The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1868-07-29
WASHINGTON-zaazs
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE BILL
The Presidents Veto Message.
wAsulsoTos, July 20. 1865; !,

10 the Senate IT ,he Tiuited States: |
have given tile jaiHt resolutions entitled
reselation exsudiRg from the Elecoral
Count the votes otthe States lately in re
bcllion. which slab Fot have been recogniz>
ed by Congress. as careful an exSuiiDa, lion
as | have been abe To bertowson the same
during the few d,yS that have interyened
since the mi asure was submitted for my ap-
proval. Feeling clns,Tiined to withhold my
consent. her, with return the resolution
| TO the Senate, in which it originated, with
brief statement OF the r, asous which have
induced my a. tion.s " tIf =
THEORY ON WHICH TIE RESOLUTION is
BASED
This Joint res1latioH is based upon the
! ASSUMPTION that some States, whose inhabi-
! tants we're lately in rebellion, are not now
| entitled 10 representation in Congress, or to
particinate in the el-ction Of President and
| Vicc>presideut Of the United States. L
have, heretofore, had occasion to give in
| detail NV reasons for dissenting from this
view 1t is not necessary, at this tine, to
repeat them. Itis sufficient to state that
| continue strong in my conviction that the
| acts of secession, by which number OF the
1 State sought TO dissolve their connection
With other States and TO subvert the Union,
being unauthorized by The Constitution and
1 in direct violation thereof, we're, from the
beginning, absolutely null and void. 1t fcl-
lows necessarily that when rebellion termina--
ted, the separate States which ! al attempt1
ed to secede continued to'be States in the
! Union, and all that was required to enable
! them to resume their relations to the, Union
was that they should adopt the measures
necessary to their practical restoration as
States. Such neaures were adopted, and
the legal result was, those States. having
conforued to all TIE requirements OF the
| Constitution, resumed their former rela-
4 ttns, and bee me entitled to the exercise
Of all the rights gnarasteed to them by its
provisions. ,sf .ttT....i- :
| RECOGNIZES TIE EGAIITY OF SECESSION
The joint resolution under consideration
| however, seems to assume that ty the m
\ sgrrcctionary acts of their respective inbabl-
tants those States forfeited their rights as
such, and can never again exercise them,
except upon rc-admission into the Union
on the terms prescribed by Congress. ~, +
! CONSEQUENCES AND INCONSISTENCIES OF
1 TIE POSITION, Iii
IF this position be correct, it follows that
they were taken ont Of the Union by virtue
Iof their acts of secession; and hence that
the war waged on them was illegal aud
and unconstitutional. We would be thus
placed in this Inconsistent atiltude-that,
while the war was commenced and carried
on upon the distinct grounds that the Soutti>
ern States, being component parts OF this
i Union, were in rebellion sgainst the lawful
authority of the United States, upon its
termination we resort to a policy OF re-
construction which assumes that it was not
4 in fact rebellion, but that the war was
! waged for the conquest OF the Territor,e ,es
assumed to be outside OF the constitutional
Union. .az -.se 4g..l j. .g
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AS TO THE
T. IN. ELECTORAL COLLEGE. .3,rEIr
Tho mode and naRper of receiving and
counting the electoral votes tor President
and Vice president Of the United Safes, are,
in plain aad simple terms, prescribed by
| the Constitution. That instrument Inn
4 peratively requires that the President CT the
Senate shall, in the presence OF the, and
House of Representatives, epsn all the
certificates, and TIE votes shall then lie
counted. .si .r. 1'r E.rI, rHgal-
CONGRESS NO POWER TO RECEIVE OR RE-
JECT VOTES. .'a f#L-
Congress has, therefore, no power under
the Constitution to receive the electora
votes or reject them. The whole power 5
exhausted when, the presence of the two
lIouscs, the votes are counted, and the re-
suit declared. In this respect the power
and duty cf the President of the Senate,
under the Constitution, are purely nlnistcri-
al. When. therefore,, the joint resolution
, declared "that no electoral votes should be
, received or counted from all States that,
since the 4th OF March, 1867, have not ado
) pted constitution of State government,
under which State government shall have
} been organized, power is assumed which Is
nowhere delegated to Congress, anless upoa
: the assumption that the State Government
t organized prior to 4th of March, 1867, wer>
illegal and void The joint resolution, by
! implication at least, comedies that thest
! States were States by virtue OF their or
f ganization prior TO the 4th of March, 1867,
but denies to them the right to vote in thu
: election of President and Vice-president 0
Q the United States. a7 2
= STATES ARE EITHER1N OR OUT OF THE UNION
] & lit follows either that this assumption o
power is wholly authorized by the Constitu
| ton, or that the States excluded from vot
! ing we're out of the Union by reason of the
t rebellion. and have never been legally re
I stored. Being fnlly satisfied that they wer
. never out of tie Union. and their relation
Q thereto have been legally and constitution
t ally restored, i am forced to the conclusion
0 that the joint resolution which deprive
them of the right to have their votes TO
President and Vice-president received and
/ counted is in conflict with the Constitution
r and that Congress has no more power to re
iect their votes than those OF the State
: which have been u .iformly loyal t6'thetFe
G dcral Union, and must all vote alike unde
O the Constitution.
; 1t is worthy of remark that the State
whose inhabitants were recently in rebellion
0 were legally and constitutionaIly organized
and restored to their rights prior TO tho 4tl
: March, 1867, as am satisfied they were
G the only legitimate authority under which
fl the election for President and Vice>presi
dent can be held therein must be derived
J. from the Government instituted, before tn,
G priod 1t clearly follows that all the Stat
; Government organized in these States, AM
+ acts of Congress for that purpose, and TN
Q dur military control, are Legitimate, and o
e no validity whatever, and in that view tn,
/ votes cast in those states for President ant
; Vice president in pursuance of the act
f prassed since the fourth of March, 1867
+ and in obedience to the so called reconstruc
0 ton acts OF Congress, can not be legally ie
D ceived and counted, while the Only votes il
those States that can be legally cast ant
t counted will be those cast in pursuance o
laws in force in the several States prior t,
the act of Congress on Object Of reconstruc
: ton.
!, CONSTRUCTION OF THE EREsoLUTION-ITs r EFF
3as FEcT NORTH AND SOUTH q r"
I can not refrain from directing your speci
Q al attention to the declaration contained il
: the JOINT resolution, ''that none of the State
: Bhose inhabitants vere lately in rebellion
shall be entitled TO representation III the
ia electoral college, &c lfit is meant tia