Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-19
A PECULIAR VIEW OF THE TBER-
TEENTH AHENDMENT.

| policy, he sat up a few nights with the
Constitution, as his custom is when he
has policy on the brain, and made q
grand discovery which he communica-
ted to Mr. Nasty, as usual, and which
| Mr.. Nasty cOmmunited to the public.
The grand discovery was that ''the
Constitution requires a Senator to have
been q citizen for ten years, in order to
be entitled TO admission to the SEN
ate" And it araS a discovery, and
no mistake, for the only portion of
the Constitution relating tothis matter
which anybody except Andy can find
declares that mo person shall be a
Senator who shall not have attained
the age Of thirty years, and been nine
years a citizen Of the United States,
and who shall not, when elected, be an
inhabitant of that State for which he
shall be chosen" But Andy finds an
other year somewhere in the
sacred instrument" and that,
IN his estimation effectually set
ties Mr.. Pinchback's hash. The
reason why this discovery was not
made by any other Senator in the
course Of all the long debate is that
the Constitution is neariy obsolete IN
Congress. Had it been made at the
outset, what a world of words would
have been saved!
But, alas, it Is not certain that Andy
will enlighten the Senate on this point
| after all. He informed a Times cores
| pendent on Saturday that he Was unde-
! cided whether lie should deliver his
| carefully prepared speech, and so dam
| the great stI cam Of debate. He had
about made NJ his mind 10 reserve his
strength and his wisdom until a more
fruitful topic should present itself.
What can it mean Has he spent an
other night with the constitution?
Has he discovered that the American
born negro became a citizen Of the
United States upon the ratification of
the thirteenth amendment, which
made him fee man Has
1t occurred to him that a
native freeman is necessarily a citizen
Of the United States? Has he learned
that Secretary Seward certified that
the thirteenth amendment was ratified
and a part of the Constitution on the
18th of December, 1866, or three
months more than nine years ago? In
short, has be concluded that he had
better not make a fool of himself, for
the hundredth time, by proclaimihg
his discovery on the floor Of the Sen
ate? It looks Ike It. There is a little
hope for Andy yet. We shall see what
We shall see when he addresses himself
TO the discussion of that more fruitful
tOpic.-Chicag0 Times.
The first paragraph Of the above.
turning, as it does, on an evident mis-
take Of ten" for nine" made by the
Nasty Of the Times, may be dismissed
as unworthy of any journal that re-
spects itself or the intelligence Of its
readers. That ex-Presideut johnson
could have so misquoted the Constitu-
ton VIII be universally pronounced a
moral impossibiIity.
The second paragraph, with its Pc
cuTar views Of the Thirteenth Amend
ment, suggests that the intellectual de-
partment Of the Times might itself
profit BY sitting up a few nights with
the Constitution. It would be diff
cult to cram more errors IN the same
space. The American-boTn negro did
not become a citizen Of the United
States on the ratification Of the amend
ment n question. Nor is the native
freeman necessarily a citizen Of the
United States. The Chicago Times
ought to have e memory long enough TO
.recollect the laws Of its own State be-
fore the war against native freemen,"
or free born negroes, and it viii hardly
contend that the States ever had the
right TO enact such laws against 81 CHI
zens Of the United States" Even if
the Times logicwere true, the fact that
nine years have now passed since the
amendment was ratified would not
prove that Pinchback was eligible at
the time Of his election, over two years
ago. It is true that the House has
made a loose precedent, permitting J.
Young Brown, who was elected Con
gresham under age, to take his seat
after growing up to the constitutional
requirement. Bus the usages Of the
Senate are stricter, and it has yet to
make its own precedent. In view Of
al these errors and miscalculations, we
are tempted to doubt whether the
Thirteenth Amendment was ever seen
or read in the Times Office. Under this
suspicion, we reproduce It's language:
Ant. XIII See. l. Neither slavery
nor Involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States or
any place subject TO their jurisdiction.
Sec. ,. Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate leg
islati0n.
This makes citizens Of nobody, in
any sense Of the word "citizen," even
the lowest. Excepting convicted Grim
inals, It protects from involuntary serv-
itude all persons within the iurisdic-
ton Of the United States, without re
gard to race, color, nationality or cit
zenship. Il protects the Caucasian,
Monaghan and Indian as well as the
Etbi'pe. IUprotects the persgnI lib
e-ty Of the resident alien or stranger
within our gates as much as the native
or naturaIized citizen. Personal lib.
erty is its whole scope.
The Fourteenth Amendment went
step further, declaring that all persons
born In the United States and subject
to its jurisdiction are citizens Of the
United States and Of the State where.
in they reside. This made all our ma
tive born negroes citizens" from the
date Of It's PRONUNCIATION, July .,
1865. But It did not confer on them
any right to vote, much less 10 hold Of
fee. The second section of this