or employment of the army 

 or navy of the United States is lawful, under tho 

 terms of this bill, at the place where an election is be- 

 ing held in a State, to upnold the authority of a State 

 government then and tnere in need of such military 

 intervention, but unlawful to uphold the authority of 

 the Government of the United States then and there 

 in need of such military intervention. Under this 

 bill the presence or employment of the army or navy 

 of the United States would be lawful, and might be 

 necessary to maintain the conduct of a State election 

 against the domestic violence that would overthrow 

 it, but would be unlawful to maintain the conduct of 

 a national election against the same local violence 

 that would overthrow it. This discrimination has 

 never been attempted in any previous legislation by 

 Congress, and is no more compatible with sound prin- 

 ciples of the Constitution or the necessary maxims 

 and methods of our system of government on occa- 

 sions of elections than* at other times. In thetarly 

 legislation of 1792 and of 1795, by which the militia of 

 the States was the only military power resorted to for 

 the execution of the constitutional powers in the sup- 

 port of State or national authority, both functions of 

 tho Government were put upon the same footing. By 

 the act of 1807 the employment of the army and navy 

 was authorized for the performance of both constitu- 

 tional duties in t he same terms. 



In all later statutes on the same subject-matter tho 

 same measure of authority to the Government has been 

 accorded for the performance of both these duties. No 

 precedent has been found in any previous legislation, 

 and no sufficient reason has been given for the dis- 

 TOL. xix. 18 A 



crimination in favor of the State and against the na- 

 tional authority which this bill contain^. 



Under tho sweeping terms of the bill the National 

 Government is effectually shut out from the excrcbtt 

 of the right and from the discharge of the imperative 

 duty to use its whole executive power whenever and 

 wherever required for the enforcement of its laws at 

 the places and times when and where its elections are 

 held. The employment of ito organized armed forced 

 for any such purpose would be an offense against tin; 

 law unless called for by, and therefore upon permis- 

 sion of, tho authorities of the State in which the occa- 

 sion arises. What is this but the substitution of the 

 discretion of the State governments for the discretion 

 of the Government of the United States as to the per- 

 formance of its own duties '. In my judgment this is 

 an abandonment of its obligations by tho National 

 Government; a subordination of national authority 

 and an intrusion of State supervision over national 

 duties which amounts, in spirit and tendency, to State 

 supremacy. 



Though I believe that the existing statutes are abun- 

 dantly adequate to completely prevent military inter- 

 ference with the elections in the sense in which the 

 phrase is used in tho title of this bill and is employed 

 py the people of this country, I shall find no difficulty 

 in concurring in any additional legislation limited to 

 that object which does not interfere with the indis- 

 pcnsabfe exercise of the powers of the Government 

 under the Constitution and laws. 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



ExxcTmvx MANSION, May 12, 1879. 



The previous question was seconded and the 

 main question ordered. 



The .Speaker: "The question is, Will the 

 House on reconsideration pass the bill? On 

 this question the Constitution requires that the 

 vote shall be taken by yeas and nays." 



The question was taken as follows: 



YEAS Acklen ; Aiken, Armfield, Atherton, Bach- 

 man. Beale. Bicknell, Blackburn, Bliss, Bouck, 

 Bright, Buckner, Cabell, CaldwelJ, Carlisle, Clardy, 

 JohnB. Clark, jr., Clymer, Cobb, Coffroth, Converse, 

 Cook, Covert, Cox, Cravens, Culberson, Davidson, 

 Joseph J. Davis, Lowndes II. Davis, De La Matyr, 

 Deuster, Dibrell. Dickey, Dunn, Elam, Evins, Ewing, 

 Felton, Ford, Fornev, Geddes, Gibson, Gillette, 

 Goode, Gunter, John T. Harris, Hatch, Henkle, Her- 

 bert, Herndon, Hooker, Hostetler, House, Hurd, 

 Johnston, Jones, Kenna, Kimmel, King, Kitchin, 

 Klotz, Knottj Ladd, Le Fevre, Lewis, Lounsberv, 

 Lowe, Manning, Benjamin F. Martin, Edward L. 

 Martin. McKenzie, McLane. McMahon, McMillan. 

 Mills, Morrison, Muldrow, Muller, Murch, Myers, 

 New, O'Connor, Persons, Phelps, Phister, Poenler, 

 Reagan, J. S. Richardson, Richmond, Robertson, 

 Ross, Rothwell, Samford, Sawyer. Scales, Shelley, 

 J. W. Singleton, 0. R. Singleton, Siemens, Hezekiah 

 B. Smith, William E. Smith, Sparks, Springer, Steele, 

 Stephens, Stevenson, Talbott, Taylor, Thompson, 

 Tillman, R. W. Townshend, Oscar Turner, Thomas 

 Turner, Vance, Waddill. Warner, Weaver, Wellborn, 

 Wells, Whiteaker, Whitthorne, Thomas Williams, 

 Willis, Wilson, Fernando Wood, Wright, Yocum, 

 Casey Young US. 



NAYS N. W. Aldrich, William Aldrich, Anderson, 

 Bailey, Barber, Bayne, Belford, Blake, Bowman, 

 Boyd, Brewer, Briggs, Brigham, Browne, Burrows, 

 Camp, Cannon, Carpenter, Caswell, Claflin, Conger, 

 Cowgill, Crapo, Crowley, Daggett, George R. Davis, 

 Dcenng, Dunnell, Einstein, Errett, Fair, Ferdon, 

 Field, Fort, Frye, Garfield, Hall, John Hammond, 

 Haskell, Hawk, Hawley, Hayes, llazelton, Heilman, 

 Henderson, Horr, Houk, Humphrey, Joyce, Keifer, 

 Kelley, Ketcham, Killinger, Lindsey. Marsh, Mason, 

 McCoid, McCook, McGowan, McKiniey, Miles, Mon- 

 roe, Morton, Neal, Newbcrry, Norcross, O'Neill, Orth, 

 Osmer, Overtop, Pound, Prescott, Price, Reed, Rice, 

 Robeson, Robinson, Thomas Ryan, Sapp, Shallen- 



