BUBSCRIPTIOK, TERMS, * C. Tl> Ijicinan if published ersry F BIS ST morn ing at tha flowing rata* : ON 'YBAB, (in edranoe,) SI.W " " (il not paid within six man.) $3.59 •' " (if not paid wilhintbe jear,;.. $3.80 All papers outside of the roanty Jiaeoatiooed wiihuu*. notice, at the expiration of the time for which the eabecriptica baa been paid. Single copiee of the paper fat nished, in wrappers, ft: flvft cents ftftch. Coßmii&iettioiis en nbjct< f loeel or g* nsrel iuteraL are respectfully solicited. To tentioa for OPS of this bind ®U*t inrenebly bo aceoapanwd bi tho noaao of the author, not for publication, but a* * guaranty against im position- Ail letters pertaining to business f tbe ofEo should bo addressed to DURBOHHOW * LUTZ, Bgnronis PA. Li.—W would call the special x -tealio* of Post Masters mad subscribers to the Inqnaaa to the following synopsis of the News . jpot laws: ' [ A Postmaster ia required to giro notice by letter, t returning a paper doea not answer the law) . iea subscriber doea not take hia paper out of •is office, and state the reasons lor its nut being tsirn: and a neglect to do ao makes the Post suss , tr r ,p.,,ntibi* to the peUiahera for the payment. • Any person who tares a paper from the Poet , whether directed te hia name or another, or whether he has subscribed or not is responsible '3 If a person orders his paper discontinued, he oust p' all arrearages, or the publisher may r- ntinue"to send it until payment is made, and collect the whole amoent. ickctker it he la Am from the •§<* *° u There r. J. H. Hoffus. [Ap'l I.M F L. MARBOURG, M. D„ e) . Having permanently located reepectfirflj tenders hie pofessional services to the citisem of Bedford and vicinity. Office on Juliana street opposite the Bank, one door north of Hall A Pal iter's office. April 1, 18M — tf. DR. S. G. STATLBR, near Schellsburg. ami Dr. J. J. CLARKE, formerly ef Cumberland county, having associated themselves in the prac lice of Medicine, respectfully offer their profes sional services to the citizens of Schellsburg and vicinity. I>r. Clarke's office and residence tami ss formerly oeeupied by J. White, Esq., dee'd. S. G. BTATLER, Schellsburg, Aprillfftly. J. J- CLARKE. MISCELLANEOUS. E. SHANNON. BANKER, BEDronn, PA. BANK OF DISCOUNT AND DEPOSIT. Collections made for the East, West. North and South, and the general business of Kzcbangi transacted. Notes and Accounts Collected ano Remittances promptiymade. REAL ESTATE bought and sold. feb22 BORDER. PITT STREET, TWO nooaa stit or TUB SIC roas EOTEL, BEIFOUD, PA. WATCHMAKER AND DEALER IN JEWEL RY. SPECTACLES. AC. He keeps on hand a stock of Sne Gold snd Sil ver Watches, Spectacles of Brilliant Double Refin el Glasses, also Scotch Pebble Glasses. Gold Wat.-h Chains, Breast Pins, Finger Rings, best quality of Gold Pens. He will supply to ordei any thing in his line not on hand. [spr.2B/65. W. CROUSE WHOLESALE TOBACCONIST, On Pitt street two doors west of B. F. Harrj'i Brug Store, Bedford, Pa., is now prepared to sell by wholesale all kind* of CIGARS. All orders promptly filled. Persons desiring anrthinj in bis line will do well to give him e call. Bedford Oct 16. 'A„ ALL KIXDS OF BLAKS for sale at the A y*:>cr office. A fall supply of Deads, Lea s, Articles of Agreement ae. fBcMoTd Juqiuvcr. 91BB0BR0W * LCTZ Editor* and Proprietors. IVbfori) Inquirer. • ESATOR MORTON'S SPEECH, IN THE V. 8. SSSATE. JANU ARY , 21, 1868. Mr. President —If I had not been refer ■<-d to by my honorable friend from Wiscon sin [Mr. Doolittle] in the debate yesterday, [ should not desire to speok on tbis question, ispecially at this time. 1 fear that I shall ot hare the streugh to say what I wish to. The issue here to day is the Mine which prevails throughout the couutry, which ail! It the issue of this eanvw*, and perhaps or years to come. To repeat what I have lad occasion to say elsewhere, it is between wo paramount ideas, each struggling for i he bupremaey. One is, that the war to luppress the rebellion waa right and just on >ur part; that the rebels forfeited their civil ind political rights, and can only be restor ed to them upon such conditions as the Da ion may prescribe for its future Mfety and prosperity. The other idea is, that the ebellion was not sinful, but was right; that .hose engaged in it foifeited no rights, civil >r political, and have a right to take charge if their State governm nts and be restored ;o their representation in Congress just as f there had been no rebellion and nothing had occurred. The immediate issue before the Senate now is between the existing State governments established under the ;>olicy of the President of the United States n the rebel States, and the plan of recon struction presented by Congress. When a surveyor first enters a new terri tory he endeavors to ascertain the exact latitude and longitude of a given spot, and from that can safely begin his survey, and so I will endeavor to ascertain a proportion in this debate upon which both parties are agreed, and start