Mr. HENDERSON. The Senfrom NewYork and the Senfrom Nevada seem to rely entirely upon the ground that the act of retroccssion was made conditional upon avote of the people in that part of the District retro' ceded to Virginia. I apprehend that, notwithstanding some of the State courts have declared that legislation submitted to the people by the State Legislatures and made conditional upon avote o the people is unconstitutional, they have always one so under the peculiar provisions of the constitution of their State. I apprehend that those learned Senators will not undertake to say that Congress cannot pass any act which is made conditional upon some subsequent act of the people. I fear that if that is the case m State, which I had fondly supposed was in the Union since 1821, is not in at all, and that it is Within the pr crpower of any court now to declare that issouri is not in the Union. It will berecollected that in 1820 the constitution of the State of Missouri was adopted and Congress objected to one of igs provisions. The constitution was submitted here, and it was made necessary before the State could be admitted that the people of the State or their authorities should repeal a certain provision of their constitution, and when that was done the State was to be admitted upon the proclamation of the President. The act which was passed for the admissmn of the State of Missouri, March 2, 1821, provided: "That Missouri shall be admitted into this Union on an equal footing with the original States.in all respectswhatever, upon the fundamental condition that the 4th clauseof the 26th section of the 3rd article of the constitution submitted on the part of said State to Congress shall never be construedto authorize the passaircof any law and that annoy lcaiwtiszbeanlolbf eepiathsescrdeifntheoon Sfotarmteistyinthtchrise Uton.bioyn whioh be excludedfromthe enjoymentof an of the psrhivaill logosand immunities tow ichsnch citizon is entitled vuinddeedr, the Constitution of the U.S.: ProThat the Legislature of the said State, by a solemnpublic act shall declarethe assentof thosaid State to the said fundamental condition and shall transmit to the POTUS.on or before the 4th Monday in November next, an authentic copy of the said not; upon receipt whercof the President, by proclamation.shalf announcethe fact; whereupon and without any further proceed in: on the part of Congress, the admission o thesaid Stneeninto this Union shall be consideredas com11 0. There was a condition precedent, a public act of the State of Missouri, and the thing to make it final and complete was the proclamation of the President. It will be remembered that 2 years ago Colorado was, by an act of Congress, to be admitted upon the condition recedent that a majority 0 her people voted or it, and the President’s reclamation an nouncing that fact was ipso ado to operate as an admission of Colorado as a State. senators have had it up here and have discussed it during this session of conress. the whole question has been dis'cusse and rediscussed here. It will be seen therefore, that the doctrine laid down by telearned Senators, as deduced from the decision of the court of appeals of the State of NewYork, will not ho (1 good so far as the ieigislation of Congress is concerned. hy, Mr. President, States again and again have been admitted upon the condition that their people, a majority of the people of the dTerritor, should vote in favor of the proposition an the President so proclaime the fact. How was it in regard to the vote of Alexan dria? The act of 1846 provided that the question should be submitted to the people of Al exandria. I read from the 4th section of the act:, "That this act shall not be in forceuntil after the assent of the peopleof the county and town ofAlox andria shall a given to it in the diode hereinafter provided.” Provision is made for an election to be held, and it is declared: " If a.majority of the votes so given shall be out againstacccitin the provisions of this act. then it shall bevoid andofno ctfect; butit aniajorityof the said votesshouldbe in favor of acceptingthe provisions of this act. then this act shall be in full force and itshallbe thodutyoftho POTUS to inform the Governor of Virginia that this act is in full forceand effect and to make proclamation of the fact." Congress provided its own commissioners to take the vote, and one copy of it was to be filed with the POTUS, one with the Governor of Virginia, and the other to be filed in the clerk’s office of the county court of Alexandria. When that was done, and the fact was proclaimed by the Presidciit, then, of course, Alexandria passed under the jurisdiction of the State of Virginia. Now, there is no difference between that legislation and the legislation in regard to the a misswn ofiniy State into the Union not one t‘ particle of difference between that and the lcation in regard to Colorado. The Presicut was to proc aim that a majority. of the people of Colorado had voted for the admission and upon the proclamation of the President the State was to enter the Union. It was legislation of Congress, dependent in the one case upon the action of the Legislature of the State of missouri, and in the other dependent upon the vote of the people of Colorado. Now, there can be no question that legislation of this sort has been sanctioned again and a ain. I mightinstance other Tcrritories and other legislation, but it is useless so to do. Now, in reference to this matter, it strikes me as bein the most astonishing proposition in the world that Congress has no power to change the seat of Government. I think the fal lacy of that proposition has been demonstrated beyond any doubt by the Senfrom Maryland. If, as he very justly says, Congress cannot relinquish its jurisdiction over any part of the DistCol, when that jurisdiction has once attached, it is also an utter impossibility for Congress to relinquish its jurisdiction over any of the forts, arsenals, or dock yards of the U.S., because the authority is identical and given in the same provision of the Constitution. Hence the argument of the able and distinguished Senfrom NewYork falls to the ground. There certainly cannot be force in it, because the authority is identical in the 2 cases, and Congress has again and again yielded its jurisdiction to the States from which itaequired tracts of land for military nrposes.