013 786 554 3 ^ p6RmatTfe» E 670 .R387 Copy 1 Emancipatiou ! aufraiichisoment ! Reconstniction LEGISLATIVE RECORD THE .REPUBLICAN PARTY T^ , DURING AND SINCE THE WAR. UBLISHED BY THE UNION REPUBLiCAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEF, WASHINGTON, D. 0. A brief record of -what h?^s been done in Congress since the slaveholding Democracy begun their causeless rebellion is herewith presented. So much misrepresentation is made that an outline of measures submit- ted, and of the dates and votes on and by which they were adopted, could not be otherwise than serviceable to all. Every honest, fair-minded man will perceive at ouce the nature of the struggle. The record herewith offered cannot bo more filly illus- trated than by a quotation from a speech of Alexander 11. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice President of the so-called Confederacy, made at Savannah, Ga., March 31, 1868, for the purpose of announcing to the world the reasons held by the Somhern leaders for inaugurating their formidable revolu- tionary attempt. It was intended as a sol- emn argument for Southern opinion and for the full vindication of their Democritic action. As such it is a fitting contrast to Republican action. Jlr. Stephens declares of Mr. Jefferson that "the prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution were, that the enslave- ment of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in prin- ciple, socially, morally, and politically. * « •» * These ideas were funda- mentally wrong. * '■• * * Our new Goverameat (the Confederacy) is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas. Its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great t ruth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, sub- ordination to the superior, is his natural and normal condition." To this declaration, with its accompany- ing horrors of terrible war, the starvation of thousands in rebel prisons, the filling of the land, North and South, with graves and mourning households, the terrible tax- ation superinduced by the cost of suppress- ing this Democratic and slaveholding rebellion, is presented what the Republican party has done in the vindication of its principles and in necf'ssary defence of the Republic against Democratic treason. THE THIIlTY-SKVENTn CONGRESS. Special session July 4, 1801, Senator Trumbull, reported from the Senate Judiciary Committee, July 20, 1801, a bill confiscating property used in aid of the rebellion. The Senator of- fered an additional section, cettiug free slaves employed by their masters in aid of armed cinsurrection. Many were employed to build military works, «r.:\ An exciting debate ensued. All 11. c Democratic SenatoTS opposed it. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, who had been that party's candidate for President the year before against ]\Ir. Lincoln, denounced t'ao proposition as the beginning of a series of measures sure to Icid "to a general con- fiscation of all property and a loosinrj of all bondx.''^ Whsn the bill passed the Senate, July 23, every Democrat voted against, every Republican for. The bill passed the House of Representatives, aft-.r a similar debate, August 3, (every Democrat voiin^ "no,") and was signed by Mr. Lincoln and beeame law on the 6th of August, 1801. On the 25th day of February, 1863, at . the first regular ses.sion of the Thirty-Sev- enth Congress, an additional article of AV.ir, forbidding and punishing the return of fu- gitiives by either naval or military oflicers, passed the House. On the 10th of March it passed the Senate. On thu 10th ic was approved by the President. It was opposed by the Democrats in every stage of its pro- gress. Senator Wilson, (Reputilican,) on the 4^h of December, 1801, introduced a reso- lution looking toward the emancipation of all slaves in the District of Columbia. On tho 24th of February, 1863, he offered a bill providing for this grand result. It passed the Senate, April 3. Every Repub- lican voted for, every Democrat against it. ^■3i The owners were to be compensated out of the Treasury according to an award to be made by commissioners appointed for the purpose. It passed the IJouse on the 11th of April, and was signed by President Lin- coln, April IG, 1SG3. By this act three THOUSAKD persons were made free. On the Gih of March, 18G3, President Lincoln, by special message, recommended Congress to pass a joint resolution, offering on the part of tlie United States to co- operate with any ttate desiring to gradu- ally abolish slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid in support of the action. On the 10th of March Mr. Koscoe Conk- ling (Republican) olfered a joint resolu- tion covering the ground suggested by Mr. Lincoln. After a stormy debate, in which all the Democrats opposed its passage, and the policy of emancipation it sustained, it passed the House on the Uth of March by a vote of 89 for, all Republican, and 31 against, all Democrats. It passed the Senate after