from that proposition. That proposition is, that at the eud of the war. in the spring of ls6o, the rebel States were without State governments of any kind. The loyal State government existing it the beginning of the war had been over turned by the rebels; the rebel State govern ments erected during the war had been overturned by our armies, and at the end ol the war there were no governments of any kind existing in those States. This fact was recognised distinctly by the President of the United States in bis proclamation under which the work of reconstruction was com menced in North Carolina in 1865, to which I beg leave to refer. The others were mere copies of this proclamation. In that proc lamation be says: "And whereas the rebellion which has been by a portion of the people of the United States against the properly consti tuted authorities of the Government thereof, in the most violent and revolting form, but whose organized and armed forces havo now been almost entirely overcome, has in its revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of North Carolina of ail civil government." Here the President may be allowed to speak for his party, and I shall accept this as a proposition agreed upon on both sides: that at the end of the war there were no governments of any kind existing in those States. The fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution declares that "the United States shall guarantee to every State in thi. Union a republican form of government." This provision contains a vast, undefined power that has never yet been ascertained —a great supervisory power given to the United States to enable them to keep the States in their orbits, to preserve them from anarchy, revolution and rebellion. The measure of power thus conferred upon the Government of the United States can only be determined by that which is requisite to guarantee or maintain in each State a le gal and republican form of government. Whatever power, therefore, may be neces sary to enable the Government of the United States thus to maintain in each State a re publican form of government is conveyed by this provision. Now, Mr. President, when the war ended and these States were found without gov ernments of any kind, the jurisdiction of the United States, UDder this provision of the Constitution at once attached; the power to reorganize State governments, to use the common word, to reconstruct, to maintain aDd guarantee Eepnblican State govern ments in those States, at once attached un der tbis provision. Upon this proposition there is also a concurrence of the two par ties. The President has distinctly recogni zed the application of this clause of the Con stitution. He has recognized the fact that its jurisdiction attached when those States were found without republican State gov eroments, and he himself claimed to act under this clause of the Constitution. 1 will read the preamble of the President's proclamation. "Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to every State in the Union a re publican form of government, and shall pro tect each of them against invasion and do mestic violence: and whereas, the President of the United States i. by the Constitution, made Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States, and to take care that the laws be faithfully exe cuted: and whereas, the rebellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of the United States against the properly con stituted authorities of the Government thereof in the most violent and revolting form, but whose organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has, in its revolutionary progress, deprived the people of the State of North Carolina of all civil government; and whereas, it be comes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the obligations of the United Sutes to the people of North Carolina in securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government." I read this. Mr. President, for the pur pose of showiug that the President of the United States, in his policy of reconstruc tion, started out with a distinct recognition of the applicability of this clause of the Constitution, and that he based his system of reconstruction upon it. It is true he re cites in this proclamation that he is the Cotmnauder-in chief of the Army of the United States, but at the same time he puts his plan of reconstruction, not upon the ex ercise of the military power which is called to its aid, but on the execution of the guar antee provided by the clause ot the Const: tution to which 1 have referred. He ap points a Governor for North Carolina and for these other States, the office being civil in its character, but military in its ef fects. This Government has all the power of one of the district commanders, and, in fact, far greater power than was conferred upon General Pope or General Sheridan, or any General in command of a district; for it is further provided: "That the military commander of the 3e A LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWSPAPER, DEVOTED TO POLITICS, EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND MORALS. part ment, and all officers and persons in the military and naval service, aid and assist the said provisional Governor in carrying into effect this proclamation." We are then agreed upon the second pro position, that the power of the United States to reconstruct and guarantee Republican forms of government at once applied when these States were found in a condition in j which they were at the end of the war. ; Then, sir, being agreed upon these two pro- | positions, we are brought to the question as j to the proper form of exercising this power, | and by whom it shall be exerciM.il The Constitution says that "the United States shalj guarantee to even- State in this Union a Republican _form of Government." By the phrase • United States' 5 here ia meant the Government of the United States. The Unfed States can only act through the i Government, and the clause would mean j j precisely the same thing if it read "the Government of the United States shall guar antee to every State in this Union a Repub lican form of government." Then, as the Government of the United i States is to execute this guaranty, the que - j tion arises, what constitutes the Govern | ment of the United States? The President j does not constitute the Government; the Congress does not constitute the Goveru- I ment; the judiciary doe 3 not constitute the S Government; but all three together consti 1 tute the Government; and as this guaranty lis to be executed by the Government of the United States, it follows uecessarii that it must be a legislative act The President I could not assume to execute the guaranty without assuming that he was the United States within the meaning of that piovi-ion. without assuming that he was the Govern ment of the United States, CongTess could | not of itself assume to execute the guaran I ty without assuming that it was the Gov ernment of the United States; nor could the judiciary without a like assumption. The act must be the act of the Government, and therefore it must be a legislative act, a law passed by Congress, submitted to the President for his approval, and perhaps, in a proper case, subject to be reviewed by the judiciary. Mr. President, that this is necessarily the case, from the simple reading of the Consti tution, seems to me can Dot be for a moment denied. The President, in assuming to ex ecute this guaranty himself, is assuming to be the Government of the United States, which he clearly is not; but only one of its co-ordinate branches ; and therefore, as this guaranty must be a legislative act. it follows that the attempt on the part of the President to execute the guaranty was without authority, and that the guaranty can only be executed in the form of a law, first to be passed by Congress and then to be submitted, to the President for his ap proval, and it he docs not approve it. then to be passed over his head bv a majority of two thirds in each House. That law, then, becomes the execution of the guaranty and is the act of the Government of the United States. Mr. President, this is not an open ques tion. 1 send to the Secretary and ask him to read a part of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Luther rs. Borden as reported in 7 llow ard. The Secretary read as follows: '"Moreover, the Constitution of the United States as far a.- it has provided for an emergency of this kind, and authorized the General Government to interfere in the domestic concerns of the State, has treated the subject as political iu its nature and placed the power in the hands of that de partment. '"The fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the T nited States provides that the United States shall guar antee to every State in the Union u Repub lican form of government, and .-ball protect each of them against invasion; and upon the application of the Legislature or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence. "Undtr this article of the Constitution it rests with Congress to decide what govt la ment is the established one in a State. For, as the United States guarantees to each State a Republican government, Congress must necessarily decide what govern ment is established in the State before it can determine whether it is republican or not. And when the Senators and Repre sentatives of a State are admitted into the councils of the Union, the authority of the government under which they are ap pointed. as well as its republican character, is recognized by the proper constitutional authority. And its decision is binding upon every other department of the Government, and could not be questioned in a judicial tribunal. It is true that the contest in this case did not last long enough to bring the matter to this issue; and as no Senators or Representatives were elected under the authority of the Gevernment of which Mr. Dorr was the head. Congress was not called upon to decide the controversy. Yet