The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-06-22

! lect OF tugltlves from service or labor is In
accordance with the opinion once delivered by
! Chief Justice Shaw, of Massachusetts, and
with the opinion of Daniel Webster emphati-
cally declared in the Senate, during the de-
bates in that body, of 1850. What is of still
more Importance, it is in accordance with the
strict construction Of the Constitution itself,
which, neither in terms nor by implication,
confers upon Congress the right to legslate
upon the subject We hope to see this exam
pie of judicial independence and integrity yet
followed in all the State Courts.
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE CLAYTON AMENDMENT
RETAINED-THE PROOF.
The Administration papers attempt to dis
credit the assertion that the Clayton Amend
ment is virtually part and parcel of the Ne
braska- Kansas Bill A brief statement of facts
viii place the matter in clear light.
The bill which passed the Senate, March 80,
1854, was twofold-providing for the organiza-
ton of two Territories, Nebraska and Kansas
and consisted of thirty seven sections Section
fifth prescribes the qualifications for voting
and holding Office in Nebraska; section twenty
third, the same in Kansas-both being identical
in meaning and language. AS originally re-
ported in the Senate, those sections provided
"That every free white male inhabitant above
the age of twenty one years, who shall be an
actual resident of said Territory, and shall pos
sess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed,
shall be entitled to vote at the first election,
and shall be eligible to any Office within said
Territory but the qualifications of voters and
of holding Office, at all subsequent elections,
shall be such as shall be prescribed by the
Legislative Assembly: Provided, That the
right of suffrage and of holding Office shall be
exercised only by citizens Of the United States,
and those who shall have declared, on oath, their
intention to become such, apd shall have taken
an oath to support the Constitution of the Uni
ted States and the provisions of this act Ind
provided, further, That no officer, soldier, sea-
man, or marine or other person in the army or
navy of the United States, or attached to troops
in the service of the United States, shall be al
lowed to vote or hold Office in said Territory,
by reason Of being on service therein for six
months, unless said Territory is or has been for
that period otherwise his permanent domicl,
residence, habitatiOn, and home"
These provisions plainly were intended as a
Limitation on the rights conferred by the sec
ton, and to be exercised not only before, but
after, the first election.
Mr. Clayton objected to the privileges &C
corded to aliens, and said:
"The mOn-intercOurSe act of 1884 positively
prohibits aliens from going INTO thiS Territory
icithOut a passport. The reason of that must
be apparent to Senators. British agents were
supposed to have entered there, and stirred up
the Indians CT it was apprehended there was
4 NJ oh 20 diuf,s
the Indians against the frontier settlers In my
opinion, the Constitution demands, and every
dictate of sound policy demands that the right
of suffrage and holding Office in these Terrific
ries should be restricted to citizens Of the Uni
ted States Unless thlS be DONE these Verg men,
to 1ohOm l haze referred mag go there and
iegisLate."
To avoid this, he said, he would move to
strike out these words of the first Proviso-
"And those who shall have declared. on
cath, their intention to become such, and shall
have taken an cath to support the Constitution
of the United States and the provisions of this
act.n
So that the PrOviso should then read,
| Provided, That the right of suffrage and
holding Office shall be exercised only by citi-
zens of the United States"
His motion was adopted, by % votes against
22-su the Senators present from the slave
States, and Mr. Brodhead, of Pennsylvania,
voting for it; all the Senators present from
the free States, except Mr.. Brodhead, voting
against it.
The Proviso as amended became known as
the Clayton amendment" The record shows
that Mr.. Clayton believed there was conflict
| AoA.r Al L L
and the Proviso, as it stood in the Bill report
ed from the committee, and that his amend
ment harmOnized them, so that the act could
still be enforced, to the exclusion of aliens
from the Territories
March 80, this Bill passed the Senate, and
was sent TO the House, where it was referred
to the Committee of the Whole on the state
Of the Union.
Before this, Mr.. Richardson had reported
similar bill for the organization of Nebraska
and Kansas which was referred, January 31st,
to the Committee of the Whole on the state of
the Union. The sections in it prescribing the
qualifications of voters were the same as the
section in the Senate bill, before MIR. Clayton's
amendment.
May 9th, this Bill having been reached by
an extraordinary procedure in Committee MIR.
Richardson moved substitute which he said
was the same precisely as the Senate Bill, with
the omission of what was called the Clayton
amendment. In this substitute, the 5.h sec
ton, prescribing the qualifications of voters in
Nebraska, and the 23d section, the same in
Kansas, were so modified as to embrace the
original Proviso, before it was amended On mo-
tion of Mr.. Clayton, as follows:
Provided, That the right Of suffrage and
of holding office shall be exercised only by cti-
zens of the United States, and those who shall
have declared on oath their intention to become
such, and shall have taken an oath to support
the Constitution of the United States and the
provisions of this act"
With this ProViso the Bill was passed and
sent to- the Senate, where, after some opposition
on the ground that the Clayton amendment
was omitted, it was passed, the Southern
Senators generally voting against the restora-
ton of the Clayton amendment, and all of
them who were present, except Bell and Clay
ton, voting for the Bill.
The Administration papers say that SINH
lar proViso is Incorporated in the acts estab-
fishing Territorial Governments in Oregon and
Minnesota. That is true; and this fact, to-
gether with the opposition of the slavehOlding
members to it, on the alleged ground that it
would allow aliens to vote in the Territories,
doubtless diverted the attention of the oppo-
nents of the Bill from the ambiguity in the