long debate, April 3, ali;,but one Democrat (Garrett Davis, Kentucky) voting against it. The President signed it April 10, 1SG3. On the 34lh of March, 1SG3, Mr. Arnold, (Republican,") of Illinois, introduced into the House a bill prohibiting slavery forever in any of the Territories of the United States. On the 8th day of May Mr. Love- joy, of Illinois, reported the measure from committee to the House. On the 13lh day of May it passed, 85 Republicans voting "aye" and 50 Democrats voting "no." It was taken up in the Senate on the 15th of May. On the 9th of June it v/as discussed, amended, and passed by a vote of 33 yeas to 10 nays, every Democrat present voting in the minority. It was passed by the House on the 17lh of June, approved by Mr. Lincoln, and thus made law, June 19, 1863. By this act half of the area of the United States was secured forever to free- dom. Mr. Pomeroy, of Kansas, on the IGth ot July, 1861, introduced into the Senate a bill setting forth that, as slavery caused the rebellion, then forcing a life and death struffgle on the nation, therefore slavery shotUd be declared abolished in all States in arms against the Govern- ment. This was the first anti-slavery measure offered by the Republicans in Con- gress. It v.-as referred to the Judiciary Committee. Various propositions grew out of the discussion. The debate over them lasted from December, 18G1, to July, 1SG3. The delay waa wholly caused by Democratic opposition. Finally, a bill originally offered by Senatoi Clark, New Hampshire, passed the Sen- ate, June So. It v/tut to the House, was amended, again referred to a committee of conference, and finally passed the House July 11, 1863, by a vote of 83 RepubUcans to 43 Democrats. On the 13th the Senate passed it by a party vote of 37 Republicans to 13 Democrats. On the 17th of July it received the approval of Mr. Lincoln and became a law. This enactment provided that all slaves of persons aiding the rebellion coming within our lines, or deserted by their mas- ters and coming within our control, and all slaves found in places occupied by the rebel armies and captured by our troops, should be deemed captives of war, and be forever made free; also, that slaves should not be surrendered; that any person in the military or naval service so surrendering them should be punished. Prior to the inauguration of ]\Ir. Lincoln as President, March 4, 1861, the Govern- ment was controlled in the interests of slavery. The United States was at the lime the only civilized government refus- ing to recognize the national existence of the Republics of Liberia and Hayti, solely because the people thereof were persons of African descent. On the 4th of March, 1863, Senator Charles Sumner reported a bill for the establishment of diplomatic relations with the countries named. It passed the Sen- ate April 34, 1863 — all the Democrats voting "no." During their discussion, Demo- cratic Senators indulged in ridicule at the idea of seeing a man of color recognized in a diplomatic capacity. The bill passed the House June 3, 1863, and became a law by the approval of Mr. Lin- coln on the 5th of the same month. On the 9th of April, 1863, Senator Grimes, of Iowa, introduced a bill pro- viding that ten per cent, of the taxes col- lected from the colored residents of the District of Columbia should be set aside for the education of colored children in the District. It was stated that the amount of taxable property belonging to colored persons in the District was valued at §650,000. On this a tax of $36,000 was paid. Tlie school ten per cent, would be $3,600. It appeared that under the slave- holding municipal rule the taxes paid by colored persons icere vsed to educate widte children only. Until the 1st of June, 1868, when the Republicans elected the Mayor of Washington, the Democratic city authori- ties had in every way resisted the payment to the colored schools of the amount au- thorized by Congress to be so paid, and a large amount yet remains due the schoo] funds. On the 8th of May, Senator Wilson, (Rep.,) Massachusetta, ofiered an addi- tional section, providing for the abolitioa of all ordinances, laws, &c., which within tlie District made odious disctinctions against the colored people. The laws thus to be repealed were made under the sys- tem of slavery, and were very opi)ressive in their character. The bill, as amended, passed the Senate May 9, by a vote of 39 Republicansto 7 Democrats. It passed the House on the 15th, aud became a law by Mr. Lincoln's approval May 17, 18G3. On the 23d of June, Mr. Lovejoy, of Illi- n(>ir., olfcred a bill in the House for the es- tablishment of a Board of Trustees to take charge of the colored schools of the Dis- trict, and to whom the prorata of taxes was to be paid. The object was to ensure the establishment of the schools, as the Democratic city government refused to put them in operation. This bill became a law, against the opposition of all the Dem- ocrats in Congress, on the 11th of Julv, 