The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1866-12-13

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land; declared null and void all or.
dinances and laws of secession; re.
pudiated all pretended debts and
obligations created for the reyolu,
tionary purposes of the insured.
tion; and proceeded, in good faith
to the enactment of measures fol
the protection and amelioration ol
the condition of the colored race
Congress, however, yet hesitated to
admit any of these. States to repre-
sentatiOn; and it was not until to.
ward the close of the eighth month
of the session that an exception
was made in favor ofTennessee, by
the admission Of her Senators and
Representatives. s.rj e.'..' p
/ deem it a subject of profound
regret that Congress has thus far
failed to admit to seats loyal .Sena-
tors and Representatives from the
other States, whose inhabitants,
with those of Tennessee, had en-.
gagged in the rebellion. Ten States
more than one-fourth of the whole
numbeI-remain without represen.
tation; the seats of fifty members
in the House of Representatives
and of twenty members in the SEN
ate are yet vacant--not by their
own consent, not by failure Of
election, but by the refusal of Con-
gress to accept their credentials.
Their admission, it Is believed,
would have accomplished much to.
ward the renewal and strengthen.
ing of our relations as one people,
and remove serious cause for dis
content on the part of the inhabit-
ants of those States. 1t would
have accorded with the great prin.
ciple enunciated in the Declaration
of American Independence, that no
people ought to be made to bear
the burden Of taxation, and yet be
denied the right OF representation.
1t would have been in consonance
with the express provisions of the
Constitution, that "each State shall
have at least one Representative"
and "that no State, without its con-
sent, shall be deprived of its equal
suffrage in the Senate" These
provisions were intended to secure
to every State, and to the people of
every State, the right Of represen-
tation in each House of Congress !;
and so important was it deemed by
the trainers of the Constitution that
the equality of the States in the
Senate should be preserved, that
not even by an amendment of the
Constitution can any State, with
out its consent, be denied voice
IN that branch of the National Leg
islature. , .... ..
1t is true, it has been assumed
that the existence of the States
was terminated by the rebellious
acts of their inhabitants, and that
the insurrection having been sup
pressed, they were thenceforward
to be considered merely as con-
quered territories. The legislative,
executive, and judicial depart
ments of the Government have,
however, with great distinctness
and uniform consistency, refused to
sanction an assumption so incom-
patible with the nature of our re-
publican system, and with the pro-
fessed objects Of the war. Through
out the recentlegislation of Con-
gress, the undeniable fact makes
itself apparent, that these ten po-
litical 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
significant, that the war was not
waged, upon our part, in any
spirit of oppression, nor for any
purpose of conquest or subjuga-
ton, nor purpose of overthrowing
or interfering with the rights or es-
tabllshed institutions of those
States, but to defend and maintain
the supremacy of the Constitution
and all laws made in pursuance
thereof, and to preserve the Union
with all the dignity, equality, and
rights of the several States unim-
pared and that as soon as these
objects" we're accomplished the
war ought to cease" In some in
stances, Senators were permitted
to continue their legislative func-
tions, while in other instances Rep
resentatives were elected and ad-
mitted to seats after their States
had formally declared their right to
withdraw from the Union, and were
endeavoring to maintain that right