The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1866-10-06


admission to seats in the respectiv,
Houses. The President submitted tha
, question, as l have already explained
to the decision of each House for itself
and he did this in view of ~ very cleal
}. and explicit provision of the Constitu
@ tion of the United States which declares
h that each House shall be the Judge of
q the elections, returns, and qualification
of itsown members" This poweris clear
o This power is express. This power il
4 exclusive; one House cannot interfere
: with question of membership i'm the
, other House; and the two Houses to-
Gether cannot act upon this subject be
eau, 80 the Constitution h Is committed
the d,,,aision of any case to the judg
Iment of he particular House i'm which
membership is claimed. There wa
delay, howev..", in the admission of
Senators and Rep. 'esentatives. A little
later, apon a MOTTO submitted by m!
colleague, Mr.. Cowan, resolution wa
h. .1opted by the Senate ca. ing upon thu
Pres,,..ent for information with refer
ence to the existing conditio. OF thu
Southern States. That resoluti, vi "a
answered by the President, and h 'oht
with his reply came II very INTEREST,".
communication from the Lieutenant
General of the armies of the United
States, General Grant. The President
in that answer to the Senate st ated that
the people of the South desired to be
represented in Congress. He stated
also that throughout those States which
had been in hostility to us, which had
levied war against us, there was II coln-
plete acquiesence in our authority and
jurisdiction and that everywhere
throughout them the people were peace
full and disposed to bear true allegiance
to the Government of the United States
for the future. And General Grant,
who had been called upon for his opin-
ion, responded in very emphatic man.
ner that in his Judgment there was a
general submission among the people OF
, the South to the authority of the Con-
, stitution and Government of the United
States, and that the people of those
, States in good faith desired to resume
, their places within the Republic and be
subject to our Government.
: This was the official information sub.
$ mitted to Congress by the President in
: his annual message, and in his reply to
the resolution of the Senate early in
: the session. This was the action of the
Executive Department of your Govern.
e ment, the one charged with the execu.
q ton of the laws. Now what was done
o by Congress, the law-making power
e What l have stated happened in De.
$ cember and January of last Winter, al
e the very beginning of the late session
4 That session continued for eight month.
T. and the two Houses ad djourned recently
= and the members returned to thei
d homes. Now what was done by Con
n gress during those eight months TOWARD
= restoring the Union which had beer
l. broken by secession, and which hat
It continued broken during the war
s. What was done by the Senate and Hous,
n of Representatives respectively unde
i the clear constitutional power which
r they possessed, toward restoring mem
n bership in their respective Houses from
l. those States which had gone unrepre
.e sented so long? With the single excep
/. ton of Tennessee, there was no admis
% sion of Senators or Representative
.e from those States during the eigh
le months of the Congressional session, al
le though the subject was one of repeated
d consideration in each House. Ther
t. was no action by the majority in Con
< gress toward restoring the Union il
T. that vital particular, the representation
e. of the people and of the States, excep
vs. in the case of Tennessee, tardy an
ID exceptional proceeding which too
IS place just before the adjournment.
Thus was an issue formed betwee
n the Executive and Legislative Depart
id ments of your Government. Ihave re
G. called to your memories what was don
l by the President, and done with tn
e. concurrence in opinion of the Lieuter
~ ant-General of our armies who ha
le Gcen more prominent than any othe
n. Rebellion and who, better perhaps tina
re any other MAI in the United States, wa
ne authorized and Qualified to pronounc
IN an opinion upon the military aspect
re at least of the future, to Wit, upon tn
ut question whether it was safe to restor
IN those States to the representation whi2
ID they desired or not.
in Then, beside pointing out what tn
t. Executive branch had done and how
d stood, and what was its recommend
N alton to Congress, l have called your al
it tention to the attitude of Congress--a
l. attitude of entire inaction, policy o
III do-nothing during session of eigll
al months with reference to the whole o
r. the eleven States save Tennessee. Th
ed two Houses of Congress adjourned will
he out having discharged the duty impose
of upon them by the Constitution of judl
lot ing in their respective Houses the que
I'M tions which arose upon the election
N returns, and qualifications of their ow
nd members. And hence complaint
he made against the majority in Congress
lat for this they stand arraigned before Il
nj people of the United States and | an
re- others who differ with that COngressio
lw al majority in opinion, call for the judi
yn mcnt of the people upon that majorit