The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1866-04-12

what may b called hasty and incorporate
seislstion. have advocated it, exercise,
hough seldom and cautiously. in that view;
BOT, sir, when, according 70 the spirit, if not
ion. Q measure has bssn passed By two
thirds vote Of both houses, after discussion
IF Is years, showing that it 10 not hssty or |
mprovident lsgislation-I say, respect - |
The public judgment Of the nation. respect 70 |
both houses Of congress, should have been |
great lnducement to the execu i've to approve |
such BILL" i
And of the soundnsss of that doctrine l
suppose there will not be two opinions
Then, Mr.. johnson, when he was member
of this body, merely stated that the fact that
. bill had been passed by majority Of that
kind, majority rendered necessary for the
purpose of overruling veto, was . reason
why the president should very cautiously
apply the power for its defeat. But 50 far
from it's being the judgement of the senate,
as it certainly was not his, that biu's 10.
ing passed BY that majority took it out Of the
veto power, the honorable members answer
to question which propounded to him at
tho close of his speech shows that, in the
Judgment of the senate, the veto power was
properly exercised, for the bill which in that
instance had been passed by more than two
thirds of both branches did not become a
law, as many of those who had voted in
favor of the bill changed their votes under
the influence of the presidents veto mes
sage.
Now, in order to see exactly whether it
was proper in the presdent to disapprove OF
this bill, il becomes necessary to ascertain
with precision what the bill is. The honora-
Bile member from Illinois insists upon it that
there is no section in it that is not clearly
constitutional. He maintains the constitu-
tionality of the first section upon the ground,
first, that it is deolaratory of what the law
is, and secondly, that if it 10 not declaratory,
it is a Law which congress has right to
make, because, in his judgement, 1t is within
the power of congress- by law to declare who
shall be citizens of the United States.
The honorable member referred to the
decision of Chief Justice Marshall in . case
seported in 9th Peters for the purpose Of
showing that q citizen of the United States
who has been naturalized and who resides in
state of the United States has . right to 20
into the courts of the United States. The
honorable member clearly, as l think. misap-
pretended the the decision 90 which he re-
ferred. The question before the court was,
whether it appeared upon the face of the
pleadings that the party going into the court
below mad a right to 60 into that court as q
court of the United States. Under the con-
| stitution of the United States, and the act Of
1879, which was passed to carry out its pro-
visions, the Jurisdiction of the courts of the
United States, where it was made to depend
upon the character of the parties, was given
| only in case where the party plaintiff and
| the party defendant were citizens of dltfereD,
| states and the question before the court
| was whether it appeared upon the face oil
| the declaration in the particular case thai
| the porty plaintiff was q citizen OF state
| and, as such, entitled to 60 into the courts O.
the United States. The language of the dec
laration was that he was a paturalized citi
zen Of the United States residing In the state
| of Louisiana. The court came to the con-
| clusion that that avsrment was equivaen
| to an avsfment that he was q citizen of tht
| state of Louisiana, In the absence Of any
| thing to the contrary. But that is not tn,
| question which this bill presents. He be
came a citizen under the nsturaliz alton lswi
OF the United States, and the authority o.
| congress to pass such laws could not b,
doubted. The effect of the exercise of tina
authority was merely to rid the particular
party OF the disabilities arising from alien
age and to give him the capacity of becom
| ing a citizen oe the United States. Wher
|
original disability OF alienage was removed
in that instance by the party becoming
| citizen under the naturalization laws, the on
| ly other question upon which the case befor'
| the court turned was, whether he had sufh
GENTLY averred in his declaration that b,
| was a citizen of a different state from tn,
state in which the other party resided ant
| the court decided that an avsrment of q resi-
| dsnoe in q state of one who was alleged to b,
| a citizen of the United States was equlvalen
| to aVerment that he was o citizen of the
| state and | suppose no one could well hav.
doubted before, or will now doubt that tn,
decision was legitimate one.
| But that is not this case. This bill, in III
| first section, makes all who were born in tn,
United States at any time, and who are nov
living, citizens of the United States, and, a
| such, citizens of the states in which the,
may respectively reside, and confers upol
them all the rights belonging to thoes VIII
have heretofore been considered citizens o
the states in which they reside.
Now, Mr.. President, You are not to be toll
that the only express authority conferred up
on the congress of the United States in rela
ton to citizenship, that is to say in relation
to the power of converting one who is not
citizen into q citizen, is the authority to b
found in the delegation to congress OF tn
power OF passing uniform laws on the sublec
| of naturalization. There is not single wore
In the constitution which gives to this depart
ment of the government, or to any other &c
partment of the government. any power G
declare who shall be q citizen Of the Unitet
States. What is the effect of tho exercise O
the power to pass uniform laws on the sub
| ject of naturalization What was the desigl
of the power? What is the operation OF tn
power when it is exerted? The design o
the power is to remove the disabilities arts
ing from the fact of alienage, and nothin,
else. The operation of the power is to plac
the party, whose disability arising from tn
alienage is removed by virtue of the natural
| ization laws, in tke same condition with any