Chapter XI: The CIVIL Rights Bill, and the Veto (3)

"If Congress should recede from the position they have taken to claim jurisdiction over this great question of reädmitting these States, from that hour they surrender all the power that the Constitution places in their hands and that they were sworn to support, and they are the mere slaves of an accidental Executive; of a man who formerly associated with us upon this floor; who was no more infallible than the rest of us poor mortals; and yet the moment, by death or accident, he is placed in the executive chair, it would seem as if some Senators believed him to be endowed with superhuman wisdom, and ought to be invested with all the powers of this Government; that Congress ought to get on their knees before him, and take his insults and his dictation without resentment and without even an attempt to resist. Some States may send such instrumentalities here, but God knows some will not; and I pity those that do, for they would hold their freedom on a very uncertain tenure.

"Some gentlemen may be patient under the charge of treason, perhaps the more so because treason is becoming popular in this day; but, sir, I am a little too old-fashioned to be charged by the executive branch of this Government as a traitor on the floor of Congress, and not resent it. I do not care whether he be King or President that insinuates that I am a disunionist or traitor, standing upon the same infamous platform with the traitors of the South; I will not take it from any mortal man, high or low, without repelling the charge. If any man here is tame enough to do it, he is too tame to be the Senator of a proud-spirited people, conscious of their own freedom. I claim to be their representative, and they will censure me if they do not like my doctrine.

"And now, Mr. President, I wish to make an appeal to those great, patriotic statesmen on this floor, who, by their love of principle, by their unswerving honesty, unseduced by the blandishments of executive power, unawed by threats of violence, stand here to defend the rights of the people upon this floor, and will stand here forever. I say to you Senators, we, the majority who are stigmatized as traitors, are the only barrier to-day between this nation and anarchy and despotism. If we give way, the hope of this nation is lost by the recreancy--yea, sir, I will say the treachery--of a man who betrayed our confidence, got into power, and has gone into the camp of the enemy, and joined those who never breathed a breath of principle in common with us."

Mr. Lane replied: "I stated that the party to which I belong nominated the present President of the United States and elected him, and that as long as he fought within our lines and remained in our party, I would endeavor to defend him upon this floor against all unjust assaults. After making that statement, the Senator from Ohio, forgetting the position he occupies, has suggested that I have taken upon myself the collar of the President of the United States. I hurl the suggestion in the teeth of the Senator from Ohio as unworthy a Senator. I wear a collar! The pro-slavery party of the United States, backed by a Democratic Administration, sustained and supported by the army of the United States, could not fasten a collar upon the handful of Kansas squatters of whom I had the honor to be the leader. The gallant fight made in this Senate-chamber by the Senator from Ohio, aided by the Senators from Massachusetts and other Senators, would have been of but little avail had it not been for that other fight that was made upon the prairies of Kansas under the lead of your humble speaker. I wear a collar! Indicted for treason by a pro-slavery grand jury, hunted from State to State by a writ founded upon that indictment for treason, and $100,000 offered for my head! Jim Lane wear a collar! Wherever he is known, that charge will be denounced as false by both friends and enemies."

Mr. Brown, of Missouri, made a short speech, in which he set forth the position of Mr. Lane, of Kansas, on questions previously before the Senate, showing their inconsistency with some of his recent remarks.

Mr. Doolittle next delivered a speech, in the course of which he called attention to a bill which he had drawn "to provide appropriate legislation to enforce article thirteen of the Amendments to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States." His object in presenting this bill was to "avoid the objections raised by men not only in this body, but in the other house, and the objections raised by the President of the United States, to the bill now pending."

He endeavored to explain his position and changes of opinion upon the Civil Rights: "While this measure was upon its passage, I took no part in its discussion except upon a single point in relation to the Indian tribes. The bill passed, and the final vote was taken when I was not present in the Senate; but it was not under such circumstances that, had I been here, I should not have voted for the bill. I have no doubt that if I had been present I should have voted for it. My attention was not drawn very earnestly to the consideration of all the provisions of this bill until the bill had passed from Senate and had gone to the House of Representatives, when the speeches of Mr. Bingham, of Ohio, and of Mr. Delano, of Ohio, both able and distinguished lawyers of that State, arrested my attention and called me very carefully to the consideration of the great questions which are involved in the bill. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives; it went to the President. From the fact that it was not signed and returned to this body at once, and from all I heard, I became satisfied that, at least, if the bill was not to be returned with objections, it was being withheld for most earnest and serious consideration by the Executive.

