Mr. DOOLITTLE. No; it does not prevent the holding of a State oltice, but it prevents them from holdin an office gnder the government of the Lnite States, and that is as far as I think we ought to go. No person can be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or an elector of President and VEEP, I ask for the yeas and or hold any ofice, civil or military, under the U.S., under the law as it now stands, who does not take an oath that he has not participated in the rebellion. The oath which we require at their hands prevents any such persons from holding any such offices. That law is upon our statute book. That law will remain upon the statute book just as long as Congress in its judgment shall think best to retain it. And, sir, there is, in my judgment, no danger whatever, no apprehension, that that law will be taken from our statute book so long as the public interests require that it should there remain. Therefore, in my judgment, it is not necessary to adopt any such constitutional amendment. because this amendment contains a clause puttin it in the power of Congress to at an end to teeffect of this provision. It is true that it requires 2/3rds of Congress in order to do it, whereas under the law as it now stands a majorit of Congress could change the existing law on that subject. What I maintain is this: Congress is the representative of the American people; Congress speaks the will of the American people, and I do not think that it is in accordance with our system of government, which presumes that Congress speaks for the people, to suppose that a majority of Congress will repeal this oath until a majority of the people of the U.S. are in favor of doin so; and when a majority of the people are in ever of universal amnest they have a right to express that opinion an to have universal amnesty. I undertake to say that upon no principle of statesmanship or Christianity, whether you derive your conclusions from the experience of history, the teachings of Christianity, or the teachings of a wise states inanship, can on desire to retain in this country any consider able portion of its people who shu i be under the ban of eternal prescription. What, Mr. President, is the duty of the Government, having suppressed the rebellion? It is to punish the guilty leaders under the law of the land; it is to bring them to punishment; and the duty of Congress is, if there is anything which stands in the way and which Congress can remove, to pass such laws as may expedite the trials of p the great offenders. The great offenders should be tried and uuished, and those that you do nott and 0 not punish should not be held on er prescription, the unrelentin, eternal enemies of the Republic. Again, TIL President, this provision, if it passes, will have the effect of pptting a new punishment, not prescribed byt e laws, upon all those persons who are embraced within its provisions. Nobody can doubt that. It is in the nature of a bill of pains and penalties. imposed by constitutional enactment it is true, but. it is a punishment different from the punishment now prescribed by law. What is the etfect of adopting it? What is the legal elfect of ado tinganew punishment for an offense which has already been committed? It repeals the old punishment, and that cannot be inflicted. If today the punishment for the crime of murder is death, and tomorrow you your punishment to imprisonment for licfeh, ange the old penalty is repealed; it cannot be inflicted upon a culprit who has been gluilt previous to the passage of the law. such has been decided by the courts many times to be the law; and if by a constitutional amendment you impQSe a new punishment upon a class of oli'enders who are guilty of crime already, you wipe out the old punishment as to them, not as to those who are not embraced within this. This only cm braces a particular class of individuals who have taken an oath to an port the Constitution of the U.S. ow, I do not proposeto wipe out the penalties that these men rive incurred by their treason against the Government; but I would punish a sulficient number of them to make treason odious. I would punish the leaders, those who were instrumental in brin ng on this rebellion; but to the masses Iwoul ire amnesty.