1S02. Under Democratic misrule the American flag was openly used to cover the infamous African slave trade — a traffic so inhuman that the framcrs of the Coustitution inserted a provision for its early cessation. They thus expressed their abhorrence of a traffic at a time v/hen its practice was recognized by all commercial nations. As soon as the rtepublicuus obtained power they set at work to enforce treaties made for its sup- jjrcsdon. On the 12th of June, 1862, Senator Sum- ner reported a bill for that purpose. It provided for judges and arbitrators to be appointed at points suitable for making de- cisions with relation to vessels captured as slavers. The only speech made in the Senate against it was by i\rr. Sanlsbury, of Delaware — a Democrat. Four Democrats voted "nay." The bill passed the House on the 7ch of July, and was approved by Mr. Lincoln on the 11th of July, 18G2. An additional bill was passed by both houses and became a law on the 17lh of July, 18G3. Mr. Lincoln enforced the law of nations with regard to this traffic bj- the trial as a pirate of one Gordon, captured while engag- ed in the African slave trade. This was in marked contrast to the action of Demo- cratic Executives. A promineut Southern Democrat, one Captain Lamar, of Savan- nah, Ga., openly violated the laws, and, in 1859 or ISOO, lauded a c:irgo of native Afri- cans on the coast of Georgia, who were immediately r^old as slaves. Lamar is re- cognized as a leading Democrat, and, of course, was an active rebel. On the 12th of July, 18C2, Senator Wil- son, as chairman of Committee on Mili- tary Affairs, reported to the Senate a bill for the organi.zation of the jvilitia, and to suppress insurrection. Under its provisions the President was to be au- thorized to receive colored men into military service, Ibr the purpose of con- structing intrenchments, or other labor, or any military service for which they might be found competent. When so enrolled, the man, his mother, wife, and children were to be forever declared free. The de- bate over the hWl was long and earnest. The Democrats fought it at every stage. The bill passed the {senate on the loth of July, by a vote of 23 yeas and 9 nays, all but one of the latter being Democrats. It pars- ed the IIouFc on the IGth, and became a law, by approval of Mr. Lincoln, on the 17th of Ju'y, 1S62. _ The first authorized military organiza- tion of colored men was made under this law. Senator James H. Lane, of Kansas, acting as Commissioner of l(ecruitinL^ un- der authority of the War Dep-irt'ment., raised one regiment of colored men, mus- tered in as volunteer infantry. This or- ganization was begun on the" 4th of Au- gust. It fought the first engagement with rebels in which colored men served, Octo- ber 20, 18G2, nine weeks before the pro- clamation of emancipation was issued by Mr. Lincoln. This regiment was mustered out of service, November, 18G5. On the 22d day of September, 1SC2, Presi- dent Abraham Lincoln issued a proclama- tion, announcing that on the first day of January, 18G;J, he should issue another pro- clamation declaring free all persons held as slaves within such States aud districts as should be therein named. In accordance with the terms of this pre- fatory instrument, Abraham Lincoln, on the first day of January, 1SG3, did issue a proclamation of emancipation, dedarinfj nil slaves free forever within the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Virginia, excepting only certain designated portions of Louis- iana and Virginia occupied by our troops, and in which the slaves had become prac- tically free. By this act over three millions of persons were from chattels made men and women in the eye of the law. The same proclamation also authorized the enlist- ment of colored men into the army and navy. On the 17th of February, 1803, Senator Wilson introduced a bill to incorporate an institution for the education of colored youths, to be located in the District of Co- lumbia. Even this measure met with great opposition from the Democrats, one of them declaring he could not "see any good reason why the Government ot the United Stales should enter upon the scheme of educating negroes." The bill passed the Senate, February 27, by a vote of 27 ayes to 9 noes, the latter being all Democrats. It passed the House on the 2d of March, and was approved next day by Mr. Lin- coln. In the second session of the Thirty-Eighth Congress, February 10, 18G4, a bill euroll- ing all able-bodied persons for military purposes was amended by striking out one of its sections and inserting in substance " that all able-bodied male persons of Afri- can descent between the a^es of twenty and forty-five, whether citizens or not, shall be enrolled and m.idea pirtof the ua- tional forces ; and, vlien cnrolle^l and \ drafted into the service, his master sTiall be j entitled to receive three hundred dollars, I and the drafted man shall be free." It was modified so as to provide only fi)r pa3'ment to loj'al masters, and