Mr. SHERMAN. It did. I will come to that after awhile, and will present that point distinctly. I have ven on now, Mr. resi dent, the history oft at bil. I repeat that the declaration of hi colleague was not approved by the people. e himself, perhaps, wrlIagree with me that at that time it was generally re garded that the issue made by him before the people was unfortunate, because we were then in t ie midst of a presidential campaign. certain it is that the public voice, so far as it could be gathered from the newspapers and from speeches and from various modes of expressing public opinion, was against the action of these 2 gentlemen, who, as chairmen of the respective committees of the twobodies, felt it their dutv to defend this bill. Thus, by the disagreement which commenced 2 years ago between Congress and the president, there was left no law upon the statute book to guide either the Presient or the people of the southern States in their effort to get back to the embraces of the old Union. regard that as a great misfortune. PRESIDENTaouusoss PLAN. Now, Iwill ask Senators this plain question, whether we have a right now, having failed to do our constitutiOnal duty, to arrni n AndrewJohnson for followin out a plan wiich in his judgment lie ileeineif the best, and especially when that plan was the plan adopted by Mr. Lincoln, and which at least had the a parent ratification of the people of the U.S. in the election of Lincoln and Johnson. After this elfort made by Congress toprovide a plan of reconstruction, there was no effort made subsequently, no bill was introduced on the subject at the last session of Congress, no further effort was made to harmonize the conflicting views of the President and Congress. One whole session intervened afier this veto, asI may call it, of President Lincoln, and no eflbrt was made by Congress to reconcile this conflict of views; and when President Johnson came suddenly, by the hand of an assassin, into the presidential chair, what did he have before him to ide his ste s? The forces of the rebellion ad been subdued; all physical resistance was soon after subdued; the armies of Lee and Johnston and all the other armies of the rebels had been overwhelmed, and the South lay at our power. Who doubts, then, that if there had been a law upon the statute book by which the people of the southern States could have been guied in their effort to come back into the Union, they would have cheerfully followed it, although the conditions had been, hard? In the absence of law, I ask you whether President Lincoln and President Johnson did not do substantially right when they adopted ii. Inn of their own an endeavored to carry it into execution? Although we maynow find fault with the terms and conditions that were imposed by them upon the southern States, yet we must remember that the source of all power in this country, the people of the U.S., in the election of these 2 men substantially sanctioned the plan of Mr. Lincoln. Why, sir, at the very time that AndrewJohnson was nom inated for the Vice Presidency he was intennessee as military governor, executing the very plan that he subsequent! attempted to carry out, and he was elected VEEP when he was in the practical execution of that plan. and, now, before we examine the steps taken by the President, and fairly weigh the wisdom of his polic, we must determine the legal status of the seceing State. STATESIN INSUBRECTION. What was the condition of those States? I shall not waste much time upon this point, because mere theoretical ideas never appear to me to have much force when we are legislatin on practical matters. They have been declare to e States in insurrection but States still. The very resolution we have before us repeats 3 times that they are States now. They are referred to as States not entitled to representa tio“n. They are stated to be, The 11 States which have been declaredto be in insurrection.” and again: “N O Senator or Representativeshall be admitted into either branchof songress from anzgfifmid Slalea until Conirress shall have declared we are entitled to such representation." I could show very many acts of Congress in which they are referred to as States, but States in insurrection and there is no difference between congress and the President as to the present condition of these States. The executive branch of the Government in all its Depts now treats them as States in rebellion or in insurrection. Tennessee is the only one of these States that has been proclaimed by the President to be out of insurrection. He is now exercising power in all these States as States in insurrection. He is suspending news papers, exercising arbitrary power, suspending the writ of habeascorpus, treating them yet as States in insurrection; and in this view, asl have stated, Congress concurs. Now, what is the legal result of a State being in insurrection? ltwas sufficiently declared in the proposition I have alread read, offered by the Senfrom Missouri. 1 hey have no right while they are in insurrection to elect electors to the Electoral College; they have no right to elect Sens&Reps. In other words, they lose all those powers, rights, and privileges conferred upon them by the Constitution of the U.S. Having taken up arms against the U.S. they by that act lose their constitutional powers within the U.S. to govern and control our councils. They cannot engage in the election of a President, or in the election offienators or members of Congress; but they are still States, and have been so re rded by every branch and eve Dept olfathis Government. They are States in insurrection, whose rights under the Constitution are suspended until they cease to be in insurrection. When that period arrives is a question, in my judgment, which must be determined by Congress, and not by the president, for the reason I have already stated; but it is clear that the 1st duty of Congress, under these circumstances, is to provide a mode and manner by which the condition of the States may be tested, and they may come back, one by one, each upon its own merits, upon coma ying With such conditions as the public safety emands. wmir rnc Passions": um. I prouse now to recall, very briefly, the steps adopte by President Johnson in his plan of reconstruction. I do this for the purpose of pre nting to the Senate, in a condensed view, the precise plan of reconstruction adopted by him, so that we may see at a single glance the present conditiono these 11 States. When. Mr. Johnson came into power he found the rebellion substantially subdued. What did he do? His 1st act was to retain in his confidence and in his councils every member of the Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln, and so far as we know every measure adopted by Andrew Johnson has had the approval and sanction of that Cabinet. If