, 1866-05-15
A m eric a n.
(FrOm tie ". " Illustrated Paper.)
THE CIVIL RIGHTS LAW.

The President, in the exercise of his
Constitutional prerogative, some time
ago vetoed a bill known as "The Freed
mans Bureau Bill" which had passed
both Houses of Congress by very heavy
majorities. On the question in the Senate,
''Shall the bill pass, the Presidents OBJ
j~ections Notwithstanding? it did not re-
ceive the vote to two-thirds of the Sena-
tors, as required by the Constitution,
and consequently failed to become law.
More recently the President vetoed
"The Civil Rights Bill" which had also
passed both Houses of Congress by very
heavy maiorities; but on the question
arising, "Shall the bill become a law not
withstanding the objections of the Presi-
dent 2" it was so passed by the Consti-
t%utional vote of two-thirds in both Hous-
es-that is to say, by 33 to Is in the
Senate, and 1872 to Al in the House-and
is consequently the law Of the land.
Regarded in every light, this law is
one of the most important that ever re-
ceived the sanction of the National LIE
gisIature. It was framed to conform to
the general conviction among loyal men,
that the abolition of slavery would be
lulu LlOIO UIld HOIIllIdlS UIu lIlC tICCu-
man would be debarred from all civil
rights, unless the legislation of the States
was overruled by the legislative of Con-
gress, which predicates its authority in
the case on that clause of the last Con-
stitutional Amendment which conveys it
the power to give effect to the provision
abolishing slavery, by all necessary le-
gislation. Congress, also, claims the
right to guarantee to the people Of all
the States a republican form of govern
ment, and affirms that no government is
republican, in form or essensP, which
deprives any portion of its people of civil
rights.
The opponents of the law have mainly
objected TO it as supererogatory, or, at
least, unnecessary, since some of the
States have made concessions in the d.
rection required, and that all would ulti-
mately do SO. The answer to this has
been, that the expectations of the coun-
try have not been met by the temper and
scope of Southern legislation, and that
it would be unsafe to trust to It's retor-
nation, and that the whole matter should
be set at rest by national laws.
The details Of the law are various, to
our mind needlessly complex, and per-
haps, in some respects, unwise. If so
found in practice, they may easily be
altered. But the purpose and essential
object of the law must meet the appro-
val of every loyal American and of the
civilized world. This is set forth with
sufficient clearness in the first section.
Leaving out the technical phraseology, we
may %epitomize the law as follows
Sec. 1 provides, that all persons born
in the United States, not subjects of
foreign powers, or untaxed Indians,
Hshall have the same right in every State
and Territory to make and enforce con-
tracts, to sue, to be sued, be parties and
give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease
sell, hold and convey real and personal
property, and to full and equal benefit of
all laws and proceedings for the security
of person and property as are enjoyed
by white citizens; and shall be subject
to like punishment, pains and penalties,
and to none other any law, statute, or