200 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



resicrned or abandoned or may resign or abandon any office nnder 

 the United States, and has taken or may take part in rebellion 

 against the government thereof, shall be eligible to any office under 

 the United States or of any state." Senator Clark of New Hamp- 

 shire proposed that the section be worded to the effect that no one 

 who after " having taken an oath to support the Constitution should 

 have engaged in the Rebellion" should be eligible to any office under 

 the government. These propositions of Wilson and Clark met with 

 considerable favor as they seemed to embody the ideas upon which 

 agreement could be most easily reached. 



The whole debate had shown that there was no faction in the 

 Senate determined to force this third section in its original form. 

 On the 29th the motion striking out the section was carried unan- 

 imously. On the same day Senator Howard as the spokesman of the 

 Republican caucus presented a series of amendments to the original 

 joint resolution. The third amendment in this series substituted for 

 the section stricken out the third section as it now stands. This was 

 practically a combination of the resolutions submitted by Senators 

 AVilson and Clark with the additional saving clause that Congress 

 might remove the disability by a two-thirds vote. The conservative 

 minority made a vigorous fight against the adoption of these resolu- 

 tions, dilatory tactics being resorted to, amendment after amendment 

 being proposed and promptly rejected. The caucus agreement was 

 rigidly adhered to and the substituted section was agreed to on the 

 following day. 



The fourth section of the Joint Resolution read as follows: 

 "Neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any 

 debt or obligation already incurred, or which may be incurred in aid 

 of insurrection against the United States, or any claim for compensa- 

 tion for loss of involuntary service." This section excited but little 

 opposition. It passed the House unchanged, but in the Senate quite 

 material additions and modifications were made. On June 4th, on 

 Senator Howard's motion, there was inserted in the section the prin- 

 ciple that "The obligations of the United States in suppressing insur- 

 rection or in defense of the Union or for payment of bounties or pen- 



