Year: 1868




people We're always citizens of the United
States. But the State of Illinois, which
was admitted into the Union by an act of
Congress, means the corporation or State
Government which was organized by the
people for that purpose.


Therefore, when the Constitution says
that Congress shall provide for the admis
sion of "new States," it means 'new
State Governments. .Es


The Democrats say, "This is conceded,
but Georgia is not new State. Georgia
was one of the orig inal thirteen, one of
the old States, and clearly that provisioh
OF the Constitution does not apply to your
case" .sfs


But, my friend, I have already said
that to admit State means to admit d
State Government, and when the rebels
OF the South destroyed the Stats Govern
ment which had been in the Union, and
put IN Its place rebel State Government
which never was in the Union, and when
the armies of United Staes swept that away
and left Georgia without any government
whatever, then, when government shall
be organized there, to be admitted again
into the Union and to be restored to the
Federal rights, that government thus
formed is new government, as much as
though the people of Georgia had never
had a government whatever. What diff
ference can it make, for instance, with
this power of Congress to admit State
Government, and to frame a government;
whether the people who are to be admitted
have once had government which they
have destroyed, or whether they never
had any government.


For instance, we have, west of the
Rocky Mountains so many square miles of
territory and SO many citizens of the
United States. born in the country. We
say, 'Those people are our people;
that soil is our soil, and are entitled to our
protection /" The Government of the
United States establishes territorial gov
ernment there and protects them until
such time as they come to a proper con-
dition to be admitted as state, in full
communion, into the Union.


Now, this power and jurisdiction of
Congress, to do this thing, grows out of
this fact, simply-that if our citizens are
dwelling in community, upon ..our soil,
without local government Git is of no con-
sequence how that state of things Isl
brought about-whether it is because
they had been there and once had gov
ernment and destroyed it); if they are
our people, dwelling upon our territory,
and have no government, the United
States IS bound to put a civil government
there. e.se wr0 s9esv


have forgotten precisely where I was
addressing the world before the rest of
mankind came in but [ believe I had
got through with saying what proposed
to in reference to the power of congress
to admit new states and claimed that
that covered the entire ground, and gave
congress the constitutional power to re-
construct state government for Georgia.
Suppose, for the sake of argument. that
we admit what the Democrats claim. that
Georgia was never out of the Union, and
that her territory and people remaining in
the Union--as we concede they always
did, because they could not get out-that
therefore, she is to be regarded as state
of the Union. The constitution provides
that the United States shall guarantee to
every State a republican form of govern
ment. Now, if Georgia was not state
of the Union she was state without any
government whatever, consequently she
had no republican form of state govern
ment; and congress was called upon in
its capacity of legislating and executing
that power to take the proper steps to put
republican form of state government I'M
Georgia. This guarantee of the consti-
tuition was intended to secure to the I'm
ion republican state government for
such state, without reference to the wishes
of the people of a particular state. IF
New York, for instance, tomorrow should
call a convention, and change her form
of government from a republican to
monarchial government, it would be the
duty of congress to interfere, because the
constitution makes it the duty of the
United States to see to it that there is
republican form of government for them
in the state of New York /; and if she
should cal convention to abolish the
form OF government, and resolve herself
back into her orig nal condition, so much
soil, and SO many people without any gov
eminent whatever, congress, in this case,
would be compelled to take particular
steps to put state government there for
the state of New York, because the con-
stitution has imposed this duty upon the
general government; and the consti-
tuition has provided that congress shall
pass all laws necessary to execute
all the powers which the consti-
tuition has conferred upon the United
States This has been so frequently de-
cided by the Supreme Court of the United
States-so clearly has it been announced
by chief justice Gardner, Especially IN
the Rhode Island case, as it is called. re-
ported in the 7th of Howard, where
be distinctly lays down the doctrine that
it is the province of Congress, and Con-
gress alone, to determine whether the
form of government is republican. 1t
must also have the power TO say whether
there is government there at all, because
without so doing it cannot determine
whether particular form of government
is Republican or not--and that this duty
rests upon Congress-and when it acts iri
the premises its decision is binding upon
every part of the government, and cannof
be questioned in court. This doctrine
IL