Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-03-03

tificate itself should not take effect
that no vigor should be impaired to
it when it was granted, nor until q
certain period had elapsed. 1t is
possible-probable, if you please
that by some careful arrangement OF
legislative provisions, by way OF
clrcumlocution or circumvention,
you could navigate around a consti-
tutlonal amendment of this sort but
IS 1t well, is it wise to imbed in the
bulwarks of the constitution REQUIRE
ments or impediments which are to
become the occasion Of skill in the
department of evasion?
To submit to the States for their
determination whether they will sur
render portion of their sovereignty
or jurisdiction is the matter pro
posed. 1t is believed that if the
States will relinquish their power to
determine qualifications for suffrage,
it will quiet disturbing agitation.
Our whole function is to submit to
them the question whether they will
or will not do this. will vote to
submit this question, but ] prefer to
submit it free from needless and OBJ
jectionable concomitants. Iwould
submit it alone, certainly not to-
gether, with propositions to surren-
der also other and different things,
better now IS they are than as they
will be when yielded up.
FROM MR.. SUMNER, OF MAssACHU-
SETS.
am no arithmetician but I'M
derstand that nobody has yet been
able to enumerate the States whose
votes can be counted on to assure its
ratification within any reasonable
time.
FROM MR.. HOWARD OF MICHIGAN.
In my own State, as in the case of
Indiana, l think, and probably many
of the new States in the West, per-
sons who have simply declared their
intention to become naturalized citi-
zens, are allowed, after a certain
residence in the State, to vote and
to hold Office. What is to be the
condition of that class of persons
under such an amendment as this
No discrimination can be made
against citizens, and that clause
would leave to the Legislators the
right to discriminate in favor of
unnaturalized foreigners, and prefer
them, if they saw fit to do so unwise
thing, even to citizens of the
United States, whether native born
or naturalized. Sir, this amendment
is entirely too sweeping; it runs a
plowshare through all the State con-
situations, and Overturns the most
important State regulations that can
be found. For my part, | am not
prepared to go so far as that. 1 am
willing to cure the evil of which
complaint has been made, and to
give to the black man the right to
vote, if situated within the United
States, in all cases in which l would
give a white citizen of the United
States the right to vote. But will
not go so far as to overthrow and
uproot the very foundations of the
State Constitutions.
FROM MP rDaJT7N0s or, I-1,D,,oN-r
I am altogether opposed to taking
away from the smaller States the
power as States, through their Legis-
lature, to elect the requisite number
of electors for President of the
United States. 1t overthrows the
whole system upon which the gov
eminent was founded and Seuat
if they would reflect upon it, / am
sure would be satisfied that that is
the case. l do not know but that
it is designed to do so.
FROM MR.. PATTERSON OF NEW HAATP-
SHIRE.
Suffrage is the most sacred of all
our rights; and why should we
throw open this portal of political
power and let into the strongholds
of our government the emissaries of
arbitrary power, the minions Of des-
potism Why should we let bar
barism come in like a food2 If
you do that the period may not be
far distant when you have so de
graded the intelligence of your
people that it will be unequal to self
government, and then, like the early
republicans, you will roll down the
bloody grade of revolution into the
most abject, absolute despotism.
We read of a class of persons
known as the Digger Indians, who
are pretty bad set, and of another
class, known as the Dirt Eaters, and
we are tempted to ask, in the face
of this record, have not the latter
class, if not both classes, found their
way into the United States Senate
What was true when Senators Ed
munds and Conkling spoke the
words we quote, is equally true
now. Then they wanted to force
negro suffrage upon the South, and
they did it. Some of them would
pause there, if they could, but revo-
lutions don't go backwards. In
great errors of State as in crimes,
men
First endure, then pity. then embrace"
Mr. Lincoln and Mr.. Seward COM
menced by declaring, first, that the
Government could not endure half
slave and half free, and then, that
nobody was hurt" and then, by
tinkling that "little belr' which con-
signed scores of men to Forts War
rem and Lafayette,-then by ga
Pope's bull against the comet, y
then by putting the ballot in the
hands of 10000 debased negroes,
fresh from slayery,--then followed
the prostration of States and citi-
zens of States,--then the giving ne
groes office and refusing even the
ballot to tens of thousands of white
men,-then came a reconstruction