The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-01

force They are not likely to change their
opinion of that decision now. In the next
place, they formally disregarded it in the civil
rights bill, which they passed before the four
teenth amendment was ratified; bill which
declares the negroes citizens, although Con-
gress had no authority to pass such an act il
the Dred Scott decision was correct, and per-
sons of African descent are excluded from
citizenship by the Constitution. The ground
which the Senate will take in Revels' case will
be, that when the fourteenth amendment saws
that ''all persons born or naturalized in the
United States are citizens" it means that per-
sons naturalized in the United States are citi-
zens from the date of their naturalization;
and persons born in the United States, cii-
zens from the date of their birth
This doctrine is hardly worth contestino
inasmuch as the question has no permanent
interest if it be admitted that the fourteenth
amendment has been duly ratified. If the
ratification is null, the negroes will lose all
the privileges of citizenship, including eligi-
bility to Congress among the rest but if the
fourteenth amendment is to stand, the seven
or nine years is not worth disputing about,
considering that the Republicans will not de-
clare any election to Congress void by reason
of negro birth, so long as they remain in
power. By the Constitution, each house is
made the sole Judge of the election and quail
fication of its members, and if the Senate
admits the Mississippi negro, there is no con-
stitutional process by which he can be ousted.
With the known committals of the Republican
party, the question has at present only o
theoretical or speculative interest.
The nine and seven years citizenship re-
quired of Senators and Representatives have
not always been strictly construed, even by
the Democratic party. When we annexed
Texas we at once admitted her into the Union
as State, "on an equal footing with the ori-
ginal States in all respects whatever" AS an
equal State in the Union Texaswas entitled to
Senators and Representatives; but her citi-
zens had been foreigners up to the date of
annexation. Was she then to wait nine years
before she could be representedin the Senate,
and seven before she could be represented in
the House? No such question was raised,
although it might have been raised with
great plausibility. Her Senators and
| Representatives were admitted to seats
| without any reference to the length
of time they had been citizens of the United
| States. If we should ever annex Canada, we
should have the same thing repeated. The
| Canada Senators, instead of waiting nine
| years, would be received Immediately after the
dissolution of their allegiance to the British
crown. There would be q necessity of violat-
| ing the Constitution in one respect, and its
minor requirements would yield to the major.
| The right of the State to two Senators would
overrule the nine years citizenship. But in
the case of the Southern negroes there is no
such overruling necessity. The Southern
States have abundance of duly qualified citi-
zens from which they can select Senators
and Representatives; but the negro Senator
will nevertheless be admitted, in order that
the Republican party may preserve its consis-
| tency.