the right to decide is placed there, and not in the courts." Mr. Morton. In this opinion of the Su preme Court of the United States, deliver ed many years ago, the right to execute the 1 guaranty provided for in this clause of the 1 Constitution is placed in Congress and no j were else, and therefore the necessary i reading of the Constitution is confirmed by I the highest judicial authority which we I have. | Mr. Johnson. Do you read from the opinion delivered by the Chief Justice? Mr. Morton. Yes, sir; the opinion of Chief Justice Taney. He declares that this poweiisnot judicial; that it is one of the high powers conferred upon Congress , that it is not subjen to be reviewed By the su preme Court, because it is political in its nature, it is a distinct enunciation of the doctrine that this guaranty is not to be exe cuted by the President, or by the Supreme Court, but by the Congress of the United States, in the form of a law to be passed by that body and to be submitted to the Presi dent for his approval; and should he dis approve it, it may become a law by being passed by a two-thirds majority over his bead. Now. I wi i cali the attentiou of my friend from Wisconsin to some other au thority. As he has been pleased to refer to a former speech of mine to show that I am not quite consistent, I will refer to a vote given by biin in 1864 on a very important provision. On the first ol July, 1864, the Senate having under consideration, as in Committee of the Whole, "a bill to guar antee to certain States whose governments ! have been usurped or overthrown, a re ! publican form ot government," Mr. Brown, of Missouri, offered an amendment to strike out all of the bill after the enactiue clause, and to insert a substitute, which I will ask the Secretary to read. The Secretary read as follows: "That when the inhabitants of any SraU' have been declared in a state of insurrection aguint the United States by proclamation of the President, by force and virtue >f the act entitled "an act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and fur other purposes." approved July 13, 1861. BEDFORD. Pa.. FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 98. 1868. they shall be and are hereby declared to be incapable of casting any vote tor electors of President or Vice President of the United j States, or of electing Senator* or ileprescn tati res in Congress until = aid insurrection; in said State is suppressed or abandoned, J and said inhabitants hare returned to their j obedience to the Government of the United ■ Sutes, and until such return to obedience shall be declared by proclamation of the : President, issued by virtue of an act of Con grcss hereafter to be passed, authorizing the j | same," Mr. Morton. The honorable Senator j front Wi.-con-in voted for that in Commit j i tee of the whole and on its fiaai passage. 1 call attention to the amendment, which de clares that thev shall bt:— "Incapable of cas> ins any vote for elect ors of President or Vice President of the United States, or of electing S.-nators or Representatives in Congress until said in surrectioD is suppressed or abaogoned, and j said inhabitants have returned U their obe diencetotbe Government of the United States, and until such return and obedience shail be declared by proclaffialim of the | President, issued by virtue of an act o( Cou j gress hereafter to be passed, authpriziog the same." Recognizing that a state of "war shall be regarded as continuing untii it skali be de clared no longer to exist by the President, in virtue of an act of Congress o be here after passed, I am glad to find, ly looking at the vote, that the distinguishes Senator from Maryland [Mr. Johnson] voted for this proposition, and thus reco|nized the doctrine for which I ant now e&ntending; that the power to execute the glaranty is vested in Congress alone, and tint it is for Ccogrcss alone to determine the itatus and condition of those States, and that the Presi dent has no power to proclaim ftaee or to declare the political condition of those States until he Aalf first have been there unto authorized by an act of Congress. I therefore, Mr. President, takethe propo i sition as conclusively established both by reason and authority, that this elause Constitution can be executed only by Con gress; and taking that as established, 1 now proceed to consider what are the powers of Congress in the xecution of the guaranty, how it shall be executed, and what nieatis ntay be employed for that purpose. The Constitution does not define the mean*. It does not say how the guaranty shall be ! exceutc-d. All that is left to the (jetermioa : tion of Congress. As to the particular character ol the tucans that must be em ployed, that, I take it, will depend upon the peculiar circumstances of each ease: and the extent fri the power wiii cep-tid up'.fa the other question as to what may be re quired for the purpose of maintaining or guaranteeing a loyal republican fotm of government in each State. I use