afterwards by re- ducing the bounty paid to one hundred dollars. Afterwards the Thirly-ISinth Con- gress suspended the payment of all sack bounties, January 14, 18G7. The vote stood ia the House 107 Republicans to 30 Democrats. The enrolment bill as passed made all colored men liable to draft, and, if a slave at the time, made himself and famil}^ free. A movement for the appropriiition of money to compensate the border States for the emancipation of their slaves was be- gun by Senator Wilson, March 7, 1SG3. Several propositions followed, and a long discussion ensued, terminating in the Sen- ate by the passage of a bill granting ten million dollars as compensation to Mis- souri for such emancipation, February 13, 18G3. The bill was lost by the dilatory motion of the Democrats iu the House at the close of the session. ilon. James M. Aihley, (Rep.,) of Ohio, introduced into the Thirty-Eighth Con- gress, December M, 1803, au amendment to the Constitution of the United States, declaring slavery forever abolished. It was referred lo the Judiciary Commiitee, and it was favorably reported to the House. Senator Henderson, of Missouri, on the 11th of January, 1804, introduced a simi- lar proposition. It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is the amendment finally adopted, and now linowu as Article Fourteen of the Constitu- lion. Amendments and substitutes were offered by Mr. fc^umuer and other Senators. The discussioa continued; Democratic Sena- tors rebisting iis passage at every stage, from the date of introduction until the 8th of April, 1SG4. The vote stood C8 ayes to G noes, only one Democrat (Senator Nes- mitb, uf Oregon,) voting in the aCirmative. Debute ou the anienumcnt begun in the House on the olst of May, 1804, and it was rejected, then reconsidered on the 5th of December following, and finally passed the House, iiUer au exciting debate ou Tues- day, January 27, 18G5, by a vote of 119 ye.iH lo ij? nays, the latter being all Demo- KiMis. 'i'hree Democrats only voted foji' I his b-.neficial act. The amendment, as liually incorporated into the Consliluliou as ariicle I'ourteen, is as follows: Skc 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servt- lu'Jo, excci>t as a puuUhmcnt lor crlmo, wherool tlio i^arly ."^hill hive boon duly coiui-ted, shall c.\Ut wUhln tUo (Tnlted b:atcs, or any place sub- ject, to thtlr jurisd'ctlon Si:c. li. (Joiiirrors fhall have p^v/er to enforce this ar icle by appropriate Icgislatl jn. The infamous fni;itive slave act of 18.j0 was early attacked by the li-.'publican parlj'. after slavery flung down the gauntlet by acts of treason. Senator Howe, of Wiscon- sin, introduced, December 20, the first proposition to repeal that odious act. It was detained iu committee and reporteol back adversely, February II, 1803. Mr. Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, Senator Wilson, of Mass., Thaddeus Stevens, of Peuna., and Mr. Julian, of Indiana, intro- duced propositions to repeal this law in the Thirty-Eighth Congress. On the 8th of February, 1SG4, Mr. Sumner introduced a bill to repeal the law named. It was re- ferred to a special committee. The House bills introduced bj' Messrs. Ashley, Ste- vens, and Julian were referred to the Ju- diciary Committee. jMr. Morris, (Republi- can,) of NewYork, on the Gth of June, re- ported a bill from the committee. It passed ou the 13th of June, 1804. The vote stoo^l — 83 yeas, and 57 nays. No Democr.it voted for the repeal. On the 23d of June the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 27 Republi- cans to 13 Democrats and Conservatives. It was approved by Mr. Lincoln June 28, 1804. On the 11th of June, 18G4, a bill finally passed and became a law by which the pay, &c., of the colored soldier was made equal in all respects to that of the v/hite soldier. The inequalities hitherto existing were owing to the strenuous opposition of Democratsin Congress to every measure equalizing the pay and bounties. The attempt to pass a law organizing the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Aban doned Lands, better known in current history as the "Freedmen's Bureau," be gun iu the Senate January 13, 1803, by Mr Wilson presenting a mcmorialfrom Massa- chusetts, praying the establishiuent of a bureau of emancipation. A bill for that purpose T/as introduced into the House by ]Mr. Eliot, of Massachusetts, on the 19th of January. This passed the House on the 24th of February. In tlio Senate it was re- ferred to Mr. Sumner's select committee ou slavery, by whom a substitute was reported on the 12th of April. It pas.