Year: 1866

Iident endorsed this proposition even in


his veto message, and also in the unfortu-


nate speech he made on the 22d of Feb


ruary. The Senator read an extract from
President Johnson's veto, which set
forth that Representatives in Congress
] must be men who never aided in the re.


lbellion, and said if the copperheads


lcould endorse that, they had harder


dose to swallow than they ever had be-


fore. The only question was what terms


and qualifications, What tests of loyalty


should beapplied to them. He, Mr.. (Sher-


mani wanted no better test than the oath


that was prescribed two or three years
ago. That was the position of Congress


and Andrew johnson. The point of di-


Vergency was that the President insisted


in complying with those tests that each


House shall be the judge of the qualify.


cations of its own members, while Con-


gress insisted that while it had the con-


stitutional power each for itself to do SO,


it inevitably has the power to act jointly


upon this question, and he thought in


that Congress had the best of the argu-


ment. The President never had said,


and in his judgement, never would say,


that unrepentant rebels like Stephens, of


Georgia-though he was the best of them


all-shall come back and take their plac-


es to make laws for the people Of the


United States.


The second question was as to the basis


of representation, which the Speaker dis


cussed at considerable length. BY the


Constitution of the United States, repre-
sentation was based upon the number of


inhabitants, and the result of the aboli-


ton of slavery, which heretofore entitled


the South to the representation of three |
IifIhs of the slaves, would be to give to |
the Southern States increased political |
power. If this were permitted, the white |


men of South Carolina would have two |
and one third more political power than |


the white men of Connecticut. Demo-


Gratis were in favor of this because they |


knew that the white men of South Car


olina would vote for all the negroes,


which would be so much butter in the


churn of the Democratic party. They !


were opposed to any change in this condi-
ton of affairs and wanted 1.-The constitu-


ZION as it is" Both the President and
Congress affirm that there should be


change in the basis of representstion.-
| The President was in favor of basing the


representation upon the voters, leaving


every State to say who should VOTE
There was class of men in Congress who


were in favor of taking away this power


from the people; but that proposition
did not meet with much favor, as each
State was jealous of its own powers, In
many of the Western States they did not
allow rebels to vote, although they in
Connecticut allowed rebels to vote there.
The Committee of Reconstruction, when
examining this matter, found difficulties {
presented in the rule laid down by the 1
President, the representatives of the {
Northern and border States claiming
that if the Presidents plan were adopt {
ed their States would lose power. Final
" the Committee hit upon a plan which {
they thought would meet with universal ]
acceptance, which was that representa- !
tives shall be appointed among the sew !
eral States according to their respective 1
numbers, counting the whole number of {
persons in each State, provided that the /
elective franchise shall not be denied or
abridged in any State on any account Of i
race or color. Every Union man voted {
for this measure, and every Democrat '
against it, becauseit took political power 4
away from rebels, which Democrats i
might want to use some time. That y
proposition came to the Senate and was t
debated, and because some feared that U
there might be buried up in the simple |.
words that State might exclude people a
on account of race or color, it was de- v
feated, and the matter was postponed till v
next week. The difference batween the d
President and Congress on this point n
was that of Tweedledum and Tweedledee.


There was another point upon which v
the President and Congress differed, and t
that was how far the elective franchise T.
should be extended to the negroe pop t
ulation of the Southern States. He, C
the speaker) never could understand t
why anybody shonld be ex- S
cluded from the elective franchise merely Q
because he was black But he could un- d
derstand why people might be excluded a
from that privilege on account of condi- v
ton. In his opinion the negroes of the b
South were mere children in intellect, o
and he thought it would not be wise now


to compel the Southern States, as q con- Z
dition of readmission, to give the color o
ed people the elective franchise-not be- 4
cause they were black, but because b
it would be time enough for them to &
have it when they were educated suf- b
ticiently to know what was right and {,
what was wrong. If he was compelled G
to choose between a rebel and an igno- h
rant negro, he would prefer the negro
ten thousand times before the former "
But as legislators were now, in amend a
ing the Constitution, acting for all future b
time, it behooYes them to be governed a
by deep and broad principles. There "
were those in Congress who believed that o
the negro should have the suffrage at q
once, bat the people of Connecticut and of v
Ohio could not consistently urge this
measure when they refused to permit /,
handful of intelligent colored people to W
Fote. President johnson said he was Il
willing to extend the suffrage to every Il
black soldier who wore the uniform of u
the United States army and who could 7
read and write. He, Senator Sherman CT
thought that was right. The South "
would see it to be their interest, if they a
wanted increased political power, to grad RI
lally extend the suffrage to the colored c,
people. b


Mr.. Sherman thought that suffrage q
ought to be extended to the negroes of u
the District of Columbia, because Con- D
gress had power over the question and "
because they were well informed and


loyal. The President was opposed to ex- W
tending the suffrage to negroes in the d.
District of Columbia, because he believ- Il
5d In the doctrine or popular soVrelgnty. u
The Senator then alluded to the passage b
of the first and of the recent Freedmen's m
Bureau Bill, and that the President only '-
exercised his constitutional right in We p
,oing it; but he, [the speaker had the st
of Gen. Howard for saying that oi
ne never asked Andrew johnson for any b
'oFer to protect the freedmen of the g
south, but that power was amply and b
reely given. st


There was no vital differences of opin- ts
on between the President and Congress Il
o alarm any Union man, and it was his it
abiding conviction that Andrew johnson 81
never would throw the power the loyal Il
people gave him, into the hands of the bI
,opperhead party of the United States 10
20 csjoling could draw him from the h'
light line, for he was man who fought VI
lis own battles, although he might light "
hem sometimes indiseretely. He believ- st
ID that the President would SIGN the Il,