the word j "loyal," although it is not u-ed in the Con | stitition, because loyalty i* an inhering ; qualification, not only in regard to person ! who arc to fill public offices, but in regard to State Governments, and we have no ; right to recognize a State Government tl.it jis not loyal to the Government of the United States. Now, sir. as t the us- of means that are not prescribed ia the Con stitution. I call the attention of tko Senate to the eighteenth clause of section eight of the first article of the Constitution of the United States, which declares that: "The Congress shall have powtr to make all laws which shall be necessaryand proper for carrying into execution th foregoing powers and all other powers vested by thi- Constitution in the Government of the United States or any department or officer thereof." Here is a declaration of what would other wise be a genera! principle anyhow, ( that Congress shall have the power to pass all laws necessary to carry into execution all powers tha; are in the Government under the Constitution. As Congress ha the power to guarntee or maintain a loyal republican government in each State, it has the right to %ae whatever means may be necessary for that purpose. As I before remarked, the character of the means will depend upon the character of the case. In one case it may be the use of an arnty; in another case perhaps it ntay he -imply pre settling a question to .Act; courts, and having it tested in that way; in another case, it may go to the very foundation of the Govern ment itself. And I now propound this pro position: that if Congress, after deliberation after long and bloody experience. shall come to the conclusion that loyal rrj tp ami make voters of a class of men who had no right to rote under the. State laws. This is simply the use of the necessary means in the execution of the guaranty. If we have found after repeated trials that loyal republican State governments—govern ments that shall answer the purpo.-e that such governments arc intended to answer— cannot be successful! founded upon the basis of the white population, because the great | majority of that population are disloyal. I thtn Congress has a right to rate up a new loyal voting population for the purpose of establishing these governments in the exe cution of the guaranty. I think, sir, this proposition is so dearth at it is not neceessa ry to elaborate it. e are not required to ; (in<3 in the Cvnofitutioo a pv.rtrt.uUr eor>r of power for this purpose: but we find a gen eral erant of power, Slid we find also ED other erant of power authorizing us to use whatever means may he neecs-ary to exe cute the first; and we find that the Supreme Court of the United States has -aid that the judgement of Congrectt upon this que-- tion shall be conclusive, that it cannot fie reviewed by the courts, that it is a purely political matter: and therefore the determi nation of Congress, that raising up colored I men to the. rigid of suj) rage is a means neces sary to the execution of that poicer, is a dr termination which cannot be reviewed by the \ courts, and is conclusive upon the peojde of this country. The President of the Lnitnd States, as suming that he had the power to execute this guaranty, and basing his proclamation upon it, went forward in the work of recon struction. It was understood at that time — it was so announced, if not by himself, at least formally by tbeSecretary of State. Mr. Seward, that the governments which he would erect during the vacation of Congress were to be erected as provisional only; tha; his plan of reconstruction, and the work that was to be done under it, would be sub mitted to Congress for approval or disap proval at the next sc-sioo. If the Prest dent had adhered to that determination, I believe that all would have been tgell, and that the present state of things would not exist. But, sir, the executive undertook final'}* to execute the guaranty himself, without the co-operation of Congress. He appointed Provi-tonal Governors, giving to them unlimited power until such time a* the new State governnieute should be erected. He prescribed in bis proclamation who .-hould exercise the right of suffrage in the election of delegates. And allow me for one moment to refer to that. He Fays in his proclamation: i "No person shall be qualfied as an elector, ) or shall be eligibleas a member of such Con- I j vention, unless he shall have previously I taken arid subscribed to, the oath ofamoesty, j ; as set forth in the President's proclamation i j ®f May 29, A. I), lt-05."