-ed the Senate June 28, went to the House, was postponed till the next session, and passed early in 1805. ^ Bills were introduced during the regular session of the Thirty-Seventh Congress by which the use of the District of Columbi i jail as a place of confinement for slaves, fugitive or otherwise, was forbidden. Presi- dent Lincoln, by Executive order dated January 25, 18G3, directed the suppression of the abuses complained of. On the 2d of July, 18G3, a bill declaring that no person's testimony shall be ex- cluded by any United States court, on account of their color or former condition, became law by approval of the President. It was bitterly opposed by the Democrats. The same law contained a provision pro- hibiting the coast-wiso interstate slave trade. The Democrats opposed this also. Before the war, colored men were for- bidden to contrnct for or carry United States mails. IMr. Snmner moved in the Senate, ]\Iarch 18, 18G3, to remove all such restriction?. The Democrats opposed it and voted ajjainst the measure. It finally passed, offer hitter opposition, in 18G4. Through the exertions of Mr. Sumner, a t)ill prohibitin.i distinctions on account of r-ice or color in the public conveyances of the District was passed, after considerable Democratic opposition, and became law on thPiSlstof June, 1863. Another of the series of measures ren- dered necessary by the attitude of the Southern Democracy toward the loyal peo- ple, black and white, in their midst was proposed liy Senator Wilson. It provided ' for the disbandment of the so-called State militia orsranized under the governments instituted by Mr. Johnson's plan of restora- tion. This armed force was used chiefly to coerce the colored people, and enforce laws which practically made them serfs or slaves of society. In the latter portion of the second session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, Mr. Kasson, of Iowa, introduced and carried through two measures intended to make effective the anti slavery amendment, and to prevent the evasion of the civil rights law. In the first instance, a system of appren- ticeship for colored children had grown up in former slave States, by which they were virtually made slaves again. Thousands of co'ored children, in Maryland and Ken- tucky especially, were thus illegally bound to servitude. In other cases the so-called Southern State Legislatures, restored under 7»Ir. .Johnson's policy, had provided nu- merous oiTences, the penalty of which was public sale for the offender. Sales were made of colored paupers, so-called, and by the s}-.stem inaugurated purposely made vagrants, in order to sell in the man- ner alluded to. Thece same Legislatures had passed laws by which whipping and similar punishments were to be inflicted on negroes. These were all prohibited under heavy penalties. In the discussion the Democrats opposed both measures on the ground that they interfered with the "re- served rights" of tbe States. They vot;ed against them 'on the same ground. Their idea of States rights is the right to wliip, brand, oppress, and enslave the poor. The Kepublican policy is that of protection to .■ill in tbe degree rendered necessary by local tyranny and prejudices, as embodied in laws or working through unjust and op- pressive customs. Mr. Sidney Clarke, of Kansas, also in- troduced and carried a resolution in the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and Senator Wil- son introduced and carried in the first ses- sion of the Fortieth Congress, a bill abolish- ing the systems of peonage and Indian slavery existing in the Territory of New Mexico. After it was seen that the local aut orities failed to enforce i!s provi- sions, a resolution requiring General Sher. man, as military commander of the Indian country, to see that the law was carried out. was passed at the close of the second session of the Fortieth Congress, and by this act the last vestige of slavery, as an organized system, was swept from the United States. Such were the leading anti-slavery mea- sures of the Tbirty-Seventh and Thirty- Eighth Congresses— those of the war, and in the Thirty-Ninth, which assembled at the close. Besides these legislative acts, how- ever, and ]\Ir. Lincoln's noble proclama- tion of emancipation, other acts were being performed under the lead of the great Re- publican movement. Maryland, M'.ssouri, Virginia, and West Virginia abolished slavery in their borders. Illinois and other Northern States repealed their black laws, discriminating against a colored man's civil rights, enacted by the Democracy when in power. The Attorney General officially proclaimed the colored man to be a citizen, and the Supreme Court of the United States admitted him to practice therein. The debates on the reconstruction of the rebel States begun in the Thirty-Seventh Congress, by the introduction of a bill to reorffanize them as Territories, December 2G, i861. It continued through the Thirty- Eighth Congress until the close of field operations, but no bill became law. One, framed by the late Henry Winter Davis, passed, but failed to receive Mr. Lincoln's approval. Congress therein made the first record of its right to decide this question. The war proceeded to its close. Lee sur- rendered the rebel armies to our great sol- dier. General U. S. Grant. The'bullet of of a Democratic assassin, John Wilkes Booth, took the life of our great President, Abraham