there is any doubt upon any measure it is upon the recent veto message; but up to and including that message, so far as we know and in matters of this ind we cannot rely upon street rumors AndrewJohnsons plan has met the approval of the Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln. He has executed every law passed by Congress upon every subject whatever, and especially has he executed the Freedmen s Bureau bill. He placed at the head of that bureau GenlHoward, one of the most fit and worthy men in the U.S., to conduct the delicate affairs of that bureau, and GenlHoward has never asked him for any single act of authority, any single power that was not freely granted by President Johnson. The Freedmens Bureau is also underthe control of Edwin M. Stanton. Every act passed by Congress in any way bearing on this rebellion the President has fairly and from tly executed. If there is any that he as ailed to execute I should thank an Senator to name it to me for I do not now recall it. Not only that, but he adopted the policy of President Lincoln in haze verba, as I shall show hereafter in examining his proclamations, and be extended and made more severe, as you may say, the pol icy adopted by Mr. Lincoln. Not only t at, but in carrying out his plans of reconstruction he adopted all the main features of the only bill passed by Congress the Wade and Davis bill. have the bill before me but I have not time to go into its details. hfy colleague, who re members the features of that bill, will know that the general plan adopted by President Johnson is the only plan that was ever adopted by Congress. Let us look into President John sons plan a little more and see what it was. His 1st proclamation was in reference to Virginia. In this proclamation, dated Executive hamber, May 9, 1865, he provided: " 1st. That all ncts and proceedings of the political military and civil organizations wiich have been in a state of insurrection and rebellion within the State of Virginia against the authority and laws of the U.S and ofwhich JoTTersonDavis, John Letcher and will iam Smith were late the respective chiefs.are declared null and void." With a single stroke he swept away the whole suffer structure of the rebellion. Then be provides for the execution of all the powers of the national Government within the rebel territory, extending there our tax laws. Perhaps president Johnson ought to have thought a little about these proclamations when he disputed the power of Congress to tax the people of the southern States. He was the 1st to extend over those States the tax laws of the U.S., and appoint assessors and cgllectors of internalrevenue and collectors of customs in the various ports. Then he provides: “ 9th. That to carry into effectthe guaranteeof the federal Constitution of a RFG, and afford the advantage and securit of domestic laws as well asto complete the reestablishment of the authorityof the laws of the U.S., and the full and complete to restorationof peace within the limits aforesaid, rancis ll. PeirLpoint Governor of the State of Virginia. will beaide by the Federal Government, so far asmay be necessar, in the law ful measureswhich he may take for the extension and administration oft he State government through out the geographical limits of said State." That was the 1st element of his plan of reconstruction. The next was the amnesty proclamation, issued on the 29th of May following. In this proclamation he recites the previous proclamation of President Lincoln, and then goes on: "To the end therefore. that the authority of the govment of the U.S. may be restored and but once.order, and freedom may be established, AndrewJohnson. POTUS do proclaim and declare that I hereby grant to all persons who have directly or indirectly participated in the existing rebellion except lnllcrfll er exeI pled amnesty and mudon. with restoration of all rights of propert, excnpt as to slaves and except in cases where ego proceedin a, under the laws of the U.S. providing fort e confiscation of property of persons engagedin rebellion, have been instituted." die and then in the oath of amnesty he provides that any person claiming the benefit of the amnesty should swear that he will “abide by and faithfull support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves.” Then he goes on and excepts from the operation of this amnesty some 14 classes of persons, more than the exceptions of the previous proclamation of Mr. Lincoln; so that if there was any departure in this connection from the policy adopted by Mr. Lincoln, it was a departure against the rebels, and especially against those wealthy rebels who gave life and soul and power to the rebellion. cosnrrioss inrossn ar uni. These were the agencies and organs under which the plan of reconstruction was to go on. Now I ask you, what conditions were imposed on these people? 1st, the adoption of the constitutions amendment: He was not willing to leave the matter to their amnesty oath or to the proclamation of President Lincoln, but he demanded of them the incorporation in their State constitutions of a prohibition of slavery, ahd the adoption by their Legislatures of the constitutional amendment so as to secure beyond peradventure the abolition of slavery forever and ever throughout the U.S. This he required in evay order issued to the South, and demanded itas a 1st and preliminar conditiontoan cffort toward reconstruction. ext, he demaned a repudiation of the rebel debt, and a guarantee put into the constitutions of the respective States that they never would under any circumstances pay any portion of the rebel debt. Next, be secured the enforcement of the test oath so that every officer in the southern States under the act of Congress was compelled to take that path; or if he could not.find officers there to do it, he sent officers from the northern States to do it, so that this law, the most objectionable of any to the southern people was enforced in all instances at the South. It is true he oppomted some provisional governors who could not take the test oath; but wh 1 Because it was held that these provisiona governors were not officers under the law. They were not officers whose commission was provided for by law; they were simply executive agents for the time being to carry into execution the plan of reconstruction; and he felt that if he could use any of these people in the southern States for the purpose of performing this temporary duty he had a right to do it. It was not prohibited by any law. The test oath only applied to officers of the U.S. who were provided for y law. Next, be enforced in every case full and ample protection to the freedmen of the southern States. As I said before, no case was ever brought to his knowledgc, so far as I can rather, in which he did not do full and substantial justice.