The tri-weekly news. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1865-1876, 1866-12-08

any Rlacc SupJccC 10 Unclr jurisdiction,
was ratified by the requisite number
of States and on the 18th day of De-
comber, 1865, it was officially declar-
ed to have become vailed as part of
tho Constitution of the United States.
All of these States i'll which the insur-
rection had existed promptly amended
their Constitutions, So , to make them
conform to the great change thus rf~
tected in tho organic law of the land {;
declared null and void all ordinances
and laws of secession rcpudiatcd all
pretended debts and obligations crca-
ted for tho revolutionary purposes of
the insurrcction and proceeded, iii
good faith, to the enactment of meas
urcs for the protection and ameliora-
tlon of the condition of the colorcd
race. Congress, however, yet hcsitat
cd to admit any of these Stntcs to re-
presentation; and it was not until the
close of the eighth month of the scs-
sion that an exception was made in. fa-
vor. of Tennessee, by the admission of
her Senators and Representatives.
ldeem it q subject of profound re-
grct that Congress has thus far failed
to admit to seats loyal Senators and
Representatives from other States,
whose inhabitants, with those of Ten
nessee, had engaged in. the rebellion.
Ten States-more than one. fourth of
the whole numbor--rcmain without
representation tile seats Of flfty NOM
bers in the House of Representatives
and of twenty members in tho Senate
are yet vacant-not by their own con-
sent, not by failure of election, but
by tho refusal of Congress to accept
their credentials. Their admission, it
is believed, would have accomplished
much towards tho removal and
strengthening of our relations as one
people, and removed serious cause for
discomfort on the part of the inhabi-
tants of those States. 1t would have
accorded with the great principle
enunciatcd in the Declaration of Amc-
rican Independence, that no people
ought tob bcar the burden Of taxation,
and yet be denied the right of repre-
Scntation. 1t would have been in con-
sonance with the express provisions of
the Constitution, that "each State shall
have at least one Representatives"
and "that no State, without it's consent,
shall be deprived of it's equal suffrage
in the Senate.' Those provisions
were intended to secure to every State,
and to the people of every State, the
right of representation in each House
Of Congress; and SO important was it
deemed by the trainers of the Consti-
tuition that the equality of the States
in the Senate should be preserved,
that not even by an amendment of the
Constitution can any State, without
its consent, be denied voice in that
branch of the National Legislature.
1t is true, it has been assumed that
the existence of tho States was termi-
mated by the rcbellious acts of their
inhabitants, and that the insurrection
having been suppressed, they were
thenceforward to be considered merely
as conquered territories. The Lcgis-
lativc, Executive, and judicial De-
partmcnts of the Government have,
however, with great distinctncss and
uniform consistency, refused to sane
tion an assumption SO incompatible
with the nature of our republican sys-.
tenn, and with the profcsscd objects of
the war. Throughout the recent legis-
lation of Congress, the undcuiable
fact makes itself apparent, that these
ten political communities are nothing
less than States of this Union. At
the very commencement of the rebel
lion, each House declared, with a
unanimity as remarkable as it was sig
nificant, that the war was not "waged,
upon our part, in any spirit of opprcs-
sion, nor for any purpose of conquest
or subjugation, nor purpose of over
throwing 9 interfering with the rights
or established institutions of those
States, but to defend and maintain
the supremacy of the Constitution and
all laws made in pursuance thereof,
4 IL 4. - II ~