Year: 1868

II


ment." Mr.. Brown, of Missouri, offered
an amendment to strike out all of the


bill after the enacting clause, and to
insert a substitute, which | will ask the
Secretary to read.


The Secretary read as follows:


''That when the inhabitants of any
State have been declared in a state of
insurrection against the United States


oy proclamation of the President, by
force and virtue of the act entitled San
act further to provide for the collec-
ton OF duties on imports, and for 9TH
er purposes" approved July Is, 1861
they shall be, and are hereby declared
to be, incapable of casting any vote for
Electors Of President or Vice President
of the United States, or OF electing
Senators or Representatives in Con.
gress, until said insurrection in said
State Is suppressed or abandoned, and
said inhabitants have returned to their
obedience to the Government of the


United States, and until such return
to obedience, shall be declared by proc
lamation of the President, issued by
virtue OF an act of Congress hereafter
to be passed, authorizing the same"
Mr.. Morton. The honorable Senator
from Wisconsin voted for that in Com
mlttee OF the Whole and on its final
passage. l call attention to the con-
clusion of the amendment, which de-
clares that they shall be-


incapable of casting any vote for
electors of President or Vice President
OF the United States, or of elechng
Senators or Representatives. in Congress
until said insurrection in said State is
suppressed or abandoned, and said in
habltants have returned to their obedi-
ence to the Government of the United
States, and until such return and obedi-
ence shall be declared by proclamation
of the President, issued by virtue of an
act Of Congress hereafter to be passed,
authorizing the same"


Recognizing that state of war shall
be regarded as continuing until it shall
be declared no longer to exist by the
President in VirtueNof an act of Con-
gress to be hereafter passed. am glad
to ind by looking at the vote that the
distinguished Senator from MARYLAND
Mr.. Johnson) voted for this PROPOSE.
ton, and thus recognized the doctrine
Tor which L am contending; that the
power to execute the guarantee was
vested in Congress alone, and that it Is
for Congress alone to determine the
status and condition of those States,
until he shall first have been thereunto
authorized by an act of Congress.


], therefore, Mr.. President, take the
proposition as concIusiVely established.
both by reason and authority, that this
clause of the Constitution can be ex.
ecuted only by Congress and taking
that as established, now proceed to
consider what are the powers of Con-
gress in the execution of the guarantees.
how 1t shall be executed, and what
means may be employed for that pur-
pose. The Constitution does not define
the means. 1t does not say how the
guarantee shall be executed. All this
IS left to the determination of Congress.
As to the particular character Of the
means that must be employed, that, 1
take 1t, will depend upon the peculiar
circumstances of each case; and the
extent of the power will depend upon
the other question as to what NAV be
required for the purpose of maintaining
or guaranteeing loyal republican
form OF government in each State. I
use the word "loyal," although it is
not used in the Constitution, because
loyalty IS an inhering qualification not
only IN regard to persons who are to fill
public offices, but IN regard to State
Governments, and we have no right TO
recognize State Government that Is
not loyal to the United States. Now,
sir, as to the use of means that are not
prescribed in the Constitution, I call
the attention of the Senate to the
eighteenth clause of section eighth of
the first article of the Constitution of
the United States, which declares
that


"The Congress shall have power to
make all laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into execution
the foregoing powers and all Other
powers vested by the Constitution in
the Government of the United States
or any department or officer thereof"


Here is declaration of what would
otherwise be a general principle any
how, that Congress shall have the DOW
er to pass all laws necessary to carry
into execution all powers that are yes
ted in the Government under the Con-
stitution. As Congress has the power
to guarantee or maintain a loyal re-
publican government in each State, it
has the right to use whatever means
may be necessary for that purpose. As
l before remarked, the character of the
means will depend upon the character
OF the case. In one case it may be the
use of an army; in another case, per-
haps, 1t may be simply presenting a
Question to the courts, and having it
tested in that way; in another case it
may 90 to the very foundation of the
Government itself: And l now pro-
pound this proposition: that if Con-
gress, after deliberation, after long and
bloody experience, shall come to the
conclusion that loyal republican State
Governments can not be erected and
maintained in the rebel States upon
the basis of the white population, it
has right to raise up and make voters
of a class of men who had no right to
vote under the State laws. This is
simply the use of the necessary means
in the execution of the guarantee. If
We have found after repeated trials that
loyal republican State Governments,
Governments that shall answer the
purpose that such governments are in
tended to answer, can not be success
fully founded upon the basis of the
white population, because the great
majority of that population are disloy =
al, then Congress has right to raise
up a new loyal voting population for
the purpose of establishing these Gov
ernments in the execution of the guar
antee. l think, sir, this proposition is
so clear that it is not necessary to elab-
crate it. We are not required to find
in the Constitution particular grant
of power for this purpose; but we find
q general grant of power authorizing US
to use whatever means may be neces-
sary to execute the first and we find
that the Supreme Court of the United
States has said that the judgment of
Congress upon this question shall be
that it can not be reviewed
by the courts, that it is a purely politi-
cal matter; and therefore the determi-
nation of Congress, that raising up col
ored men to the right of suffrage is
means necessary to the execution of
that power, is a determination which
can not be reviewed by the courts, and
is conclusive upon the people of this
country.


THE PRESIDENTS RECONSTRUCTION WORK.


The President of the United States,
assuming that he had the power to ex-
ecute this guarantee, and basing his