Lincoln, and the Vice Presi- dent, Andrew Johnson, constitutiou'iUy assumed tbe duties of the office. The Thirty-Ninth Congress did not meet until the usual date in December, ISG-l. In the meanv^hile Mr. Johnson, by proclamation and orders, had undertaken tbe wcu-k of restoration. He appointed Provisional Governors, declared who should be voters, by which he excluded the emancipated mil- lions who were loyal, as well as a few thou sands of the leading rebels, and left the work of reorganizing civil governments to the great body of those who fought to de- stroy the General Government. In his message to Congress the President denied the authority of that branch of tlie Govern- ment to supervise his action. While ho thus proclaimed his action a finality, the State governments established under his plan were busily engaged through legisla- tion in endeavoring to reduce the ireed k 4 people to the condition of serfdom. They could not reestablish slavery for the benefit of a master; so they sought by unjust laws to make the colored man the vassal or slave of society. To this result the Ropub- licau m'^jority in Congress decidedly ob- jected. The first step taken by the Thirty- Nintl) Congress was the appointment of a joint Committee on Reconstruction, to Avbom tUQ President's messngo and all matters relating to the rebel States were to be referred. A very acrimonious discus- sion arose over the proposition originally offered by Thaddeus Stevens. The House ordered the committee, on the 4ih of De- cember, 18G5, by a vote of 133 to 33, the nays being, with a few exceptions, all Democratic. It passed the Senate on the iiih of December, by a vote of 33 to 11. To this committee wos referred the creden- tials of all persons claiming seats in Con- gress under the Johnson organizations. Various resolutions were passed on these points, and the debate was long and brl'.- liant. On the oth of January, ISGG, Mr. Trum- bull reported a bill "to protect all persons in their civil rights." It Avas referred and again reported on the 11th of the same month. It provided that there should be no discvimination in civil rights on ac- count of color, race, or previous condition of slavery; but the inhabitants of every race or color should have the same right to make and enforce contracts, &c., and should be subject to like 'punishment, 'paiiis, :can members dissented because the State had not grauted loyal impartial suf- frage. No action was then taken. On the 20th of July, 1866, another resolution of admission was reported. The preambl ' sets forth the fact that the State ha acknowledged paramount allegiance, du to the Union aud had shown a proper spiri of obedience to the laws and Constitntior^i The resolution passed by a vote of 125 to 12. Several Democrats voted with the Repilo- licans. The Senate amended the resolution and it passed by avote of 28 to 4. Tennessee was admitted to representation on the 22d of July, 1866, and became the first Southern State restored to the Union upon the basis of impartial loyal suffrage. After the introduction of a number of propositions looking to the restoration of the rebel States upon the basis of equal rights, and long aud able discussions upon them, lasting through the first and second sessions of the Thirty- Ninth Congress, the first reconstruction act passed the United States Senate by a vote of 27 yeas to 10 nays, February 17, 1867. The House re- fused to concur in the Senate bill. After some discussion the House amended the bill, and on the 20th of February it passed by a vote of 126 to 46— all the Democrats, with a few Republicans, voting no. On the same day the Senate concurred by a vote of 35 to 7. The President vetoed the bill, and it passed over the veto on the 2d of March, 1867. The first section divided the ten States lately in rebellion into five Military Dis- tricts. The second directs that a military officer, not less in rank than a Brigadier General, should be detailed to command. The third details the duties of saidoQicer, as being to suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence, aud to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public peace and criminals. He was to do this by the local provisional tribunals, or by military commissions. The fourth required no un- necessary delay in trial, &c. The fifth provides for an election, authorizes impartial suffrage, limiting it only by loyalty. Tiie sixth declares that the governments existing in said States are provisional and subject to the paramount authority of tke United States. n I The Fortieth Congress assembled on the 4th of JIarch, 18G7, immediately upon tlic adjournment of the Thirty-INiuth. The session did not last long, and the principal work was the passage of a supplementary reconstruction act, rendered necessary, it was evident, by omissions in the first, and the condition of the South. It related chiefly to tlie mode of registration, and the special feature was a requirement that a majority of the voters registered