Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-08-27


that Congress shall provide for the ad
mission of new States" it means "new
State Governments"
The Democrats say: This is conce-
ded, but Georgia is not new State
Georgia was one of the original thirteen
one of the old States, and clearly thai
provision of the Constitution does not
apply to your case"
But my friend, | have already said
that to admit State means to admit a
State Government; and when the rebels
of the South destroyed the State Gov
ernment which had been in the Union,
and put in its place a rebel State Gov
ernment which had never been in the
Union, and when the armies of the Uni
ted States swept that away and left
Georgia without any Government what
ever, then, when a Government shall be
again admitted into the L nion, and to be
restored to the Federal rights, that gov
ernment thus formed is new govern
ment, as much as though the people of
Georgia had never had government
whatever. What difference can it make,
for instance, with this power of Congress
to admit a State Government, and to
frame government, whether TIE peo-
pie who are to be admitted have once
had government which they have de-
stroyed, or whether they never had a
government.
For instance we have, west of the
Rocky Mountains, so many square miles
of territory, and so many citizens of the
United States born in the country. We
say: "Those people are our people;
that soil is our soil, and they are
entitled to our protection The Gov
aff
es Territorial Government there, and
protects them until such time as they
come to a proper condition to be admit
ted as State, in full communion, into
the Union.
Now, this power and jurisdiction of
Congress to do this thing grows out of
this fact. simply, that our citizens are
dwelling i'll a compact community, upon
our soil, without local government (it is
no consequence how that state of things
is brought abOut-whether it is because
they moved there and never had a gov
ernment, or because they have been
there and once had government, and
destroyed it,; if they are our people,
dwelling upon our territory, and have
no government the United States is
bound to put a civil government there
AT this point the grand torchlight
procession filed into the square and the
speaker suspended his remarks for few
moments, resuming as follows:1
/ have forgotten precisely where L was
addressing the world before the rest of
mankind came in; but believe had got
through with saying what proposed to
in reference to the power of Congress to
admit new States and claimed that
that covered the entire ground, and gave
Congress the constitutional power to
reconstruct State government for Geor-
gia. Suppose, for the sake of argument,
that we admit what the Democrats claim
that Georgia never was out of the Union,
and that herterritory and people. remain
ing in the Union-as we conceded they
always did, because they could not get
out-that therefore she is to be regarded
as a State of the Union. The Constitu-
ton provides that the United States
shall guarantee to every State a republi-
can form of government Now, if Geor-
gia was not State of the Union she was
State without any government what
ever, consequently she had no republi-
can form of State government and Con-
gress was called upon in its capacity of
legislating and executing that power to
take the proper steps to put republican
form OF State government in Georgia.
This guaranty of the Constitution was
intended to secure to the Union repub-
lican State Government for such State,
without reference to the wishes of the
people OF q particular State. If New
York, for instance, tomorrow should
call a convention, and change her form
of Cover nment from a republican to a
monarchical government, it would be
The duty of Congress to interfere, because
the Constitution makes it the duty of the
United States to see to it that there is a
republican form of government for them
in New York; and if he should call
convention to abolish the form of govern
ment, and resolve herself back into her
original condition, so much soil and so
many people without any government
whatever, Congress, in this case, would
be compelled to take particular steps to
puta State Government there for the
State of New York, because the Consti-
tuition has imposed this duty upon the
General Government; and the Constitu
ton has provided that Congress shall
pass all laws necessary to execute all the
powers which the Constitution has COLI
ferred upon the United States. This has
been so frequently decided by the Su-
preme Court of the United States-so
Justice Gardner, especially in the Rhode
Island case, as it is called, reported in
the seventh of Howard, where he dis
tinctly lays down the doctrine that it is
the province of Congress- and Congress
alone, to determine whether the fOi m of
government is republican. 1t must also
have the power to say whether there is a
government there at all, because with
out so doing, it cannot determine wheth
er particular form of government is re-
publican or not-and that this duty rests
upon Congress-and when it acts in the
premises its decision is binding upon
every part of the government, and can
not be questioned i'll court. This doc
trine is so clearly and fully decided that
there is no necessity of argument beyond
you to those decisions. In two
or three cases they have been before the
Supreme Court, and have been settled
beyond dispute, and upon those three
grounds that L have mentioned; first,
that the power is clearly in the Congress
of the United States, and is not confer
red specifically upon any department;
secondly, the power in Congress to admit
new State Governments, covers this
State, and authorizes Congress to organ
ize Government for the purpose of be-
ing admitted; and thirdly, the duty
which the Constitution imposes upon
Congress totake care that at all times
there shall be a republican State Govern
ment for each State-from that ground
alone the power is clearly deducible-
from these three facts-from these three
separate sources, we derive the power of
Congress to organize State Governments
for the rebellious States, which were left
at tie end of the war without any form
of government whatever. / have pro-
posed this evening to confine myself
strictly to discussion of the constitu-
tional power of Congress, and shall leave
It toranother occasion, perhaps at Galena,
On Friday evening, to discuss the other
question, OF how wisely and
how well Congress has exercised that
power. This is distinct
subject, toecfidl to be spoken of here to-
p light Under the circumstances, and at
/. .efosc Of a speech. shall leave the
;lils act Of recOnstr,IetiOn than with this