"Then, Mr. President, it was, in view of all that had occurred, what had been said by gentlemen in whom I had the utmost--I may say unbounded--confidence, that I began to look into this measure and to study it for myself. It is not my purpose now to go into a discussion of the provisions of this bill any further than to say that there are provisions in it upon which the judgments of the best patriots, the best jurists, the most earnest men disagree. There are men, in whom I have entire confidence, who maintain that all its provisions are within the purview of the Constitution; there are others in whom I have confidence, and equal confidence, who maintain directly the contrary; and this has brought me seriously to consider whether there be no common ground upon which friends can stand and stand together. Sir, I may have failed to find it; but if I have, it is not because I have not most earnestly sought for it with some days of study and most earnest reflection. I have endeavored to put upon paper what I believe would carry this constitutional provision into effect and yet would be a common ground on which we could unite without violating the conscientious convictions of any."

In concluding his remarks, Mr. Doolittle referred to instructions received by him from the Legislature of Wisconsin: "Mr. President, I have received, in connection with my colleague, a telegraphic dispatch from the Governor of the State of Wisconsin, which I have no doubt is correct, although I have not seen the resolution which is said to have been passed by the Legislature, in which it is stated that the Legislature has passed a resolution instructing the Senators in Congress from Wisconsin to vote for the passage of the Senate bill commonly known as the Civil Rights Bill, the veto of the President to the contrary notwithstanding. I have already stated, from my stand-point, the reasons why, in my judgment, I can not do it; I have stated them freely and frankly, and, as a matter of course, I expect to abide the consequences. I know that it has sometimes been said to me, by those, too, in whom I would have confidence, that for me, under circumstances like these, not to follow the instructions of the Legislature of my State, would be to terminate my political life. Sir, be it so. I never held or aspired to any other office politically than the one I now hold; and God knows, if I know my own heart, if I can see this Union restored after this gigantic war which has put down the rebellion, and to which I have lent my support, I shall be satisfied. I do not desire to remain in political life beyond that hour. There is nothing in that which will have the slightest influence whatever upon me. The duty which I owe to myself, the duty which I owe to the country, the duty which I owe to the union of these States, and the preservation of the rights of the States, and the duty which I owe to the great Republican party, which I would still desire to save, prompts me to pursue the course which I now do."

Mr. Garrett Davis, of Kentucky, addressed the Senate in a long speech, of which the following is the closing paragraph: "Public justice is often slow, but generally sure. Think you that the people will look on with folded arms and stolid indifference and see you subvert their Constitution and liberties, and on their ruins erect a grinding despotism. No; erelong they will rise up with earthquake force and fling you from power and place. I commend to your serious meditation these words: 'Go tell Sylla that you saw Caius Marius sitting upon the ruins of Carthage!'"

Mr. Saulsbury thought a revolution would result from the passage of this bill: "In my judgment the passage of this bill is the inauguration of revolution--bloodless, as yet, but the attempt to execute it by the machinery and in the mode provided in the bill will lead to revolution in blood. It is well that the American people should take warning in time and set their house in order, but it is utterly impossible that the people of this country will patiently entertain and submit to this great wrong. I do not say this because I want a revolution; Heaven knows we have had enough of bloodshed; we have had enough of strife; there has been enough of mourning in every household; there are too many new-made graves on which the grass has not yet grown for any one to wish to see the renewal of strife; but, sir, attempt to execute this act within the limits of the States of this Union, and, in my judgment, this country will again be plunged into all the horrors of civil war."

Mr. McDougall said: "I agree with the Senator from Delaware that this measure is revolutionary in its character. The majority glory in their giant power, but they ought to understand that it is tyrannous to exercise that power like a giant. A revolution now is moving onward; it has its center in the North-east. A spirit has been radiating out from there for years past as revolutionary as the spirit that went out from Charleston, South Carolina, and perhaps its consequences will be equally fatal, for when that revolutionary struggle comes it will not be a war between the North and its power and the slaveholding population of the South; it will be among the North men themselves, they who have lived under the shadows of great oaks, and seen the tall pine-trees bend."