should vote aliirmatively for tlie constitutional conventions and on the instruments they should frame. Afterward the Democratic opposition took advantage of this provision, intended to prevent a minority ruling the new organizations, and in the case of Ala- bama, by staying away themselves and forcibly preventing the colored voters from iiolng to the polls, attempted to prevent the success of reconstruction. They partially succeeded there. This bill passed March 7, 18G7. ^ A session of Congress was held in the summer of 1867, rendered necessary by at- tempts of Mr. Johnson, through an opinion of the Attorney General, to nullify and render nugatory these acts. A brief supplementary act was passed, receiviug the support of all the Republicans and the opposition of all the Democrats. This mea- sure declared the true intent of the previous reconstruction act, provided for the re- mov:il of disloyal officers, and more clearly defined and enforced the duties of dis- trict commanders. The bill passed (July 19, 1807,) the House over the veto by a vote of 108 to 25, and the Senate, on the same day, by a vote of 30 to G. At the second session of the Fortieth Congress, the reconstruction plans had pro- gressed so far that several of the late rebel States were read)'- for recognition. Onthelith of March, 1868, Congress amended the reconstruction acts so as to allow a majority of the votes cast to ratify the new constitutions. The Republicans all voted for this, the Democrats against it. On the 22d of June, 1863, an act was passed admitting the State of Arkansas to representation. This measure was adopted with a fundamental condition attached, that by the" ?tate no "denial or abridge- ment of the elective franchise, or of any other right, to any person by reason of race or color" should ever be made. The vole oa its passage over the veto was, in the House, 108 yeas (all Republicans) to 27 nays (all Democrats;) in the Senate the vote stood — yeas 80, nays 7, the latter be- ing Democrats. On the Soth of June, 1803, after consid- erable debate and vigorous Democratic op- position, culminating in a Presidential veto, Congress passed a bill with the same comliiious as in the case of Arkansas, ad- mitting to rep;escntation the reconstructed States of Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. The vote on final passage in the IIou--e stood — 107 Republicans /or, and 31 Demo- crats n^airifit; in the Senate, 35 to 8, the former Republicans all, and the latter Democrats. During the same session a bill prohibit- ing the counting of the E'iectoral College votes of the three States — Virginia, Missis- sippi, and Texas — still i.uripresented, wis passed against the strenuous opposition of the Democracy and of Mr. .lohnson. In his veto message, the latvr declared that the new governments recognized by Con- gress were revolutionary in character. So the issue stands. Congress has, un- der its reconstruction policy, reorganized and recognizsd eight out of eleven States, entirely unrepresented wh'-n armed rebel- lion closed, and then as President Johnson declared, "deprived of all civil govern- ment." The governments thus reorgan- ized by Congress in the exercise of its con- stitutional duty under section four of arti- cle four of the Federal Constitution, that "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republicaii form of government," are assailed by the platform of one of the great parties — the Democracy — as "unconstitutional, revolu- tionary, null and void" in character. These governments, thus opposed, estab- lish civil and political equaliiy for ail men; provide for the establishment of common schools, open, to all; for equality of taxa- tion; for the security of the homestead and of the poor man's labor by a lien ou property. They recognize freedom of the press, free discussion, and liberty of con- science. They maintain the i)aramount allegiance of a citizen to the Union; they recognize the sacred obligation incurred in the national debt, and they liave accepted fundamental conditions which forbid the future disfranchisemeu!, of men on account of color or race. The success of the Republican party by the electif)n of their Presidential nominees, General U. S. Grant and Honorable ScnuYLEU Colfax, will insure the success of the first beneficent policy. The prayer of the loyal millions — "Let us have peace" — will be an accomplished fact. The elec- tion of the Democra;ic candidates, Horatio Sei/?nour and Francis P. B'aii\ Jr.^ will insure the temporary triumph of oppression and the permanent inauguration of ajarchy and war. Choose ye, wnicii you will, on, PEOPLE OF Ameuica ! The wokk op TUE Republican party is before tou. The record is complete. Liberty its desire, equ.\lity its wish, protection to all for all rights its design, and amelioration and progress its sure RESULT. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 786 554 3 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 786 554 3 # ^ penmalife* pH83