The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1867-02-13
The Veto Of the Colorado Bill.

Referring to the Presidents message as
signing his reasons for returning to the
Senate without his signature the bill for
the admission Of Colorado into the Union
as State, the National Intelligencer re-
marks:
The President refers to his veto message
of May 18th last, upon ills same subject,
and not only reiterates the objections then
urged, but says they have been greatly
strengthened by events that have since
trauspired, and that there are still stronger
reasons for declining to sanction this meas
ure. In the former veto message the OBJ
jections presented were the insufficiency of
the population Ct the Territory to bear the
expense Of State government, the want
Of satisfactory evidence that the people Of
the Territory desired to be erected into
State, and the incompatibihty with the
public Interests of admitting into the Union
a new State with, at most, only thirty
thousand inhabitants and comforting upon
this number Of people share in the ma
tional legislation equivalent to that accord
ed only in one branch Of Congress to one
hundred and twenty-seven thousand and
in the other to manymillicpa ofinhabitants
in the older States, while eleven Of the o.
der States, with many millions Of inhabi-
tants, are entirely excluded from represen-
tation in Congress. These objections have
since been strengthened by the formal pro-
test Of the people Of the Territory, express
ed through the Territorial Legislature, to
being forced into the Union against their
will.
In this last message the President very
quietly exhibits the incongruity of the leg
islation of Congress and that of the Terri
tory Of Colorado, by abiding to the laws
of the Territory prohibiting negroes and
mulattoes from voting, and also from acting
as jurors. He shows conclusively that in
this respect the bill in question is absurdly
in conflict with the State constitution to
which itproposes to give validity, as the
latter provides that all laws in force in the
Territory at the time of the adoption of the
constitution and the admission Of the State
into the Union shall continue in force, and
the bill of admission. requires; that there
shall no denial of the elective franchise
or any other right to any person by reason
of race or color, excepting Indians not
taxed. After showing that the bill propo-
sing to create State of less than thirty
thousand inhabitants is intentionally VIC
latiye of the letter if not the spirit of the
constitution, and celebrating conclusively
tie asgul,,e'si.. Sspon the injustice and impro
priety Of giving to that fraction Of the
present ratio ofrepreeentation the right to
send Senators and Representatives to Con-
gress, the President shows that the bill it.
self is positive absurdity, and from the
very nature of its provisions can never be
executed
This is very probably the last of the ef-
fort to bring into the Senate two new Sen
ators who are expected to be obedient to
the edicts of Radicalism, for this is the on
ly object Of the endeavor to force new
State into the Union against the will of
its inhabitants, while ten of the old States
are kept out simply in order that Radical
ism may maintain majority in Congress.
The bill did not receive two-thirds ma
jorty on its passage, and it is not possible
that more votes can be given forit after
the exposition of facts made in this veto
message.