At the conclusion of the remarks by the Senator from California, the vote was taken, with the following result;

YEAS--Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chandler, Clark, Conness,
Cragin, Creswell, Edmunds, Fessenden, Foster, Grimes,
Harris, Henderson, Howard, Howe, Kirkwood, Lane of Indiana,
Morgan, Morrill, Nye, Poland, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman,
Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Trumbull, Wade, Willey, Williams,
Wilson, and Yates--33.

NAYS--Messrs. Buckalew, Cowan, Davis, Doolittle, Guthrie,
Hendricks, Johnson, Lane of Kansas, McDougall, Nesmith,
Norton, Riddle, Saulsbury, Van Winkle, and Wright--15.

ABSENT--Mr. Dixon.

The President _pro tempore_ then made formal announcement of the result: "The yeas being 33 and the nays 15, the bill has passed the Senate by the requisite constitutional majority, notwithstanding the objection of the President to the contrary."

On the 9th of April, 1866, three days after the passage of the bill in the Senate, the House of Representatives proceeded to its consideration. The bill and the President's Veto Message having been read, Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, demanded the previous question on the passage of the bill, the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding, and gave his reasons for so doing: "Mr. Speaker, the debate which occurred on this bill occupied two weeks of the time of this House. Some forty speeches were made, and the debate was not brought to a close until all had been heard who expressed a desire to speak upon the bill. At the close of that debate, the bill was passed by more than two-thirds of this House. It has been returned to us with the objections of the President to its becoming a law. I do not propose to reöpen the discussion of this measure; I am disposed to leave the close of this debate to the President by the message which has just been read. I ask the friends of this great measure to answer the argument and statements of that message by their votes."

The vote was finally taken on the question, "Shall this bill pass, notwithstanding the objections of the President?" The following is the record of the vote:

YEAS--Messrs. Alley, Allison, Delos R. Ashley, James M.
Ashley, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, Barker, Baxter, Beaman,
Benjamin, Bidwell, Boutwell, Brandegee, Bromwell, Broomall,
Buckland, Bundy, Reader W. Clarke, Sidney Clarke, Cobb,
Colfax, Conkling, Cook, Cullom, Darling, Davis, Dawes,
Defrees, Delano, Deming, Dixon, Dodge, Donnelly, Eckley,
Eggleston, Eliot, Farnsworth, Farquhar, Ferry, Garfield,
Grinnell, Griswold, Hale, Abner C. Harding, Hart, Hayes,
Henderson, Higby, Hill, Holmes, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asahel W.
Hubbard, Chester D. Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, James R.
Hubbell, Hulburd, James Humphrey, Ingersoll, Jenckes,
Kasson, Kelley, Kelso, Ketcham, Laflin, George V. Lawrence,
William Lawrence, Loan, Longyear, Lynch, Marston, Marvin,
McClurg, McIndoe, McKee, McRuer, Mercur, Miller, Moorhead,
Morrill, Morris, Moulton, Myers, Newell, O'Neill, Orth,
Paine, Patterson, Perham, Pike, Plants, Pomeroy, Price,
Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Rollins, Sawyer, Schenck,
Scofield, Shellabarger, Spalding, Starr, Stevens, Thayer,
Francis Thomas, John L. Thomas, Trowbridge, Upson, Van
Aernam, Burt Van Horn, Robert T. Van Horn, Ward, Elihu B.
Washburne, Henry D. Washburn, William B. Washburn, Welker,
Wentworth, James F. Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson, Windom, and
Woodbridge--122.

NAYS--Messrs. Ancona, Bergen, Boyer, Coffroth, Dawson,
Dennison, Eldridge, Finck, Glossbrenner, Aaron Harding,
Harris, Hogan, Edwin N. Hubbell, James M. Humphrey, Latham,
Le Blond, Marshall, McCullough, Niblack, Nicholson, Noell,
Phelps, Radford, Samuel J. Randall, William H. Randall,
Raymond, Ritter, Rogers, Ross, Rosseau, Shanklin,
Sitgreaves, Smith, Strouse, Taber, Taylor, Thornton,
Trimble, Whaley, Winfield, and Wright--41.

NOT VOTING--Messrs. Ames, Anderson, Bingham, Blaine, Blow,
Chanler, Culver, Driggs, Dumont, Goodyear, Grider, Demas
Hubbard, Johnson, Jones, Julian, Kerr, Kuykendall, Sloan,
Stilwell, Warner, and Williams--21.

