The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-09-28


Southern States. Upon this, Union
members of Congress were not agreed
amongthemselyes. Some were eppos
ed to admitting them until after the
amendment should have become
part Of the fundamental law, by the
ratification of three fourths, of all the
| States. Others, like Mr.. Bingham, of
Ohio, insisted that whenever any
Southern State should ratify the
amendment, that State should there
upon be admitted to representation.
Others, like Mr. Boutwell,, of Massa
chusetts, and Mr.. Kelley, of Pennsyl
vania, refused to pledge Congress to
admit them even after the amendment
should be adopted, and others still did
not deem it within the constitutional
power Of Congress to impose its adop
ton as a condition of admission to the
| fundamental right of representation.
In point of fact, the adoption or
rejection of the amendment has no.
thing whatever to do, as the law now
stands, with the admission or rejection
of members from the Southern States.
A bill providing for their admission
on condition of its adoption, was re-
jected by the House, and even if every
Southern State should. ratify the
amendment to- morrow, Congress has
not pledged itself in any way there
upon to admit their representatives in
Congress. The two questions are en-
tirely separate and distinct, and each
must be determined upon its own
merits.
The objects sought to be attained
by this amendment are important and
desirable. The first, which clothes
with the equal civil rights belonging
to citizenship all the native born in
habitants of the United States, COM
mends itself to every mans sense of
justice and of public policy. 1t was
the worst feature of slavery that it |
kept large class of persons outside |
the protection of the law i and now
that slavery has been swept away, |
there is no shadow Of excuse for per-
petuating this worst Of all its wrongs.
We trust the Southern States will !
make speedy provision for extending
the, full protection of the law over
their enfranchised slaves, in common
with all their people; but aside from
this there are many reasons of justice |
and propriety why the National Con-
stitution should make this guarantee
universal and perpetual. ii sb1st
. The second clause of the amend
ment is designed to. remedy an inc
quality which now exists in the enjoy
ment of political power. 1t was de-
cided by the trainers of the Constitu-
ton that population and not Uoters
should constitute the basis of Repre-
sentation, and this ceases to be the
,wisest rule only when large masses of
the population are excluded from suh- i
rage In some sections of the country
and not in others Then it becomes
an element of inequality and inius-A
tice. A'voter in the one section has
double the political power of a voter |
in the other This inequality exists
to-day between the Northern and
Southern States, and it ought to be
corrected, This would be true if the
question had never had anything
whatever, to do with the rebellion
or if the inequality were in favor of
the North instead of, the South. Ev- /
cry man can see thatit is unjust, and
the Southern States ought to see it as
well as the Northern. And as no
section is to be benefited in the long
run by any inequality or any injustice,
tn e South as well as the North ought
to ratify this amendment, ItinVolves,
it is true, a temporary surrender of
portion of the political power now en-
joyed under the Constitution; but
that surrender would be more than
compensated by removing an injustice
which, so long as it exists, must be
the fruitful source of sectional discon-
tent and national discord = - 81 81
The third clause of this amendment
declares certain classes of persons who
took a responsible part In the rebel
lion ineligible to Office until relieved
therefrom by two-thirds of Congress.
While the power of Congress to par
ticipatesin the exercise of the pardon
ing power, or to prescribe qualifica- J,
tons for local Office in the several
States, may be open to doubt, none !
can rest upon the substantial Justice
of this provision, SO far as Federal I
Office is concerned. Men who have ]
waged war upon the Government can
not complain of any wrong in being
excluded for time from personally
sharing its authority and power. And
the time when they may thus be re-.
admitted is within the wise discretion
of the Government itself. This is
wholly different question from that of |.
admitting States to representation, as
it touches only the question of the
character and qualifications of the
persons by whom those States may be
represented; and in this respect the
amendment is not unduly harsh OF
severe. AS it originally passed the
House this clause excluded everybody
who had taken any part in the REBEL
lion or given it aid and comfort in any I
way, from voting until after the next
Presidential election; but this was