Year: 1866

by its provisions to depend upon the righ
and the fact of representation.


RIGHT OF REPRESENTATION.


The Congress, upon which is conferred al
the legislative power of the National Gov
ernment. consists of two branches, the Sen
ate and House of Representatives, who's
JOINT concurrence or assent is essential t,
the validity of any law. OF these, tn,
House OF Representatives, says the Consti
tuition, (article |, section ., y "shall be com
posed OF members chosen every second yea


by the people of the several States" No
only is the right Of representation thus rec
ognlzed as possessed by all the States, anc
by every State without restriction, qualifca
tlon or condition Of any kind, but the duty
OF choosing representatives is imposed up
on the people of each and every State alike
without distinction, or the authority t.
make distinction among them, for any rea
son or upon any ground whatever. And in
the Senate, so careful is the Constitution tc
fecure TO every State this right ofrepresen.
tation, it is expressly provided that INC
State shall, without its consent, be deprived
Of its equal suffrage" in that body, even by
an amendment of the Constitution ITSELF
When, therefore, any State is excluded from
|
the State denied, but the constitutional in
tegrity of the Senate is impaired, and the
validity Of the Government itself is brough;
in question. But Congress at the present
moment thus excludes from representation.
in both branches of Congress, ten States OF
the Union, denying them all share in the
enactment of laws by which they are to be
governed and all participation in the elcc-
ton OF the rulers by which those laws are
to be enforced In other words, Congress
in which only twenty six States are repre-,
sented, asserts the ri ght to govern, absolute.
y and in its own discretion. all the thirty six
States which compose the Union-'o make
their laws and choose their rulers, and to ex-
clude the other ten from all share in theil
own government until it sees fit to admit
them thereto. What is there to distinguish
the power thus asserted and exercised from
the most absolute and intolerable tyranny?


PRIVILEGE OF CITIZENSHIP RESTORED.


4. Nor do these extravagant and unjust
claims on the part Of Congress to powers
end authority never conferred upon the
Government by the Constitution find any
warrant IN the arguments or excuses urged
ON their behalf. 1t is alleged,
IbStt IHdJ tbtSC EOlHlcS, Dy lHG dGG VI re-
bellion and by voluntarily Withdrawing
their members from Congress forfeited their
right of representation, and that they can
only receive it again at the han Is of the
supreme legislative authority of the Gov
ernment, on its own terms and at its own
discretion. If representation in Congress
and participation in the Government were
simply privileges conferred and held by
favor, this statement might have the merit
of plausibility. But representation is under
the Constitution not only expressly recoc-
nized as right, but it is imposed as duty;
aud it is essential in both aspeess to the
existance of the Government and to the
maintenance of its authority. In free gov
ernments fundamental and essential rights
can not be forfeited, except against indi-
viduals by the due process of law; nor can
constitutional duties and obligations be dis
carded or laid aside. The enjoyment of
rights may be for a time suspended by the
failure to clam them and the duties may
be avaded by the refusal to perform them
The Withdrawal of their members from
Congress by the States which resisted the
General Government was amonfi their acts
of insurrection-w one of the means and
agencies by which they sought to impair by
the authority and defeat the action Of the
Governments and that act was anulled and
rendered void when the inslrrecti0n itself
was suppressed. Neither the right of rep
resentaiion nor the duty to be represented
was in the least Impaired by the fact of in
surrection; hut it may. have been that by
reason of the insurrection the conditions on
which the enjoyment of that right, and the
performance of the duty for the time de-
pended could not be fulfilled. This was in
fact the case. An insurgcnt power, in the
exercise of unsurped and unlawful authority
had prohibited within the territory under
its control, that allegiance to the Consttu.
ton andthe laws of the United States which
is made by that fundamental law the 9ssen-
tial condition Of represent tion in its Gov
crnment. No man within the insurgent
States was allowed 10 takc the oath to sup
port the Constitution of the United States,
and, as necessary consequence, no man
could lawfully represent those States in the
councils of the Union. But this was only
an obstacle to the enjoyment of the right
and to the discharge of duty--it did nor
annul the one nor abrogate the other; and it
ceased to exist when the usurpation by
which it was created had been overthrown,
and the States had again resumed their
allegiance to to the Constitution and laws
of the United States.


THE REBELLION AN INsURRECTtoN.


Second-But it is asserted in support of
the authority claimed by the Congress now
in possession of power, that it flows directly
from the laws Of war; that it is among the
rights which victorious war always confers
~, al
rOr may exercise or waive in his own discre-
ton. 10 this we reply that the laws in
question relate solely, so far as the rights
they confer are conceded, to wars waged
between alien and independent nations, and
can have no place or force, in this regard,
in war waged by the Government to sup
press an insurrectlon of its own people,
upon its own soil, against its authority
five had carried on successful war against
any foreign nation, we might thereby have
acquired possession and jurisdiction Of their
soil, with the right to intorce our laws upon
their people and to impose upon them such
laws and such obligations as we might
choose. But we had before the war COM
plete jurisdiction over the soil of the South
ern States, limited only by our own Cons.
titution. Our laws were the the only Ma
tional laws in force upon it. The Govern
ment Of the United States was the only
Government through which those States
and their people had relations with foreign
nations, and its flag was the only flag by
by which they were recognized or known
anywhere on the face of the earth In all
these respects, and in all other resi- ects
involving notional interests and rights, our
possession was perfect and complete. 1t did
not need to be acquired, but only to pc
maintained, and victorious war against the
rebellion could do nothing more than main
@ aph the dispute % o egd of the Ia Coes fses
titution. 1t could neither enlarge nor di.
minish the authority which that Constjtu-
ton confers upon the Government by which
it was achieved Such an enlargement or
abrgement of constitutional power can be
affected only bv amendment of the Const;