, 1866-03-01
TEE tsCENTRAL DIRECTORY"
Senator Fessenden,s Reply to the Pres
ident's Harangue.

be same, as published in the Washington
,n,pniese, Mr.. FEssESDES said: l.
Il will be noticed, Mr.. President, that in the
xtract which hiss been read there are very
erious charges made. Que Is that there Is an
hort being made to concentrate all power In
few aud that that power Is lodged In the
,snds Of sort Of central committee, and the
gords which immedistcly follow furnish a
nf1cient indication OF what the President
meant. think the President Of the United
States could hardly have considered With
are the nature Of the resolution under which
re have been actisg as q COMMITTEES OF this
5ody; he cou1d have hardly have looked at
It's history, and hardly have understood Its
Let me read that resolution and
,tate its history, for it isvery singular that be
should charge that all the authority OF decld-
Ing upon the credentials Of members Of the |
House Of Representatives and Of the Senate
has been taken from the House and the Sen
luton, as It came from the House Of Repre-
originally, vas In these words:
'sThat joint committee Of fifteen mem-
bers shall be appointed, nlne Of whom shall
be members OF the House and six members or
the Senate, who shall inquire into the condt.
tion Of the States which formed the so-cslled
Confederate States OF America, and report
whether they, OF any OF them, arc entitled to
be represented In either House Of Congress"
Aud then followed the words which shall
now read:
"Hith learc TO report at any time, BY bill
OF otherwise; and until such report shall
have been made and finally acted on BY Con-
grcss, no member shall be received into either
House from any Of the said so-called Conisd-
representation Of the said States shall be re-
fefred to the said committee without de-
bate.'s
That was the original resolution. When 1t
came 10 be considered In the Senate, 1t WIS
not deemed ysEy advisable At that that tine ta "a, p.
said 10 belong to either House, and tho last
part Of the resolution was stricken out, SO
that the resolution as 1t finally passed stood
= @Thnt Joint committee Of fifteen members
shall be appointed, nine of whom shall bc
mrmbc1s Of tho House and s!x members o. the
Senate, who shall Inquire Into the condition
Of the States which formed the socallcd Con
federatc States Of America, md report Wheth-
er they, OF any of them, ate entitled entitled to be
What was that! Simply the appointment
Of joint committee In this une1smplcd cou-
dition OF the country, with war of four
wears In which eleven States had been et-
gagged against the United statcs) just closed,
utter ali The expenditure Of blood and treasure
Tint has been made in the country, at the drst
meeting Of Congress, which occurred after
actual Gostilftles In the Held had ccascd-for
whot purpose? To inquire Into the condition
| of those States nnd report whether they were
entitled to representation. That simple pro-
| vision for acquiring Information, III order to
enable tho House md the Senate to judge
nnderstandinsly upon this important cues,
| lion aHcctlng themselves, has been represented
by gentlemen and newspapers as assuming
authority which did not belong to Congress.
hu.e nothing to say in this connection with
reference to the President. 1 an speaking
now Of the complaints that were made OF
tlat resolutions simple resolution to Inquire
into the condition Of those states and report
whether Representatives and Senators could
be admitted from them. Sir, In this weEe We
doing anything more than our duty? Was It
! not advisable: It WIS not single question
,elaiIng, az we understood It, to the crcaen.
tials OF members. It wa8 believed that at the
very foundation Of the whole question OF the
admission Of members lay this great point:
whether the condition OF those States was
such As to render the admission Of those
members safe. have had this extract from
the Presidents speech read simply ID show
what everybody must admit with regord to
It. The last paragraph Of the extract that
sent to the Chair and had read is this
II aW free 10 say to you, as your E1ccn'
tive, that nm not prepared to take any such
position. said Ia tho Senate, in tho very In
ceptYon OF tho rebellion, that States had nc
right TO go out, aud that they had no poWe,
| 01ltx Thai Question ulS 0EEU G2kL4GU
and I capnot turn around now and give The
lie direct to all I profess to have done in tht
list f1rc Years. 1 can do no such thing. ]
say fhnt when they comply with the Cunsti
tn}1onI when tbey hsye Even sufficient cyi
dcnrs Of their LOYALTY and that thev can bt
trusted Ienv extend ia them tho rlc6t hand
Of feflowehip, aud let peace and union be re-
stnreisn
81 ear /. md so saw all, When they dt
| TINT LET these consequences follow, There L
A siE,.ssnot ia ~. +hn+ 1.nfn+ Tha President
himscir instead or saving ANYTHING diferen
ffnru us. saws when they Gaye complied will
these conditions, then they ought to be ad
mitted. He himself In his speech makes tha
q preliminary to examining the question o
credentials 10 sec whether men come her,
properly accredited. Lest gentlemen on th
other side should have failed to notice thi
sentence, let me read 1t again. It is peculiar