The Speaker then made the following announcement: "The yeas are 122, and the nays 41. Two-thirds of the House having, upon this reconsideration, agreed to the passage of the bill, and it being certified officially that a similar majority of the Senate, in which the bill originated, also agreed to its passage, I do, therefore, by the authority of the Constitution of the United States, declare that this bill, entitled 'An act to protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights, and furnish the means of their vindication,' has become a law."

This announcement was followed by prolonged applause on the floor of the House and among the throng of spectators in the galleries.

The following is the form in which the great measure so long pending became a law of the land:

"_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That
all persons born in the United States and not subject to any
foreign Power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby
declared to be citizens of the United States; and such
citizens of every race and color, without regard to any
previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted, shall have the same right in every
State and Territory in the United States to make and enforce
contracts, to sue, be parties, and give evidence, to
inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and
personal property, and to full and equal benefit of all laws
and proceedings for the security of person and property as
is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like
punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any
law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to the
contrary notwithstanding.

"SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That any person who,
under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or
custom, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any
inhabitant of any State or Territory to the deprivation of
any right secured or protected by this act, or to different
punishment, pains, or penalties on account of such person
having at any time been held in a condition of slavery or
involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by
reason of his color or race, than is prescribed for the
punishment of white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine
not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment not exceeding one
year, or both, in the discretion of the court.

"SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That the district
courts of the United States, within their respective
districts, shall have, exclusively of the courts of the
several States, cognizance of all crimes and offenses
committed against the provisions of this act, and also,
concurrently with the circuit courts of the United States,
of all causes, civil and criminal, affecting persons who are
denied or can not enforce in the courts or judicial
tribunals of the State or locality where they may be, any of
the rights secured to them by the first section of this act;
and if any suit or prosecution, civil or criminal, has been
or shall be commenced in any State court against any such
person, for any cause whatsoever, or against any officer,
civil or military, or other person, for any arrest or
imprisonment, trespasses or wrongs, done or committed by
virtue or under color of authority derived from this act or
the act establishing a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and
Refugees, and all acts amendatory thereof, or for refusing
to do any act upon the ground that it would be inconsistent
with this act, such defendant shall have the right to remove
such cause for trial to the proper district or circuit court
in the manner prescribed by the 'Act relating to _habeas
corpus_ and regulating judicial proceedings in certain
cases,' approved March 3, 1863, and all acts amendatory
thereof. The jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters
hereby conferred on the district and circuit courts of the
United States shall be exercised and enforced in conformity
with the laws of the United States, so far as such laws are
suitable to carry the same into effect; but in all cases
where such laws are not adapted to the object, or are
deficient in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable
remedies and punish offenses against law, the common law, as
modified and changed by the constitution and statutes of the
States wherein the court having jurisdiction of the cause,
civil or criminal, is held, so far as the same is not
inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United
States, shall be extended to and govern said courts in the
trial and disposition of such cause, and, if of a criminal
nature, in the infliction of punishment on the party found
guilty.

"SEC. 4. _And be it further enacted_, That the district
attorneys, marshals, and deputy-marshals of the United
States, the commissioners appointed by the circuit and
territorial courts of the United States, with powers of
arresting, imprisoning, or bailing offenders against the
laws of the United States, the officers and agents of the
Freedmen's Bureau, and every other officer who may be
specially empowered by the President of the United States,
shall be, and they are hereby, specially authorized and
required, at the expense of the United States, to institute
proceedings against all and every person who shall violate
the provisions of this act, and cause him or them to be
arrested and imprisoned, or bailed, as the case may be, for
trial before such court of the United States, or territorial
court, as by this act has cognizance of the offense. And
with a view to affording reasonable protection to all
persons in their constitutional rights of equality before
the law, without distinction of race or color, or previous
condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, and to the prompt discharge of the duties of this
act, it shall be the duty of the circuit courts of the
United States and the superior courts of the Territories of
the United States, from time to time, to increase the number
of commissioners, so as to afford a speedy and convenient
means for the arrest and examination of persons charged with
a violation of this act. And such commissioners are hereby
authorized and required to exercise and discharge all the
powers and duties conferred on them by this act, and the
same duties with regard to offenses created by this act, as
they are authorized by law to exercise with regard to other
offenses against the laws of the United States.

