The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1867-11-28


Legislature thereof; Jmae G,soress
may al uay tine by Ioc or or.ey such
regulations, crccpt as to hc place, Of
choosing Senator's.
"'III. AIR. I. Certain powers
having been enumerated, these words
follow in Section s. "To make all
laws which shall be necessary and
1 proper for carrying into execution the
foregoing powers, and all other po,c--
cr' rcs,ed by this Constellation "a he
GorcrBmem cfh Uaited States, or il
any dcporimoai Or officer thereof,
cit will be seen that Congress has
the power TO pass laws necessary aud
proper to carry into execution any
power vested by the Constitution in
the Government Of the United States.
Among the powers thus vested is that
Of securing republican form of gov
crnment to the several States, and
that of providing that members of
Congress shall be chosen by the people
of the several States. Whenever by
State law mcmbcrs of Congress are
chosen by portion or class of the
peoplc-by white people only, or
black people only, by men of the
Anglo.Suxon race only, or those only
of the Celtic or any other facc-it is
the duty of Congress to exercise the
power with which it has been clothed, /
for the purpose of preventing such
violation of the fundamental priuci-
pies of the Government.
"My views upon secticn 4, article
1, are briefly expressed in the follow
passage from Mr.. Wasburns address
delivered before the government and
people of this city on the Ith of July,
1865;
"If the negro is, as these facts
clearly show he is, a citizen, he is uu-
doubtodly entitled to the privileges,
rights, and imr,unities of citizen,
aud none the less for the reason that
his ancestors were Africans, or that
his skin is dark. Among these, per-
hups, none is more obvious and vital
than the elective franchise. To ex.
cludc an adult freeman, born upon
the soil aud unaccursed of crime,
from the ballot on account Of his
complexion, is to violate the funda.
mental principles of this Government
and to coutraveno the clear intent of
the Con1titution; for, although there
are citizens, as women and children
for example. who do not exercise the
right Of suffrage, their exclusion is
based on no anti'rcpublican distinc.
tion, as race, color, profession, rcli
gious faith, and the like. The Con-
stitution, in declaring that the Unit
ed States shall guarantee to every
State in the Union a republican form
Of government, aliirms and secures
the practical observance of the doe
trino of the Declaration of Independ-
cuce, that governments derive their
just powers from the consent Of the
governed. Can that be said to be
republican form of government which
repudiatcs this normal principle Of
American rcpublicanism, which, in.
stead of leaving them to govern with
the people, ordaius that it shall be
exercised by part only Of the peo-
plo--by men Of blue eyes, of yellow
hair, or white skins only; by clergy
men, or lawyers, or merchants; by
men of Saxon descent, or Celtic, aud
no others? Is that a republican form
of governmcnt-one resting upon the
consent of the governed--in which
all Jews, or Catholics, or Presbytc-
rians, all naturalized foreigners or
colored native born citizens, shall
no voice?
"Would it not be clearly the gov
ornment of caste, class, or race
in other words, an aristocracy, and
just that false and hateful thing
which the Government has been
fighting against these four years.
Il x Il y X
"Ifa State should persist in main
tanning a constitution which in a vital
respect was anti-rcpublican, that ex-
cluded loyal aud good citizens from
tho exercise of the right of suffrage
upon grounds of caste or color merely,
or should transfer political power from
the majority to the minority, to a few
families, to directory or Dictator
ship, tho cxigency would arise in
which intervention would become the
immediate duty of the United States.
"Regarding section two and four,
article one, above cited, | cannot do
better than quote from recent mum.
Der of the Now York Tribune;
"Mr, Madison, in the Virginia
Convention, explained this to mean
that while it was deemed desirable
that each State should in the first in
stance regulate the right of suffrage
of itself, yet, to prevent the right
from being granted or denied in such
a manner as would endanger the
safety and pernetuitv of the Ganaral