The Portland daily press., 1866-04-09

| belled aga;,S. t;'ct Oh some States having re-
| ~ ~ asaihst the Government iS to talre fro,,
Tue government the rigbt m IooSlot ,,,t..
sir, tnen tne criminal is to take sSvan3 a,,o
ms crime, ana the innocent are 10 he ,'1S1;sL
ed for the guilty. "io W Oe PUNISH
Witnin iew days the President has ;s.rod
proclamation. not of peace. az tha Sana.aI a1oeu
from Nevada (Mr. Stewart) seems to snnnoso. ,,so.
Wy no U. means. MOI a proclamation that the
rebellion is over, but that in certain Stat.s :;
is over. The President does not tell ne that ~
Texas, one of the States that were in rebel
lion, is In condition to be represented here
Sir. ii we had to wait for the eleven States
must we not wait for Texas? The same prin,
ciple would require US to wait for Texas. and
she has not yet reorganized her State govern
ment. And those States which have reorgan-
lied have not yet been recognized as having a
republican form OF government emitting them
10 representatives. The representatives they
nave chosen from most of the States that have
ssnuerIaKen to reorganize are persons fresh
rom the rebel Congress and from the rebel ar
my, men who could not be admitted here
oo,iiu not take the requisite oath To enti.le
ooii W LneH seats; and so are we to wait
anu 10 abstain from all legislation of a general
character? Are the loyal people of tins conn
try " pe compelled to wait for necessary leois-
iaeion tinon Ihese states shall be admitted TO
representation here, when they ref,,se 40 send
men here except those whose hands arc dir
ping with the blood of loyal menP Are the
vice PRESIDENT OF the rebel Conlederacy and
his colleague, one of the Senators in the rehei
congress, TO come here and legislate for tbe
loyal people of this country? Are the men
Who organized the rebel government that carri-
ed On four years war, as the result of which
this nation has had to spend more than four
thousand millous of dollars, and as a conse-
quence OF which, more than a quarter of a
million of men-patriosic heroes-haye laid
down their lives upon the battlefield, and in
Tue nospital-are these men to come here to
leslsiate Tor the loyal people of this country?
or, tnese States can only be represented
through State organization. All members of
TINS Dody can only be elected by State Legis-
iatures. Members of the other house can on
De elected In pursuance of State laws
Hence, as preliminary to any representation
IN either House of Congress, it must be de-
termined whether there isa State government.
whether there is State Legislature having
authority to elect Senators and having author,
ity to provide laws under which representatives
may be elected. There was time, certainly.
wnen there were no such Legislatures in any
OF the eleven States. There was time when
tle only KIND OF government in any of them
was hostile to the United States and sworn al
legiance to government hostile to
this. VIII anybody pretend that while
State government was in their hands
1t was entitled to representation in either
House OF Congress? If not, shall we not in
quire whether it has got out of those hands
into the hands of loyal men? Sir, the propo-
sitlon that no bill is to be passed because Ger
tam states are unrepresented, when it is their
own fault that they are unrepreseptad. would
be utterly destructive of the government?
But the President tells us that the bill in
elect proposes to discriminate between large
numbers OF intelligent, worthy and patriotic
foreigners and in favor of the negro. Now.
Sir, Is that true? What is the bill? WHY, it
declares that there shall be no distinction in
civil r;gnts between anv other race or color
and the white race. 1t declares that there
shall be no different punishment inflicted on a
coiored man in consequence of his color, than
that which Is inflicted on white man for the
same ofence. Is that discrimination in IA
yor OF the negro and against the foreigner in
a Dill, the only object of which is to preserve
equality OF rights? But perhaps it would be
. repled to this that the bill proposes to make
citlzen OF any person born in the United
States, and therefore it Disseminated in that
respect against the foreigners. But, Mr.. Pres
ldent, is not white child who is born in the
United States citizen? Is it not to be pre-
suned that there is discrimination here in ia
Vor OF the white infant, who is a citizen the
moment Of ite birth, and AGAINST the worthy,
mteulgent and patriotic foreigner who emf
grated to this country; and as suggested by
Senator behind me, even the child Of foreign
er-the infant child of a toreigner-bon in
this land, is a citizen long before its father
The President also has objections to making
citizens OF Chinese and Gipsies. am told
tnat very lew Chinese are born in this coun-
try, and where the Gipsies are born cannot
tell. Like TOpsy, it is possible that they
We're not born at all, but just come. Laugh
teri But Mr.. President, perhaps the best an
swer to this objection, that the bill proposes to
make citizens Of Chinese and Gipsies, and
this reference to foreigners, is to b. found in
speech delivered in this body by Senator
occupying, think, the seat now occupied
across the chamber by my friend from Oregon
tMr. llliams) less than six years ago, in reply
TO VETO message by Mr.. Buchanan, the then
President of the United States returning with
his objections what was known as the Home
stead Bill. On that occasion the Senator to
whom 1 allude said ..,r
Mr.. Sumner What Senator was it?-
MIR. Trumbull He said "This idea
about poor foreigners some how or other
| seems to haunt the imagination of great
many people l am constrained to say" said
the Senator alluded to, / look upon this OBJ
lection to the bill as a mere quibble on the
part OF the President, and as being hard press
ed for some excuse for Withholding his approval
| ers in this connection looks to me more like
the dd captandam OF the mere politician or
demagogue than grave and sound reason to
be offered by the President of the United
States in veto message upon so important
a subject"
Mr.. Sumner Who was the Senator?
| Mr. Trumbull- That was the language of
Senator Andrew johnson. (Great iaughter)
1t is perhaps the best answer, though should
hardly have ventured to use such harsh Ian
guage in reference to the President of the
United States as TO accuse him of quibbling
and demagoguing and playing the mere poli-
tician in sending a veto message to the Con-
gress Of the United States.
-am
In conclusion, Mr.. Trumbull said, Mr.. Pres
ident, have gone through this Veto Message
replying with what patience l could command
| to its various objections to the bill. Would
that could stop here, that there was no oc-
casion to 60 further; but justice to myself ius-
tice to the State whose Representative am.
Justice to the people of the whole country m
legislation for whose behalf am called to mar.
ticipate, justice to the Constitution l am call
ed to support, justice to the rights of Ameri
can citizenship it secures, and to human liber
ty now imperiled requires me to 90 further
Gladly would l refrain from speaking of IN,
spirit of this message, of the dangerous doc
trines it promulgates, of the inconsistencies
and contradictions OF its author, of his en-
croachments upon the constitutional rights o
Congress, OF his assumption of unwarTanteC
powers, which if persevered in and not check
ed oy the people must eventually lead to sub
version OF the Government and the destruction
OF liberty: Congress in the passage of the bill
under consideration, sought no controversy
with the President. So far from it, the bill
was proposed with view to carry out wha1
J men supposed to be the views OF the Presi
dent, and was submitted to him before its in
: PRODUCTION into the Senate. am not about
/ to relate private declarations OF the PRESIDENT
: but it /, right that the American people should
: know that the controversy which exists be
4 tween him and Congress In reference to Thu
a measure is of his own seeking.
s Soon after Congress met it became apparent
!; that there was difference ofopinion between