"SEC. 5. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall be the
duty of all marshals and deputy-marshals to obey and execute
all warrants and precepts issued under the provisions of
this act, when to them directed; and should any marshal or
deputy-marshal refuse to receive such warrant or other
process when tendered, or to use all proper means diligently
to execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, be
fined in the sum of $1,000, to the use of the person upon
whom the accused is alleged to have committed the offense.
And the better to enable the said commissioners to execute
their duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity with
the Constitution of the United States and the requirements
of this act, they are hereby authorized and empowered,
within their counties respectively, to appoint, in writing,
under their hands, any one or more suitable persons, from
time to time, to execute all such warrants and other process
as may be issued by them in the lawful performance of their
respective duties; and the persons so appointed to execute
any warrant or process as aforesaid, shall have authority to
summon and call to their aid the bystanders or the _posse
comitatus_ of the proper county, or such portion of the land
and naval forces of the United States, or the militia, as
may be necessary to the performance of the duty with which
they are charged, and to insure a faithful observance of the
clause of the Constitution which prohibits slavery, in
conformity with the provisions of this act; and said
warrants shall run and be executed by said officers anywhere
in the State or Territory within which they are issued.

"SEC. 6. _And be it further enacted_, That any person who
shall knowingly and willfully obstruct, hinder, or prevent
any officer, or other person, charged with the execution of
any warrant or process issued under the provisions of this
act, or any person or persons lawfully assisting him or
them, from arresting any person for whose apprehension such
warrant or process may have been issued, or shall rescue or
attempt to rescue such person from the custody of the
officer, other person or persons, or those lawfully
assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested pursuant to the
authority herein given and declared, or who shall aid, abet,
or assist any person so arrested as aforesaid, directly or
indirectly, to escape from the custody of the officer or
other person legally authorized as aforesaid, or shall
harbor or conceal any person for whose arrest a warrant or
process shall have been issued as aforesaid, so as to
prevent his discovery and arrest after notice or knowledge
of the fact that a warrant has been issued for the
apprehension of such person, shall, for either of said
offenses, be subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000, and
imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and
conviction before the district court of the United States
for the district in which said offense may have been
committed, or before the proper court of criminal
jurisdiction, if committed within any one of the organized
Territories of the United States.

"SEC. 7. _And be it further enacted_, That the district
attorneys, the marshals, the deputies, and the clerks of the
said district and territorial courts shall be paid for their
services the like fees as may be allowed to them for similar
services in other cases; and in all cases where the
proceedings are before a commissioner, he shall be entitled
to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services in each
case, inclusive of all services incident to such arrest and
examination. The person or persons authorized to execute the
process to be issued by such commissioners for the arrest of
offenders against the provisions of this act, shall be
entitled to a fee of five dollars for each person he or they
may arrest and take before any such commissioner as
aforesaid, with such other fees as may be deemed reasonable
by such commissioner for such other additional services as
may be necessarily performed by him or them, such as
attending at the examination, keeping the prisoner in
custody, and providing him with food and lodging during his
detention, and until the final determination of such
commissioner, and in general for performing such other
duties as may be required in the premises; such fees to be
made up in conformity with the fees usually charged by the
officers of the courts of justice within the proper district
or county, as near as may be practicable, and paid out of
the Treasury of the United States on the certificate of the
judge of the district within which the arrest is made, and
to be recoverable from the defendant as part of the judgment
in case of conviction.

"SEC. 8. _And be it further enacted_, That whenever the
President of the United States shall have reason to believe
that offenses have been or are likely to be committed
against the provisions of this act within any judicial
district, it shall be lawful for him, in his discretion, to
direct the judge, marshal, and district attorney of such
district to attend at such place within the district, and
for such time as he may designate, for the purpose of the
more speedy arrest and trial of persons charged with a
violation of this act; and it shall be the duty of every
judge or other officer, when any such requisition shall be
received by him, to attend at the place, and for the time
therein designated.

"SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall be
lawful for the President of the United States, or such
person as he may empower for that purpose, to employ such
part of the land or naval forces of the United States, or of
the militia, as shall be necessary to prevent the violation
and enforce the due execution of this act.

"SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That upon all
questions of law arising in any cause under the provisions
of this act a final appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court
of the United States."