The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-04-26
The President on Representation in
Congress.

The President on Representation IN
Congress:
When the fever which just now in
flames the public mind against PIesi-
dent Johnson shall have subsidized, as it
certainly will, candid people viii have
no difficulty in seeing that it has been
largely due TO studied and mslious mis-
REPRESENTATION of his position on varI-
Gus GU, stions of public importance.
| And upon no one subject have these
| MISREPRESENTATION been more studied
and persistent, than upon his views Ia
regard to the representation oil the
rebel States in Congress. From one
end of the country to the other ne bes
been denounced for urging the aonis-
sion of Southern members, yat ana aus
| IovaL alike. to their seats. The just CRY
| that 'rebels shall not rule the natlen
] they tried to ruia" has been so echoed
( and re-echoed as 70 imply that it was
/ hostile 10 the Presidents policy of re-
storation. Members of Congress IN
their speeches have dwelt upon it in
this sense Hostile newspapers through
ont the land have filed their columns
with the most bitter diatTibes urOn
this text, and the public mind every
where has been thoroughly filed with
| the belief that the President demands
the instant admission TO thsir seats in
| Congress of men elected by the rebel
| States, without inquiry into their action
in the past, or their attitude toward
the Government in the present posture
of public affairs.
Il would be useless to deny that
these efforts, systematic, persistent and
unscrnpulous as they have been, have
produced a marked effect upon the
public mind. They have seriously i'm
paired that confidence in the Presi-
dents wisdom and fidelity to the prir-
ciples which have crushed the rebel
lion, which is essential TO the harmo
NOUS cooperation of the Executive
and Legislative departments of the
Government, and to the welfare of the
nation in the crisis through which it
is passing.
we have no fear that these efforts,
or their effects, will be lasting The
impression they have produced is ut
terly false, and is as mischievous as it
is unjust. In everything he has said
upon this suhject-in his Message to
! Congress, in his veto of the Freedman's
Bureau Bill, in his speech of the 22d of
February, and in all his addresses to
delegations from the Southern States,
he has insisted that none but loyal
men should be admitted to seats in
Congress, and that each House has the
right TO judge for itself, and by such
tests as il may prescribe, of the loyalty
of every man who claims to Represents
any district of any State. And in his
speech to the soldiers and sailors on
| Wednesday last, he WAS still more ex-
plieit and emphatic upon this point
After showing that, under the Consti-
tuition, and in conformity with the fun
damental principles of our form OF gov
eminent, the people Of every State are
entitled to representation, he went on
to say:
And when we say admit represent
atiVes, what do we mean2 We mean
representation in the constitutional and
law-abiding sense, as was intended at
the beginning of the Government. The
Constitution declares in express terms
that each House, the Senate and House
of Representatives, each acting for
itself, shall be the judge of the returns,
elections and qualifications of its own
members 1t is for each House to set'
tie that question under the Constitution
and under the solemn sanction of an
oath. And can we believe that either
| House would admit any member into
its body to participate in the legislation
of the country who was not qualified
to sit in that body and participate in
its proceedings They have the power
not the two Houses, but each House
for itself The Constitution further
declares that no State shall be deprived
of its equal suffrage in the Senate OF
the United States without its consent
Then, where do we stand 2 ALI that is
needed to finish this great work of
restoration is for the two Houses re-
spectively TO determine the question.
On but some will say, A traitor
might come in. The answer TO that
is that each House must be the judge,
and if a traitor presents himself, cannot
either House know that he is traitor2
] (Applause) And if he is traitor, can
they not kick him out Of the door, and
send him back, saying to the people
who sent him, You must send US
LOYAL man. [Cheers, and q voice, That's
logic Is there any difficulty about
that2 No! no, and cheers II
traitor presents himself to either House,
cannot that House say to him, No, you
cannot be admitted into this body. 60
back We will not deny your people
the right of representation, but they
must send a loyal representative.
! 1Cheers ] And when the States do send
| loyal representatives, can you have any
better evidence of their fidelity TO the
Constitution and the laws2 There is
no one learned in the Constitution and
the laws who will say that if a traitor
happens to get into Congress, that body
cannot expel him after he gets in That
makes assurance doubly sure, and con-
forms the action of the Government TO
the Constitution of our fathers Hence
! say, let US stand by that Constitutions
and in standing by it the covenant will
be preserved"
The Presidents theory upon this
point is that each House has the right
TO Judge of the qualifications of its
members that loyalty is an essential
and indisputable qualification" of
membership; and that each House has
the absolute and unqualified right to
decide by test oaths, or by any other
tests it may see fit 10 apply, whether q
claimant is loyal or not lf he is loyal,
he holds that he is to be admitted If
not, he may and must be excluded
And this applies TO every State and TO
/ o,ror,r d;sf,.,t ard ~ avarU claimant m
/ q seat in Congress. And if disloyal
man should by any chance secure ad-
mission, he holds that he may be eX-
PEELED And when in the Senate of the
United States, he proved his personal
devotion to this principle by voting for
/ the expulsion of Senator Bright, from
/ Indiana, because he was proved to be
! disloyal man, and thus disqualified
| for holding a seat in the national coun-
/ ellis
The only point of difference in this
| connection between the President and
| the leaders in Congress is, that they
/ exclude lOyal and disloyal alike-ex-
l Guiding Maynard and Stokes and Coop
| er, loyal men from Tennessee, who can
take the test-oath, Just as rigidly and
ltAeutlo-Sig IS cttputua anu JOnuhOu
and Graham and others, who cannot
In his judgment, this is a power which !
the Constitution has not conferred upon /
them, and an abuse which discourages |
loyalty and fidelity TO the Union in the |
Southern States, while everything |
should be done TO build them up Time |
will show which is the wisest policy |
but the Presidents true position on the
subject ought not longer TO be misun-
deIstoOd ~ I. Tines. |