—which was issued j j on the same day, and was a part ol the same ' ! transaction— "And is a voter qualified as prescribed ■ the Constitution and laws of the rotate I North Carolina in force immediately before | the 20th day of May. A. I). ISfil. The persons having the right to vote ; must have the right to vote by the laws of j the State, and must, in addition to that, I have taken the oath of amnesty. The I President. dL-ira:ieii;,-'d jn voting for dele- I gatc> to the Convections from two hundred i j and fifty tbou-.ind to three hundred thou ! ; sand mm. His disfranchisement was by ! tar greater than that which has been done j iby Congress. In the proclamation of am- i j nesty he says: "The following class of persons are excep I ; ted from rhe benefits of this proclamation." j He then announced fourteen classes of j persons j "1. All persons who are or shall have been pretended civil or diplomatic officers, or otherwise domestic or foreign agents, of the pretended Confederate tiovernment." "13. AH persons who have participated in said rebellion, and the e.-ti mated value of whose taxable property is over $20,000." And twelve other classes, e.-tiuiated to nuuilftrat lea-t two hundred and fifty thou sand or three hundred thousand men, while the disfranchisement that has been created by Congress does not extend, perhaps, to more than forty-five or fifty thousand per sons at the furthest. These provisional Governors, under the authority of the Presi dent, weie to call Conventions; they were to hold the elections, and they were to exercise all the powers that are being exer cised by the military commanders under the reconstruction acts of Congress. After these Constitutions were formed, the Presi dent went forward and accepted tbera as be ing loyal and republican irj their character. He authorized the voters under them to proceed to elect Legislatures, members of Congress, and legislatures to elect Senator.- to take their -rates in this body. In other words, the President launched those Sfut governments into fall lite and activity, with out cou-ultation with, or co-operation on the part of Congress. Now, sir, when it is claimed that the.- governuients are legal, let it be remembered tl at they took their origin under a proceed . ing instituted by the President of the I'ni ted States in the execution of this guaranty when it now stands confessed that he could not execute the guaranty. But even if h< had the power, let it be farther borne in mind that those Constitutions were formed uy Conventions that were elected by less than one-third of the white voters in the States at that time; that the Conventions were elected by a small minority even of the white voters: and that those Constitutions thus formed by a very suiall minority have never been submitted to the people of those States for ratification. They are no more the Constitutions of those States today than the Constitutions to med by the Convention now in ses- ion would be if we were to pro claim them to be the Constitutions of those States with-ut bavin;' first submitted them to the people for ratification. How can it he pretended for a moment even admitting that the President had the power to start fir ward in the work of reconstruction, that those State governments are legally formed by a small minority, never ratified by thi people, the people never having had a chance to vote for them. They stand a raere arbitrary Constitutions, established not by the people of the several States, but simply by force of executive power. And, sir, if we shall sdtuit those States to representation on thi- floor and in the other House under those Constitutions, when the thing shall have g t beyond our keeping, ana tbev are fully restored to their political rights, they will then rise up and declare that those Constitutions are not binding upon them, that they never made them, and they will throw them off. and with them will co those proviso n< which were incor jyorated therein, declaring that slavery should never be restored, and that their war debt was repudiated. Those provisions were put into th .-e Constitutions, but they never have been sanctioned by the people ol those State, and they will cast them out as not being their act and deed, as soon as tbev shall have been restored to political power in this Government. Therefore, I -ay that even if we concede that the Presi dent had the power, which he has not, to -tart forward in the t xecutioo of this guar anty. there can still be no preten-e that those governments are legal and authorized, and that we are bonnd to recognize them. The President of the United States, in his proclamation, declared that those govern ments were to be formed only by the loyal people of those States: and I beg leave to call the attention of the Senate to that clause in his proclamation of reconstruction. He says: "And with the authority to exerci-e, within the limits of said State, all the pow ers necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the State of North Carolina to re *tnr -aid State tofts constitutional relations with the Federal Gnnernmcnt. Again, speaking ofthe army: "And they are enjoined to abstain from in any way hindering, impeding or discoura ging the loyal people from the organization of a State government as herein authorized. Now. sir, so far from those Sate govern ments having been organized by the loyal people, they were organized by the disloyal: gygfv office passed into the hands of a rebel; the Uuioii men had no part or lot in those governments; and so far from an.