The Portland daily press., 1867-10-23

at Washington made great mistake when
they allowed their dislike Of Mrs. Lincoln to
show itself in the shabby refusal to vote the
100000 to Mr.. Lincoln's family. nd s..I
q asesuIasioa OF suffrage by Conxress.
TO the Editor ofme Press: '.'. eo'
The Press misapprehends my position in
reference to Section 2, Article 1, OF the Con-
stitution. This section reads as follows: a"i
Va The House of Representatives shall be
chosen every second year by The people of the
several States and the electors in each State
shall have the qualifications requisite for elec-'
tors OF the most numerous branch OF the
State Legislature t ei .. 81.
My point was that the trainers of the Con-
stitution omitted to declare, in terms, whether
the electors of members of the State Legis-
tat,tres should be designated by the States or
by the United Staies-but that they expressly
provided that the electors of Representatives
to Congress should be the same as those Of
the most numerous branch OF the State Leeis-
>lature; and that these electors should be THE
PEOPLE of the States. Now, it is GER
tain that those who made the Constitu-
tion left thequestion open, land, i think, inten-
tionally) as to ,oho should prescribe finally the
qualifications of electors of the most nnmer-
Gus branch of the State Legislatures. 1t was
Undoubtedly considered that it would be wise
so to do, and hence the convention rehised
TO strike out the last clause OF the section
which L have quoted. For while il was
understood that the States themselves
would, prescribe these qualifications in
the first instance, and that it would
be desirable and convenient for them to do 50,
it was yet in their minds, among the posi-
biIities of the future, that the States, on some
OF them, would make regulations such as
would withdraw the suffrage fiom the people,
and vest it in part of them. So they wise
ly and er indastrid, as it would seem, alb
stained from yesting the exclusive and cop
trolling power 10 regulate suffrage IN the
States. They feared that if this were done,
the States might make their Legislatures
something that was not republican. As
the State governments are so necessary 10
the full and easy working OF the general gov
ernnent, the trainers of the Constitution
would have wrought with less than their usll-
al pre- science il they had left it possible Ion
the States TO defeat SO easily the operations
and objects of the government oil the United
States, as they might do il the power in re-
gard to the qualifications of electors of menl-
bers of the State Legislatures had been vest
ed exclusively in the States themselves. In-
stead, however, OF doing this, and defeating
their own work, they provided that, whatever
the regulations might be, and by whornsoever
prescribed, the electors OF Representatives in
Congress, and in the State Legislatures,
Should be the same persons, and that these
persons should be The people of the several
States, and to place the matter beyond the
possibility of doubt the power was
expressly delegated to the United States 3,
guarantee to the sereral States repu5iicd,
form Of government That this guarant,
cannot be made good if the absolute ant
unconditionalpower over suffrage rests with
the States, is manifest. In such case the
States might prescribe regulations excluding
half the people from the suffrage-they might
make themselves pure oligarchies; and the gov.
ernment of the United States, although ex.
pressly clothed with power to secure Republi-
can governments to the States, and the elec
ton of Representatives to Congress by the peo
pie of the States, would, nevertheless, find it
| self utterly impotent in the matter! All tn
canons of Interpretation are discarded in or
der to arrive at a conclusion SO lame and bar
ren--particularly those which say that eflec
is to be given, it possible, to all the parts ofau
instrument, and that negative words or i'm
plicatons must yield to positive and affirma.
tive expressions. The Constitution, ex.
cept by implication, is silent as to the
party by whom the qualifications OF
electors of members of the most numerous
branch of the State Legislatures shall be pre-
scribed, but it does declare in so many words
that these electors shall be the people And
that they must be such as would prevent the
State governments from being anything but
republican, is evident, for ii they are not,
Congress itself may step in and make them
what they should be, and this itcan only do by
touching the springs Of suffrage.
1t is difficult to perceive how any question
ON this, point conld ever have arisen. The
long and exclusive user OF the power by the
States may have had something to do with the
| existence OF doubt ON the subject--but, prob
ably the ultra States Rights doctrines o
the slavery propasandists, insisted upon SC
long and so dogmatically, had more.
While my mind is free from doubt in regard
to the authority of Congress in the premises
and its duty to exercise this power, the ques-
ton of the time ,ohen ii shall be exercised, is
fairly an open one. Think the time had ar
rived last year or the year before. But, as
there had not been sufficient discussion ia
Congress or by the people to make the power
and the duty plain, at either of the periods
mentioned, and as there does not appear tc
have been such discussion since, it may not be
expedient to press the question al the next
session of Congress. But in my Judgment
this much is certain, the question should be
earnestly and thoroughly discussed in Con
gress, in the public journals and upon the
STUMP, in order that action may be had at an
early day, such as will settle the question for.
ever and for all the States. When settled by
act OF Congress the whole country will aequi.
esce, and the work of Reconstruction will and
it will not till them be fully accomplished.
.ain. ..s,,.t l...t... REPUBLICAN,.
,