The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1866-11-07

| to the enactment OF lllcaSti Us Iol llie
nrotecsion and amclioration of the
condition of the colorcd race. Con-
eress, however, yct hesitatcd to admit
any of these States to representation;
and il was not until towards the close
of the eighth month OF the session
that an exception was made IN favor
Of Tennessee, by the admission other
Senators and Representatives.
I deem it a su1jcct Of profound
regret that Congress; h&s thus far
failed to admit to seals loyal Senators
and REPRESENTATIVES 4rolA the other
States, whose inhabitants with those
OF Tennessee had engaged in the re-
bcllion. Ten Statcs-morc than
onc-fourth of the whole number-re-
main without representation; the seats
of fifty members in the House OF Rep
rcscntatives, and Of twenty mcmoe:s
in thc Senate arc yet vaca:;t-not by
their own consent, not by II failure
of election, but by the refusal OF
Congress to accept their credentials;
Their admission, it is believed, would
have accomplished much toward tic
renewal and st; ensta'eniMg q our
relations as one people, and removed
scriour cause for discomfort on the
mart of the inhabitants oft,csc States.
It would have accorded with the great
principle cnunci.tcl in the Dcclara-
ton of American Independence, thai
no people ought to bear tac burden
Of taxation, and yet be denied the
right of representation. ltwould have
been in corsonancc with the express
provisions of the Constitution, that
each State shall have at least one
Reprcce tentative" and ';that no State,
without its consent, shall be deprived
of its equal suffi age in the Senate. y
These provisions were intended to Sc
cure to every State, the right ofre2-
rescntation in each House of Con
gross ;and so impo1tantwasit it deemed
by the trainers of tho Constitution
that the equality of the States in the
Senate should DC preserved, that not
even by an amendment Of the Con
stitution can any State, without its
consent, be denied voice in that
BRANCH of the National Legislature
tits true, it has been assumed that
the existence Of tic States tcrnlna-
ted by the rc5cllious acts Of thcil
inhabitants, and that the insurrccfion
having been suppressed, they were
thcnccforward to be considered mere
ly as conquered territories. The
Legislative, Executive aid Judicial
Departments OF the Government have
however, with distinctncss and uni
form consistency, refused to sanction
an assumption so incompatible with
the nature of our republican, system
and with the plofcssed objects of the
war. Throughout the recent leglsla-
ton of Congress, the undcniab!c fact
makes itself apparent that these ten
political communities arc nothing less
than States of this Union.
At the very commencement OF the
rebellion each House declared with a
unanimity as remarkable as it was
significant, that the war was not eva
gcd on our part in any spirit Of OPP
preston, nor for any purpose Of OPP
preston, nor for any purpose Of con-
quest or subjugation, nor purpose OF
ovcrthrowing or interfering With the
rights or established institutions of
those States, but to defend and main
tain the supremacy CT the constitution
and all laws made in pursuance there
of, and to preserve the Union wit.'
all the dignity, equality and rights
Of the several States uni@,pai 81; nd
that as &>iv:. as these objects were ac-
complishcd the war ought to cease.
In some instances, Senators We;
permitted to continue their Legislative
functions, while in other instances
Representatives were elected and adj
mittcd to seats after their States lad
formally declared their right to with
draw from the Union, ard were Gil
dcayoring to maintain that right hy
force of arms. All Of the States whose
people were in insurrcction, as States,
were included in the apportionmcnt
Of the direct tax Of twenty millions
of dollars annually laidupon the Uni
ted States by the act approved 9Th
August, 1861. Congress, by the act
of March 4, 1862, and by The appor-
tionmcnt ofrepresentation Hereunder,
also recognized their presence as
States in the Union; and they have,
for judicial purposes, been divided ir-
| to districts. as States alone can be