Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. President, under other circumstances perhaps I. should say nothing upon this motion of the honorable Senfrom RhdIsland to amend the resolution of the HoRep; but as the honorable Senfrom Michigan makes earnest obfection to the adoptionof the amendment and has demanded die yeas&nays of the Senate upon iIt, certainly am not only at liberty to express my views, but I feel that to do so is a duty to in self, to the Senate, and to the country; and shall discharge that duty in as brief terms as I can. In my own judgment, sir, all of these great Questions concerning reconstruction, pacification, and restoration of civil government in the southern States, representation in this body, or anything which concerns our Federal relations with the several States, on fit to be referred to the ComJuciciary. such has been the practice of this Government from the beginning. Great questions of constitutional law, questions concerning the relations of the Union to the States and the States to the Union, and above all, and without any exception, all questions relatin g to representation in this body, to its membership, have always been referred to the ComJudiciary. The ComJudiciary is constituted for the very purpose of considering such questions, and for no other purpose. Irom its very organization, the Senate csignsto make that committee its constitutional advisernot that its opinions are to be conclusive or controlling on the vote of any member of this body, like the opinion of the bench of judges in the House of Lords; but its members are chosen in consideration of their high professional ability, their long experience, an wellknown standing as jurists, in order that their report upon constitutional questions may be entitled to the highest consideration. and, sir, if you leok into the Organization of the ComJudiciary appointed by the Senate at the present session, what is it? There is the Senfrom Illinois, [Mr. TRUMBULL] for years a judge of the supreme court of that State before he entered this ody who for ten years and more has been a faithlul, laborious, distinguished member of that committee, and for the last. 4 cars its chair man and there sits my honorable friendfrom NewYork, [Mr. HARRLS] for 20 years before he came here, known and distinguished gmong the able jurists and judges of that great tatc. There is upon that committee also the honorable Senfrom Maryland, [Mr. Jonssos] whom I do not now see in his seat, who, for a quarter of a century and more, has borne a high national reputation as among the ablest jurists of this or any country, twice a Senator, once the AttyGen of the U.S and there is the honorable Senfrom Vermont [Mr. POLAND] He has, it is true, just entered this body, but his reputation as ajuristpreceded his coming, and he comes here to fill the place in this Chamber, and is put upon this ComJudiciary to fill the place of him, of whom I will say without disparagement to any that he was the ablest jurist of us allthe late distinguished Senfrom Vermont, Mr. Comnsm] and thereis the SenfromNewHampshire, [Mr. CLARK] from the far East, and the Senfrom Nevada [Mr. Srswssr} from the Pacific cons and the Senfrom udiana [Mr. Hsunsicss from the central reou, each of whom stands eminent in the procssion in the State which he represents and all of whom are recoized here among the ablest jurists of this be. Mr. President, there is nothing in the history of the Senate, there is nothing in the constitution of this committee, which would send these great constitutional questions for advisement and consideration to any other committee than the ComJudiciary. To place their consideration in the hands of a committee which is beyond the control of the Senate into distrust ourselves; and to voteto son their consideration to any other committee is equivalent to a vote of want of confidence in the ComJudiciary. But, sir, some gentlemen have said and urged with great pertinacity, if not with force, that from courtesy, a sense of propriety toward the other House in this peculiar case, we ought to consent to send the consideration of this question toa JtCommee of the 2 Houses. When my friends with whom I have associated in political action have urged this consideration upon me, in order to secure harmonious action, I confess that I have so far yielded my judgment as to give way to the appointment of a JtCommee, provided that in that JtCommee, as it should be established by the 2 Houses the Senate should maintain its equality, and there should be no substantial objection to the powers conferred upon the committee itself. This brings me to the consideration of e JtResolution as it came from the HoRep; and I ask that it be read.