Year: 1868

majority over liis head


Now. will cal the attention of my friend
from lsconsln TO some other authority As
he mas been pleased to refer to former
speech Of mine to show that am not quite
consistent viii refer TO vote given by him
IN 1864 on very important provision. On
the lst of July, 1864, the Senate having un-
der consideration, as in Committee OF the
whole, IA bill to guarantee to certain States
whose governments have been uSUrped or
overthrown a republican form of govern
ment, Mr. Brown, OF Missouri, offered an
amendment to strike out all of the bill after
the enactlng 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 of insurrecton against
the United States by proclamation of the Presi-
dent, by force and virtue of the act entitled an
act further to provide for the collection of duties
on imports, and for other purposes approved July
H. 1861, they shall be and are hereby declared TO
he incapable of casting any vote for electors of
President or hice President of the United States
or OF eiectng Senators or Representatives in Con-
gress until said insdrreciOn in said State is sup
pressed or abandoned and said Inhabitants have
returned TO their obedience TO the Government of
the United States. and until such return to obedi-
ence shall be declared by proclamation of the
President issued by virtue OF an of Congress
hereafter to be passed, authorizing the same


IBbitOH. = Itc DOLDTdI'lc senator from
Wisconsin voted for that III Committee of
the whole aud on its final passage. | call
attention to the amendment, which declares
that they shall be


Incapable OF casting any vote for electors of
President or Vice President of the United States
or of electing Seuators or Representatives in Con
gress until said insurrectiOn ia said State is sup
pressed or abandoned. and said inh abitants have
returned to their obedience to the Government of
the United States. and until such return and obe-
dience 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 re-
garded continuing until it shall be declar-
ed no longer to exist by the President, in
virtue OF an act of Congress to be hereafter
pa sed. am glad to find by looking at the
vote that the distinguished Senator from
Maryland Mr. johnson voted for this pro
position, and thus recognized the doctrine
for which L am now contendlng that the
power to execute the guarantee Is veste in
Congress alone, and that it is for Congress
alone to determine the status and condition
of those States, and that the President has
no power to proclaim peace or to declare the
political condition Of those States until he
shall first have. been thereunto authorized
by an act Of Congress.


| therefore, Mr.. President, take the pro-
position as conclusively established, both by
reason and authority, that this clause of the
Constitution can be executed only by Con
crcSs; and taking that as established, | now
proceed 10 consider what are the power OF
Congress in the execution Of the guarantee,
how it shall be executed, and what means
may be employed for that purpose. The
Constitution does not define the means. 1t
does not say how the guarantee shall be ex-
ecuted. All that is left to the determina-
-, Il II
acter of the means that must be employed,
that, [ take it, vii depend upon the pecu-
liar circumstances of each case and the ex
tent of the power will depend upon the 9th
er question "a to what may be required for
the purpose OF maintaining orGuaranteeing d
loyal republican form of government IN
each State [ use the word 10y al, - al
though it is not used in the Constitution,
because loyal is inhering qualification,
not only in. regard to persons, who are to
ell public Offices, but in regard to State
Gov ernments, and we have no right to recog-
nize State Government that Is not loyal to
the Government Of the United States. Now,
SIR, as to the use of means that are not pre-
scribed IN the Constitution. | call the atteu-
ton of the Senate 10 the eighteenth clause
Of section eishs Of the first article of the
Constitution of the United States, which de-
clares that:


The Congress shall have power to make all
laws which shall he necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the foregoing powers and
ali other powers vested by this Constitution in the
Government of the United States or any depart
ment or officer thereof


Here is declaration Of what would 9th |
erwise be general principle any how. that
Congress shall have the power to pass all
laws necessary to carry into execution all
powers that are vested IN the Government
under the Constitution As Congress has
the power to guarantee or maintain loyal
republican government in each State it has
the right to use whatever means may be
necessary for that purpose. As before re-
marked, 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 perhaps it may be simply pre-
senting question to the courts, and having
it tested In that way lin another case it may
go to the very foundation of the Govern
ment itself. And now PROFOUND this propo-
sition: that If Congress- after deliberatlon,
after long and bloody experience, shall come
to the conclusion that loyalrepu olican State
governments cannot be erected and main
tained in the rebel States upon the basis OF
the white population, it has right to raise
up and make voters of 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. LII
we have found after repeated trial that 10y
al republican State governments, govern
ments that shall answer the purpose that
such governments are intended to answer,
cannot be successfully founded upou the ba-
sis 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 pur-