The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-04-12
NEWS FROM WASHINGTON.

NEWS FROM WASHINGTON.
rhe Deeate I'm the Senate Friday ON
the Virginia lsiil. .aF
Mr.. MORTON denied that ii would be q
breach of faith to require the ratification OF
the fifteenth article. No agreement had
bean made between Congress and the unre-
constructed States. Congress had offered
those States reconstruction upon certain
Conditions, but they had refused to accept
the offer, and had stood out in hostility to
the Government and now it was the right
AZ Congress to impose whatever conditions
Il pleased, provided ahey were right and
inst in themselves. He would rather see
The pending bill fail than pass without this
amendment. The desire of the Democratic
party was to keep this question Of negro
suffrage open as an element Of success in
the election Of 1872. The Democratic cal
culated that without the votes Of Virginia,
Mississippi, Texas, and Indiana, the fif-
teenth amendment must fail of ratification,
and the only way to defeat that result was
BIZ making its ratification condition of the
rcadmission Of these States. s7@
Mr.. CONKLTNG said the imposition Of
the new condition proposed by the Senator
from Indiana Mr.. MoRToNl would be
breach of faith. That Senator contended
that the States in question had remained
uureconstructed only because shey had will
fully stood out and refused to accept recon
strucsion upon the conditions offered by
Congress. This certainly was not true Of
Yirsinia, one Of the States to which this
bill was intended to apply. Virginia had
rspe on as far as she could in the pre-
scribed course of reconstruction, and had
failed to complete it only because the COM
handing General, representing the Govern
ment of the United States, had been un-
able, for want of money, to hold the cleo
ton, which was necessary as condition
precedent to her admission to represents
ton in Congress.
Mr.. THURMAN said that the power Of
Congress in relation to changing the Consti-
tuti was merely to propose amendments !;
but the amendment Of the Senator from
Indiana fMr. MoRToS] proposed that Con-
eress, having already submitted the fif-
teenth constitutional amendment to the
people, should now 60 on and coerce certain
States into ratifying it. This would be an
outrage not alone upon the people of those
States, but upon the people Of ell the States,
by forcing negro suffrage upon them. In
deed, ne understood the Senator to say that
one greet object Of his amendment was to
override the will of the people Of his own
state--Indiana.
Mr.. MORTON: Not to override the will
of the people, but to override revolution
ary party in Indiana which seeks to thwsrt
the will Of the people.
Mr.. THURMAN = the Senator really
believes that the people Of Indiana are in
favor of negro suffrage, why not consent to
submit it to them directly, and not attempt
to force it upon them by Legislature
elected on the Chicago platform, which ex-
pressly disavowed the intention to force
negro suffrage upon the States In the Union.
The amendment was agreed to. .,-- ff
Mr.. DAVIS, understanding that the peo-
pie Of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas,
we're willing to accept the bill as passed by
the House, had not intended to say anything
against it, although opposed to 1t. But ne
could not let that most unconstitutional and
outrageous addition to the bill pass without
protesting against it. .....,,
Mr.. SAWYER offered an amendment to
the first section, which was agreed to,
striking out the words "the registered
voters Of said State" and inserting instead
the words "voters Of said State registered
at the time of said submission.
Mr.. STOCKTON declared himself opposed
to the original bill, and especially opposed
to the amendment Of tho Senator from In.
diana, which was not only unconstitutional
aud an outrage upon the people, but an
anomaly even upon the congressional
scheme Of reconstruction.
Mr.. BAYARD opposed and denounced
the bill on the same ground.
Mr.. CASSERLY said he would not have
opposed the passage Of the bill as it had
come from the House, because that was sim
ply compliance with the express recon-
mendations Of the President in his late
message but he felt bound to oppose IN the
only way he could the harsh, unjust, and
uncalled-for amendment offered by the
Senator from Indiana. He had the author
ity Of at least two distinguished Repuoli-
can senators for denouncing that amend
1nent as a shameful breach Of faith on the
part of the Congress of the United States,
and from his knowledge of the character OF
the American people he felt very confident
that any party who resorted to such means
to sustain itself in power would, sooner OF
later, be sternly and etfectually rebuked
by them. =,
The bill was then passed by vote of "A
yeas to 9 nays-all the senators present
voting in the affirmative except the follow
ing: Messrs. Bayard, Casserly, Davis
Fowler, McCreery, Norton, Sprague, Stock
ton, and Thurman-9. - ia v.....aa
Some amusement was created in the Sc
nate Friday afternoon on the reading Of