Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-04-09

cannot be necessary to make tnem
such"
Well. now, that is here; but 10 the
President to learn now for the first time
a principle to be found in the very horn
books of law, that an act declaring what
q law is Is one Of the most common
acts passed by legislative bodiesf When
there is no mention as to what the law
is, for the greater certainty il is the
most common thing in the world to pass
8 statute declaring its object My
opinion is--and such was the opin ion of
the Attorney General and of the present
Secretary Of State, such was the opinion
OF Mr.. Linco!n's Administration in all
it's departments, and such believe to
be the prevailing opinion in the United
States-that all native born persons, not
subject to foreign powers, are, BY virtue
of their birth, citizens of the United
States; bpt some disputed this; hence,
for greater certainty, it IS proposed to
pass this Law. ~ Sea
1t is made an objection to the passage
of the law, and a reason given By thu
President why be cannot approve il, be-
cause it 10 declaratory act.
But, if such is not the law" says the
President, a grave question presents
itself, whether when | / of the 30 States
are unrepresented in Congress at the
present time, it is sound policy to make
our entire colored population, and all
other excepted classes, citizens of the
United States
This 10 a standing objection, not urg-
ed It seems against all bills, for the
President tells us in this message that
he signed some forty bills that have
been presented to him Why is it made
an objection to this bill2 The Presi-
dent states no objection as applicable 10
this particular bill LISA general objec-
ton that he makes, applicable alike to
all bills. But if there is anything in il,
no bill can PASS the Congress of the
United States until these States are rep-
resented. Well, sir, whose fault is it
that eleven States are not representedf
Whose fault is it that twenty-five loyal
States, which have stood by the Union
and the Constitution, are TO be deprived
of their right to legislate? Sir, it is not
the fault Of the twenty-five, If the fact
of some States having rebelled against
the Government is to take from the
Government the right to legislate, why,
sir, then the criminal is TO take advan
tage of his crime, and the innocent are
to be punished for the guilty Within
few days the President has issued
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of peace, as the SEN
ator from Nevada, Stewart, seems to
supposedly no means-and not that
the rebellion is over, but that in certain
States it is over. The President does
not tell us that Texas, one of the
States that were in rebellion,
is in q condition to be rep
resented here. Sir, if we had to wait
for the eleven States, must we wait for
Texas2 She has not yet been reorgan-
lied. These States have not yet been
reorganized, as having a republican
form of government emitting them to
representation. They have chosen in
most Of those, States that have under-
taken to reorganize, persons fresh from
the rebel Congress and from the rebel
armies; men who could not be admitted
here; could not take the required oath
to entitle them to their seats; and are
we to wait and to abstain from all legis-
1ation of general character Are the
loyal people of this country to be COM
PEELED to wait for necessary legislation
till these States shall be admitted to
representation here, when they refuse to
send men here except those whose hands
are dripping with the blood of loyal
men2 Are the Vice-Pre sident Of the
rebel Confederacy and his colleague,
one of the Senators in the rebel Con-
gress, to come here to legislate for the
loyal people of this country2 Are the
men who organized the government that
carried on four years war-as the re-
suit of which this nation has had to
spend more than four thousand millions
of dollars, and as a consequence Of
which more than a quarter of million
of men, patriotic heroes, have laid down
their lives upon the battle-6eids and in
the army hospitals-are these men to
come here to legislate for the loyal peo-
pie of this country?
THE PREREQUISITES OF REPRESENTATION.
Sir, these States can only be represents
ed through State organization. All the
members of this body can only be elect
ed by State Legislatures. Members of
the other house can only be elected in
pursuance of State laws. Hence, pre-
liminary to State representation in either
House Of Congress, it must be deter
mined whether there is State Govern
ment; whether there is State Legisls-
ture having authority to elect Senators,
and having authority to provide laws
under which representatives. may be
elected. There was a time certainly
when there were no such legislatures In
any of these eleven States. There was a
time when the only kind of government
in any 81 them vas hostile to the United
States; when every member in ithad abb
jured his allegiance to the United States,
and sworn allegiance to government
hostile to this. Will anybody pretend
that when State Government was in
rebel hands, it was entitled to repre-
sentation in either house of Congress 2
If not shall we not inquire whether it
has got out Of those hands into the hands
of loyal men2
Sir, this proposition, that no bill is to
be passed because certain States are
not represented, when il is their own
fault that they are unrepresented, would
be utterly destructive of the Govern
ment. 48aa4A
ALLEGED DIscRfs1sA TtoN OF rHE BILL.
But the President tells Us that the bill,
in effect, proposes to discriminate
against large numbers of intelligent,
worthy and patriotic foreigners, and IN
favor of the negroes. Nov, sir, il that
true2 What is the bill2 Why, it de-
clares that there shall be no distinction
in civil rights between any other rae or
color, and the white race. 1t declares
that there shall be no different punish
ment inflicted On colored man in con-
sequence of his color, than that which
is inflicted on o white man for the same
offense. IL that discrimination in fa-
vor of the negro and against the foreign
ers, in bill the only object of which is
to preserve equality in rights7 At2
But perhaps ii would be said in reply
to this that the bill proposes to make a
citizen of every person born IN the
United States, and, therefore, discrimi-
mates in that respect against the foreign
ers; but, Mr.. President, is white child
who 10 born in the United States a citi-
zen? Is it not to be presumed that there
is discrimination here in favor of the
white infant, who is citizen thea mo
ment Of its birth, and against the worthy
intelligent and patriotic foreigners, who
emigrate to this country; and this is
suggested by a Senator behind me
Even the iufaEt child Of foreigner, born
in this land, 10 citizen long before his
father. The President also has an objec.
ton to making citizens of Chinese and
Gipsies. am told that but few Chinese
are born in this country, and where the
Gipsies are born, / cannot tell. Like
Topsy, it ia questionable, for they just
oov,a r-aurhfar7