Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1867-02-20

De uO6meQ 10 nave uOuc any dCL lot
feiting or suspending any power OF
privilege of q citizen of the United
States, or of an elector of any State,
nor be deemed to have put it in the
power of the United States to declare
forfeited or even suspended any power
of such persons to elect the rulers OF
the Republic; but, on the contrary,
all such people while so engaged, and
the States, as bodies-politc, which they
compose, shall, during all said four
years of war, be deemed and held to
be true, loyal, and republican people
and States of the Union; and as such
shall, despite the prohibition of the
United States, be entitled to elect one
third of the Senators, Representatives,
and Presidential electors of the United
States, and shall thereby be enabled in
the Senate and House to defeat any
act necessary to the existence Of the
Government of the United States, and
which requires the assent of two-thirds
of such Houses or of either House.
And moreover, it shall be lawful for
those who originate, lead in, and exc
cute such war, rebellion and murders,
at all times to be elected to the offices
of President, Vice President, Senators
and Representatives Of the United
States. And neither by test oaths or
otherwise shall it be lawful to exclude
such leaders while engaged in such re-
bellion, or sfterward being elected to
or assuming such offices.
Mr.. Speaker, the man who affrms
that this is not substantially Just af-
frmance in the terms of express law,
Of the exact effect of the doctrine that
the people of State can do no act
which deprives even temporarily such
people and their States, of the power
to elect our rulers, is either false man
or an imbecile; and with him 1 hold
no debate. And he who, seeing the
consequences of such doctrine thus
fairly written out into the terms of law,
does not turn away from them with
loathing and utter disgust, is worse
than either false or imbecile; he is a
traitor And here leave that.
Mr.. Speaker, that second and only
other method to which l have alluded
of enforcing the position that the Uni
ted States have no power to assume
the organization of loyal republican
governments in these reVolted States,
can be accurately stated thus: it says
that, admitting that during the force
and usurpations of the war of rebellion,
the rebels and their States ceased to
have the power to elect our rulers, yet,
the rebellion being crushed, the vio-
lent overthrow of the old constitution
and laws of thes States ended, and the
people having submitted after crush
ing defeat to the authority they failed
to overthrow, then and thereupon
these old State governments and such
new ones as those so defeated may
choose to form become at once republi-
can and loyal States, and the United
States have no control over the matter
either who shall be electors and take
when and upon what terms these States
and their people shall resume the high
power of States governing the Union.
Now, Mr.. Speaker. if this be indeed
the state of our constitutional law,
then this too may be written out fully
into the forms of express law. So
written out in all its leading require
ments and consequences, it reads as
follows:
Article nine, section two. Whenever
hereafter such a rebellion against this
Union as is described in the first section
in this article, shall arise and be over
thrown by the United States, then and
in all such cases, they who engaged in
such rebellion, war, murders, ,;starvings,
poisonings, and other practices of bar
barians, to the end that they might
destroy the Government of the United
States, shall, Immediately upon having
their arms wrested from them, and |
while yet prisoners of war, have the
right both as individuals and as the |
people and electors of their States to |
elect, and also to become the President, |
Vice President, Senators, and Repre-
sentatiVes of the United States. And |
such traitors shall, moreover, have the |
power to so frame their State constitu-
ton and laws that none shall be en-
titled to vote for the Offices aforesaid,
except those engaged in such rebellion;
and the said traitors and the States
they compose shall be entitled thus to
assume said control of the Government
of the United States, although none of
them in fact shall have either felt or
professed any regret for such treaeon,
and although they may remain as
traitorous as ever toward the Govern
ment of the United States, and may in
fact assume such powers for the over
throw of the Government of the Uni
ted States, and this although those so
taking said offices for traitorous pur-
poses may compose majority of both
Houses of Congress. And it shall be
unconstitutional and illegal for the
United States, by joint committee of
Congress or otherwise, to even inquire
into the matter of the return to loyalty
or into the other acts or purposes of
the traitors aforesaid, or into the re-
publican character or purposes of the
governments of their said States. But,
on the contrary, such rebels, and if
they SO order, they alone shall be, i'm
upon their defeat as afore-
said and while yet prisoners of war, en-
titled to assume and take control Of
the Government of the United States
inquiry, conditions, let, him
derance or delay. And it shall, more
over, be unlawful to exclude such
traitors from any of said offices either
by requiring test oaths or otherwise,
except only that each House of Con-
gress may judge of the election and
of its own members, and
expel if two thirds so order.
Now, Mr.. Speaker; in this section l
do not caricature or exaggerate, but on
the contrary l far understate the appall-
ing results of this position, which 1
consider position which teaches that
in defiance of the sovereignty of this
victor nation, and in the very teeth of
its prohibitions, its rebel prisoners of
war, at the very instant of their de-
feat, have the right-ay, sir, the right
AS electors and rulers of sovereign
States, to resume the control of their
conqueror and right to vote on that
awful life of the nation which their
FIVE hundred thousand murders done,
did not extinguish, but augmented into
mightier being.
No, sir; no. This is not the law of
your nations existence, and your in
iured country-whst one ever so wrong
ed before ?-has the right and power in
these revolted districts to see to it that
there shall be returned and guaranteed
to them governments right royal and H
right republican, the United States be-
inc iudOes