-wer ng the purpose for which governments areintended they failed to extend protection to the loyal men, either white or black. The loyal men were murdered with impunitv; and I will thank any Senator upon this floor to point to a single case in any of the rebel States where a rebel has been tried and brought to punishment by the civil authority for tbc murder of a Union man. Not one easel told can he found. These governments utte.'v failed in answering the purpose of civil governments; and not only that, but they returned the colored people tc a coudi tioo of qmoi slavery; they made them the slaves of society instead of being as they were before, the slaves of individuals. Lo der various forms of vagrant laws, they de prived thcin of the rights of freemen, and placed them under the power and control of their rebel masters, who were filled with ha tred and revenge. But, Mr. President, time passed on. Con gress assembled in ILo mber, ISoo. lor a time it paused. It did not ut once annul those governments. It hesitated. At last, in 1 stjt}. the Constitutional amendment, the fourteenth article, was brought forward as a basis of settlement and recon- traction; and there was a tacit understanding, though it was not embraced in anv law or resolution, that if the Southern people should ratify and agree to that amendment' then their VOLCME U ; 10. 9. | btato governments would be accepted. Bu I that amendment was rejected, cootemptu ously rejected, The Southern people i aurise!edjtnd inspired by the Democracy o j the North, rejected that amendment. Tbei , were told that they were not bound to sab | at it to any conditions whatever; that the; | had forfeited no rights by rebellion. Why • sir, what did we propose by this amendment' By the first section we declared that all met ' bora upon our soil arc citizens of tbe Cnitet ; States—a thing that bad long been recogni i zed by every department of this Goreromen ! until Dred Scott decision was made ii 1*57. The second section provided tha ! where a class or race of men were excluder i from the right of suffrage they should no eounte lin the La,is of representation— an obvious justice that no reasonable mat ; for a tnnroent could deny; that if four milliot i r-eople down South were to have no suffrage | the men living in their midst and surround j ing them and depriving tbcm of all politics ! t-ghts, should not have members of Coo | gress on their account. I say tbe justice o j the f : tnd clause has never been successfully i impugned by any argument, I care not hov | ingenious it may be. What was the thirt | clause? It was that the leaders of the South those men who had once taken an offieia oath to support the Constitution of th 1 need States, arid arid afterward committed perjury by going into the rebellion, should be made ineligible to any office under the Government of tbe Uuited States or of a State. It was a very small disfraochise i *nt It was intended to withhold power from those leaders by whose instrumentality . we had lost nearly baif a million oflives and untold treasure. The justice of that disfranchisement could not te disproved. An what was the fourth clause of the amendment? That this gov eminent should never assume and pay any part of the rebel debt, that it should never pay the rebels for tbeir slaves. This was h'tteriy opposed in the South. How could any man oppose that amendment unless be was in favor of this government assuming a portion or ali of rebel debt, and in favor ol paying the rebels for their slaves? When the Democratic party, North and South, opposed that most important and, perhaps, hereafter to be regarded as vital amendment, they were committing themselves in prioci pie. as they had been before by declaratioe. to the doctrine that this Government wa | • ound to pay for the slaves, and that it was j just and right that we should assume and pav the rebel debt i This amendment, as I have before said, j was rejected, and when Congress assembled I in December, 1566, they were confronted by j the fact that every proposition of compro mise had been rejected; every half-way j measure had been spurned by the rebels and | they had nothing left to do but to begin the work of reconstruction themselves; and in February, 1 *67, Congress, for the first time, entered upon tbe execution of the guaranty provided f'-w in tbe Constitution by the pas sage of the first reconstruction law. A sup plementary biil was found necessary in March, another one in July, and I believe another is found neceaeery at this time; bu' the power is with Congress. Whatever it -hall deem necessary, whether it be in the way of colored suffrage, whether it be in the way uf military power—whatever Congress -halldeem necessary in the execution of this .