Year: 1866

arm of power which will validate it at all


hazards; the ready answer is, that if the
strong arm can give validity to an amend


ment adopted in disregard and defiance of
some Of the prescriptions of the organic law,
it can, with the same propriety, set them all
aside On that supposition, the Constitu-
ton would he at the mercy of the strongest,
and could at any time be moulded according
to the will Of mere majority, however un-
scrupulous or despotic that majority might
be- 1t would thus become the plaything of
politicians and parties-its sanctity profaned
and its glory departed


The committee do not present these views
In any spirit of captiousness, nor as the ad-
vocates of mere sectional interests, notwith-
standing the Amendment proposed is 'un-
questionably designed to operate on the
Southern States of this Union indeed, such
~ The avewals sf II advesatss. pst "
question of its ratification under existing au-
spices, is of the gravest import to the whole
country, and to the cause of free, constitu-
tional government. In the mutations OF hu-
man affairs, and the conflict of interest and
opinion that may arise in the future history
of this great and widespread nation, the
time may come when changes of the Federal
Constitution may be made in derogation Of
the rights and interests of other parts of the
Union. In so grave a matter too much pre-
caution cannot be used The Constitution
is the basis of our liberties No true Amer
ican has ever ceased to regard it as peculiar
ly sacred, as well for its own intrinsic excel
lence, as for the exalted character of its pat
riotic founders. And it should never be for
gotten that those good and great men, inspir-
ed by lofty deeds, in spirit of f,rbearance,
conciliation and compromise, and in the ex-
ercise of an enlightened craftsmanship,
framed this great bulwark of civil and re-
ligious liberty. Even those who are called
"rebels," have never spoken lightly of it,
The affections of all sincere lovers of liberty
twine around it, like ivy around some hal
lowed shrine where the heart pours forth its
profoundest devotions h9Jtft


Many of the prominent questions of the
present time are of temporary interest only,
and will soon be forgotten; and with them
will pass away the passions and hate which
they have engendered. But the Constitu-
tion was made for all ages. For peace and
for war. All patriots will unite in the hope
that its majesty and symmetry may not be
marred by the incorporation of amendments
shaped amid the excitements of these tenn
pestuous days, and made part oft through
methods of proceeding which are hasty and
ill-considered, and unwananted by the pro-
visions of the instrument ITSELF 7s'


Proceeding more in detail, to the merits
of the proposed Amendment, the Commit
tee have confined themselves to its most
prominent features 'nute


In the first section it is provided, that
"no State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the priUilegesor or immuni.
ties of citizens of the United States" What
those privileges and immunities are, is not
defined. Whatever is had only to such priv
ileges and immunities as may be supposed
now to exist, or to all Others which the Fed
eral Government may hereafter declare to be-
long to 1t, or may choose to grant to citizens,
is left in doubt, though the latter construc-
tlons seems the more natural, and is one
which that Government could at any time
insist upon as correct and entirely consistent
with the language used With this construc-
tion placed upon it, what limit would re-
main to the power of that Government to
interfere in the internal affairs of the States2
And what becomes of the right of State to
regulate its domestic concerns in its own
way Whatever restrictions any State might
think proper, for the general good, to i'm
pose upon any or all of its citizens, upon
declaration by the Federal Government, that
such restrictions were an abritlgment of the
privileges or immunities of the citizens of
the Union, such State laws would at once be
annulled. For instance; the law of North
Carolina forbids the inter-marriage of white
persons and negroes But if this amend
ment be ratified, the Government of 6he Uni
ted States could declare that this law.
abridge the privileges of citizens, and must
not be enforced and miscegenation would
thereupon be legalized in this common
wealth. Grant that such action on the part
of the Government would not be probable,
still it would be possible; and its bare pos
siDility sufficiently exemplifes the bound
lessness of the powers which the Amendment
would confer on the Federal Govern ment.


The power to regulate suffrage has al
ways been claimed to belong to the several
States, and it is thought by some, that this
point is securely guarded by the provisions
of the second section of the proposed Amend
ment but a slight inspection will reveal the
fact that the power of the States to regulate
suffrage is by no means expressly recognized
therein nor is their right to deny" or
"a5ridge" the franchise distinctly set forth.
The provision touching the matter merely
declares that when the right to vote, of any
male citizen twenty-one years old is deni-
ed" or abridged" the basis of representation
shall be reduced in any State where that
shall occur. 1t is not said who shall have
the power to deny or abridge the right to
vote. If the power of State, over this sub
ject, is recognized at all, it is only BY impE.
cation, and an implication, too, which is
conveyed solely in the language used for fix-
ing penalty upon the exercise of such pow
er, and without saying whether its exercise
may not hereafter be prohibited. No exclu.
sive right, nor even q limited right of State
in the premises is expressly admitted, but
all is allowed to rest on q doubtful inference.
With the right of State thus left doubtful.
suppose the Federal Government, in the ex-
ercise of the power already spoken Of as con-
ferred by the first section Of the amendment
should think proper to declare that the right
to vote is one of the privileges" and q i'm
munlties" of the citizen, what could State
do except to yield the point, and what
would prevent universal suffrage from being
at once inaugurated 2 Nothing zff


The founders of our polity left the msnare-
ment of municipal affairs, and the protection
of the ordinary personal and property inter-
ests of the citizens Of the States to the States
themselves, uncontrolled by the supervision
or interference Of the Federal authorities:
because, they rightly judged, that .ss the
welfare of the individual citizens waS most
intimately connected with the welfare Of hia
State, his interest could bemost safsly trust
ed to the protection Of his State The dAn-