Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1866-03-31
The Veto Message.


Houses of Congress, entitled An Act to pro.
,ect all persons 10 the u States n their civil
right and TO furnish them means Of their vindi.
cation" contains provisions which | cannot
approve consistently with my sense Of duty to
the whole reople and my obligations TO the
constitution. l am therefore constrained to
return it to the Senate in which il originated,
with my objections TO its becoming a law.
BY the first section Of the bill all persons born
in the U S aud not subject to any foreign pow.
er, excluding Indians not taxed. are declared TO
be citizens Of the u s. This provision com
prehends the Chinese of the Pacific states. ln-
dians subject to taxation, the people called
gipseys, as well as the entire race designated as
blacks, people OF color, negroes, mulattoes and
persons Of African blood Every individual of
these races born 10 the U S, Is, by the bill,
made citizen. Ii does not purport TO declare
or coufer any other right OF citizenship than
federal citizenship. 1t does not propose to give
this class of persons any status Of citzeus OF
states except that which may result from their
status as citizens of the united states. The
power TO confer the right of state citizenship
is just as exclusively with the several states as
The power TO confer the right OF federal citizen.
ship thus % be conferred in the several except.
ed races before mentioned, as now, for the first
time, proposed TO be given by law II, as is
claimed by many, oil persous who ore native
born already are by virtue Of the constitution
citizens Of the united states, the passage of the
pending bill cannot be necessary to make them
such. If, on the other hand, such persons are
not citizens, ns may be assumed from the pro.
posed legislation to make them srch the grave
question presents itself whether, where eleven
of the thirty six states are unrepresented in
congress at this time, it is sound policy to
make our entire colored population aud other
exec pied classes citizens Of the united states?
-Four millions Of them have just emerged from
slavery into freedom. Can IL be reasonable to
suppose that they posse IS the requisite qualif-
cations to eniitle them to all the privileges and
immunites of citizenship Of the united states
Have the people of the several states express.
ed such a conviction 7 1t may also be asked
whether it is necessary they should be declared
citizens iu order that they may be secured in
in the enjoyment OF the civil rights proposed
to be conferred by the bill. .,
Those rights are. by federal as we'll as by
state laws, secured to all doiniciIed aliens and
foreigners even before the npetion of the
process of naturalization, and it may sufey be
assumed that the same eDactmeuts are sufI.
ciont to give like protection and benefits to
those for whom this bill provides special legis-
la.ion. Besides the policy Of the government
from its origin to tie present time seems to
have been that persons who are strangers to L.
unfamiliar with our institutions and our laws
should pass through certain probation, at the
end OF which, before allowing the coveted prize.
they must give evidence of their fitness to re-
ceive aud exercise the rights Of citiznns as con-
tcmplated by the constitution Of the S. The
BILL in effect. proposes discrimination against
| large numbers of intelligent, worthy aud pa,r-
otic foreigners, in favor of the negro, to whom
after long years of bondage, the avenues TO
| freedom aud intelligence have Just now been
suddenly opened. He must OF necessity from
bis previous unfortunate condition of scryitude,
be less informed to the nature of our insitu-
tions thun be who, coming from abroad, has, to
some extent al least, familiarized himself with
the principles of a government to which he
voluntarily entrusts life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness. Yet it is now proposed by a
single legislative enactment to confer the rights
of citizenship upon oil persons of African de-
scent, boru within the exelded limits of the U
States, while persons of foreign birth who
make our land their home must undergo pro-
baton Of five years, aud can only then become
citizens on proof that they are of good moral
character, attached to the principles of the
constitution of the U S. aud well disposed TO
the good order and happiness of the same.
TIE first fec,ion of the bill also contains
an enumeration of the rights TO be enjoyed
by these classes, so made citizens in every
State aud territory iu the United S ateS.
These rights are TO nuke and euforce COB
tracts, to sue, be parties end give evldcnre,
to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold and
convey real and personal property, and to
have such full and equal benefit Of oil laws
and proceedings for the security Of persoAs
aud property as iserjoyed by white eirizrns
So ;oo, they are mnde subject to The ssme
punishmcp pains and pe0aties common to
white citizens and TO none other Thus
perfect equality of white and colored races
is attempted to be fixed by Federal law in
every State of the Union, over the vast
fed Of S o,e Jurisdiction, covered by these
enumerated rights In no one of them cen
any State exercise any power of discrimina-
tion between the races. In the exercise Of
State policy over matters exclusively affect
ing the people Of each State, it has frequent.
y been thought eXpedient to discriminate
between the TWO races By the Statutes of
seme of ;he stes North as we'll as South
Ii is enacted, for Instance, that no white
person shall inter marry with negro or mu-
latto. Chancellor Kent says, speaking of
The blacks, that marriages between them
and the whites are forbidden in some Of The
States where slavery does not exist. aBd
they ats prohibited 10 all slave holding
States by laws aud when not contrary to
law they are revolving and regarded as an
offeDse against public decorum. l do not
cay that Ibis hill repesls State law on the
subject of marriage between the two races,
for ss he whites are forbidden to intermarry
with the blacks, the blacks can cnly make
such contr cts rs the whites themselves are
allowed TO make, therefore caDno'
under this bill. en- er into the marriage coB-
tract with tie viii es l cite this dlscrinli-
nation, however, as an instance Of The State
policy as 10 discrimination, aud to enquire
whether If Congress can abrogate all State
laws OF discrimination between the two
races 10 the matter of real estate and suits
Of contracts generally, Congress may not
also repeal State laws as to the contract of
marriage between races SO every subject
embraced in the enumeration of rights con
tanned in the bill has beeo considered as
exclusively belonging to the States. Th9y
all relate to the internal policy and econo.