The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-04-08

1rage ana once. II congress c0u uScl0It Dy
law who shall hold lands, who shall testify,
who shall have capacity to make contract
/ in State, then Congress can also, by law,
! declare who, without regard to race or color,
shall have the right to sit as juror or as judge,
to hold any office, and finally to vote in every
State and Territory in the United States. =
Perhaps the best answer, Mr. President, |
could give to this would be the answer Of
/ Andrew johnson himself. He undertook to
reorganize. When he did so. to whom did
he extend the rights Of suffrage? 10 the
blacks? No sir; but he extended the suf-
frage to those authorized to vote under the
laws of those States before the rebellion. -
When urged to allow loyal blacks to vote
what was his answer? That he had no power;
that it was unconstitutional; but that he had
power to protect them in their civil rights,
and he did protect them in their civil rights
Then, if it be true that the protection Of civil
rights carries with it the right of suffrage,
what becomes of the position he assumed
when he extended civil rights to the negro
all through the South, as l shall presently
show, bv orders issued by his authority, and
yet refused to give them the right Of suffrage
on the ground that he had no constitutional
power TO do it; that it was a right vested in
the States, with which he could not interfere.
But. sir, the grant of civil rights does not,
and il never did, in this country, carry With
it political rights, or more properly, .poiitti.
cal privileges. The right TO vote and hold
Office in the States depend upon the Legisla-
lures of the various States. The right to
vote and hold Office under the Federal Gov
lernment, depends upon the Constitution Of
the United States. The President must be
natural born citizp. A Senator or Repre-.
sentative must have been a citizen Of the
Ga bor rf -
before he ca, be elected member Of either
this or the other house Of Congress, SO that
1.-THE fact OF being citizen does not qualify a
person for holding Office necessarily; nor does
1t necessarily authorize them TO vote. Wp-
men are citizens. children are citizens. bat
1hey do no. exercise the elective franchise
by virtue of their citizenship. To be cita-
zen of the United States carries with il the
same rights. What are they? Why. sir,
they are those inherited and fundamental
rights which belong TO every citizen and free
man IN all countries. such as the rights con
tained in this bill, aud they belong to citizens
in all the States of the Union. The right Of
American citizenship means something. It
does not mean, in case of foreigner, that
when he is naturalized. he is 10 be left 20 the
mercy Of State legislation. He has q right,
when duly naturalized, 10 go in any State of
the United States. and. submitting to its law,
reside there; and the United States Govern.
meat would protect him in this right: j, would
protect a citizen Of the United States not
lonly in all the States of the [ Mon, but it will
Iprotect him In foreign lands. In the Ian
guage of Ar. Marcy. when Secretary oi
State, "A citizen IN foreign country Is en-
titled to the same protection that is extended
by the Government to It's own citizens.
In this great essential right which We have
enumerated. these rights which belong TO cit
liens and are 10 be known natural rights,
are deferred. Blackstone. in his definition
of civil liberty. says il is no other than natu.
raj liberty. So far restrained BY human law.
but no farther, as is necessary and expedien,
for the general advantage of the pnbIie. In
this definition of civil liberty 1t ought to be
understood, or rather expressed. that the re-
Istra'ns introduced by the law be equal to all.
or SO much so as the nature OF the law will
admit. Equality of rights il the basis of the
commonwealth, as isSlaid down by Kent. and
Kent himself, IN speaking Of these rights sa,
the natural rights of individuals may be said
10 be included in the right Of personal seen-
rity, the right of personal liberty and the
right TO acquire and enjoy property. These
rights have justly been considered and fre-
quently defined by the people of this country
to be natural rights What are they sir =
The right of personal security. personal lib
ertv. and the right to acquire and enjoy prop
erty. And these are declared to he lnalIcna-
ble rights belonging TO every citizen Of the
United States, no matter where he may be.
as citizen of the United States and, sir, il
It were not so. American citizenship would
be worth nothing. What is it WORTH If il doe.
not protect the citizen in his rights? How i
it. sir. that every person born in these United
/ oil he -
the United States2 Everything that he has
his property. his life, may be taken by the
United States in its defense to maintain the
honor of the nation and can it be. sir, that
our ancestors struggled through long war te
set up this Government, and that the people
Of our day have struggled through another
war TO maintain it, that after we have go, q
Cove which is all powerful To com
mand obedience Of the citizens, but has nc
power 10 afford them protection. that is al
thatthe boasted American citizenship amount.
to? Tell it, SIR, to the father whose son wa.
starved to death at Andersonvilie. to the wo
man whose husband was slain at Mission
Ridge, or to the little boy who leads his blnc
father through the streets of this city. who
lost his eyes on the Gulf coast. Go tell them
that this Government, in defense of which The
lad and the husband fell, and the father los
his eyes, is Government which has righ
to call those persons to its defense. but ha.
no power TO protect its friends in any righ
whatever. Sir. it cannot be: such is not th,
meaning Of our Constitution: such is not tn,
, meaning of American citizenship. Th
Government, which would go to war to pro
J tect its meanest citizen or inhabitant, in an,
foreign land, whose rights were unjustly en-
!, croached upon, has certainly some power t,
protect its own citizens IN their own country
| pass from the consideration Of this frs
section of the bill to the second which is OBJ
jected to by the President as affording dis
terminating protection to coored PERSONS
It says that no person sha subject colore'
,, person to different punishment than that in
flcted on white person for the same offense
Does that discriminate in his favor? Why
sir, the very object of the section is to pre-
, vent discrimination. The effect of it is Il
prevent j. as well rs its objects and language
it does seem to me, could not more plainl
express that effect. II may be said that it j
for the benefit Of the black man. because h
J. is in some instances Disseminated against b
!, State law but that is the case with all rene
dial statutes. They are for the relief of per
sons who need relief, and when those need
: ing relief obtain it, they stand upon the pre-
pise footing Of those who do not need it.
: There are. however, other and serious oh
3 Iiections to this section. 1t is said that unde
4 its provisions judges Of the courts may b
punished who are engaged in the execution
e OF any such statute as this and this is mad
an objection to the law. Well, sir, Admi
that the ministerial officer and the Judge il h
acts viciously and corruptly in the execution
f of an illegal law may be, and ought to b
punished ; but if he acted innocently tn
4 Judge would not be punished. What, sir. is