■uaranty is conclusive upon the courts and States. Sir. when Congress entered upon this I work it had become apparent to ali men ; tha" loyal Republican State governments j c* old not be erected ami maintained upon I the basis of tbe white population. We had | tried them. Congress had attempted the work of reconstruction through the Consti tutional amendment bv leaving the suffrage with the white men, and by leaving with the white people of the South the question as to whom the colored people should exercise the right of suffrage. if ever: but when it was found that those white men were as re bellious as ever, that they hated this Gov ernment more bitterly than ever: when it was found that they persecuted the loyal men, both white and black, in their midst; when it was found that Northern men who had gone down they were driven out by so cial tyrany. by a thousand annoyances, by the insecurity of life and property, then it became apparent to all men of intelligence that reconstruction could not take place up on the basis of the white population, and -" not sought toestablish negro supremacy nor has it sought to establish the supremacy f any class or party of men. If it had sought to esablish negro supremacy it would have been an easy matter by excluding from the right of suffrage a'.! men who had been concerned in the rebellion, in accordance with the proposition of the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. Sumner.] in his speech at Worcester, in 1860. He proposed to exclude all men who had been concerned in the rebellion and confer suffrage only on those who were left. That would have established negro supremacy by giving the negro an overwhelming majority in every State, and if that had been the object of Congress it could have been readily done. But. sir. Congress has only sought to divide the political power between the loyal and the disloval. It has disfranchised some fifty thousand disloyal leaders, leaving all the rest of the people to vote. They have been enfranchised 011 both sides, that neither -houid be placed in the power of the other. The rebels have the right to vote so that they shall not he under the control and power of the Union men only, and the Union men have been allowed to vote so 1 hat they shall not be nnder the control and power of the rebels. This is the policy, to divide the political power among those men for the protection of each. Sir, the charge that we intend to create a negro supremacy or colored State governments is without the "lightest foundation, for it would have been in the power of Congress to have easily con ferred such supremacy by simply excluding the disloyal from the right of suffrage—a power which it had the clear right to exer llSNow, Mr. President, allow me to consider for a moment the amendment offered by the Senator from-Wisconsin, and upon which his speech was made, and see what is its effect—l will not say its purpose, but its inevitable effect—should it become a law. I will ask the Secretary to read the amend ment whi .h the Senator from Wisconsin ha proposed to the Senate. The Secretary read as follows: Provided nevertheless, That upon an elec tion for the ratification of any constitution, or of officers under the same, previous to its adoption in any State, no person not hav ing the qualifications of an elector under the and laws of snch State previous >a the late rebellion shall be allowed to vote, ■nUi ho eWI possess one of the following qualifications namely: ... 1. He shall have served as a soldier in the Federal army for one year or more. 2. He shall have sufficient education to read the Constitution of the United States and to subscribe his name to an oath to sup port the same; or. . 3. He shall be seized in his own right, or n the right of his wife, of a freehold of the value of $250. Mr. Morton. Sir. these qualifications are, by the terms of the amendment, to ap ply to those who were not authorized to vote by the laws of the State before the re bellion—in other words, the colored men. He proposes to allow a colored man to vote it' he has been in the Federal army one year, and he proposes to allow a rebel white man to vote, although he has served in the rebel army four years! He proposes that a colored man shall not vote unless he has sufficient education to read the Constitu tion of the United States and to subscribe his name to an oath to support the same, whereas he permits a rebel white man to vote who never heard of A and does not know how to make his mirk even to a note given for whisky. [Laughter.] Again, sir, he proposes that the colored man shall not vote unless be shall be poe in his own right, or in the right of his wife, of a freehold of $250, a provision which, of course, would cut off nine hun dred and ninety-nine ont of every thousand colored men in the South. The colored man cannot vote unless he has a freehold of $250. but the white rebel, who was never worth twenty- five cents, who never paid poll-tax in his life never paid an honest debt, ia to be allowed to vote. Sir, what would be the inevitable effect of the adop tion of this amendment? To cat off such iCOMCLTOID OH FOTBTH PAGE.I