Year: 1866

imposing conditions upon rebels, or eX


acting security for the future. They


demand that Southern rebels shall retain


the enormous advantage they now have


whereby each one of them has sixty pei


cent more of power in the Governmen,


than has a citizen of Indiana or any
Northern State, and they demand il


because these rebels belong to their
party, will not vote their ticket, and


assist them in getting into power.


NEGRO SUFFRAGE.


The first section of the amendment is


in these words:


All persons born or naturalized in the


United States. and subject To the iuris-


diction thereof. are citizens of the


United States and of the State wherein


they reside. No State shall make or


enforce any law which shall abridge the


privileges or immunities of citizens OF


the United States, nor shall any State
deprive any person of life, liberty or
property without due process of law, nor
deny to any person within its juresdic-
tion the equal protection of its laws.


The first clause of the section declares
who shall be citizens of the United
/ States, but does not add TO their privile-
/ ges or immunities rs citizens. 1t gives
no right, power or privilege to citizens Of
the United States which they have not
/ always possessed,


The first part of the second clause
prohibits any State from making or en-
forcing law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens Of
the United States. Citizens of the Uni
ted States, as such, though they may
not be the citizens of any State, have
certain great privileges or immunities,
which arc not to be abrid ged or inter
ferred with by the laws of any State.
! This has been done heretofore in many
cases. whereby great wrongs were in
flicted; and hence the necessity of this
provision.


The second part of the clause declares
that no State shall deprive any person of
life, liberty or property, without due pro
cess of law, nor deny to any person with
in its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws


BY this it is intended to throw the
equal protection of the law around every
person who may be within the jurisdic-
tion of any State, whether citizen or alien,
ana without regard to condition or resi-
dence, not only as to life and liberty, but
as to property. 1t has happened in times
past that several of the Southern States
Disseminated against the citizens of 9th
er States by Withholding the protection
of laws for life and liberty, and denying
to them the ordinary remedies in the
courts for the vindication of their civil
rights, and hence the adoption of this
provision.


But it is new being desperately argu
ed, to redeem a desperate cause, that the
first section of the amendment confers
the right of suffrage upon negroes in
Indiana and every other State. / con
fess my astonishment that any respecta-
BILE lawyer who has the slightest regard
for his legal reputation should be willing
to commit himself to such proposition,
and argue against the clear meaning of
the English language, and the manifest
spirit and purpose of the amendment
They might as well try to extract negro
suffrage from the Ninth Commandment,
which says, Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbor," and in
fa acf I 81
particular study of that commandment


1t is one of the most fragrant and i'm
pudcnt attempts to practice fraud upon
the public mind of which l have any
knowledge, and should be held up to gen
eral execration and contempt, And so
shameless is it that Judge Perkins, in
communication Published only last week,
in referring to this subject, uses the fol-
lowing language:


Mcdonald seeks to run the campaign
on the proposition that the proposed
amendment TO the Constitution confers
negro suffrage, but that is plainly false
proposition. and one on which defeat must
of course result The proposed amend
ment does not confer negro suffrage.


Whether he correctly represents Mr..
Mcdonald am unable to say, as / am
not familiar with his speeches; but it is
very certain that he Justly denounces the
shallow pretense that this section confers
negro suffrage


1t is as well settled as any other pro-
position connected with constitutional
law. that person may be citizen of the
United States. and yet not citizen of
any State. The man of foreign birth
may be naturalized by the courts, and
thus be made a citizen of tle United
States, although lie is not citizen of
any State, and a native born person may
lose his residence and citizenship in one
State. and long time fail to acquire them
in any other; but during that time he is
unquestionably citizen of the United
States.