Mr. ROGERS. That may all be so. I am u0t here as the advociite of AndrewJohnson, because he is AndrewJohnson, but simply as the advocate of the great doctrine of constitutional liberty which he lays down. I am not here to support the conduct of AndrewJohnson in all the past years of his life, but to support him as President in his endeavors to so control the legislation of this country as to confer constitutional liberty upon the people, and carry out the letter, spirit, and intent of the organic law. I stand by himbecause of his reiteratin those immortal and undying principles which wereingrafted in the Constitution of the U.S., and I stand by him no longer than he stands by his oath to support and defend the organic law. I am wedde to no man, but am devoted to my country and its liberties. further than the Constitution goes in the language which it uses with regard to the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. It pLQPDWKmend it that all Persons in these imLShgtesshsllfizm of Calgreihifiemul protection reginl to life liberty and property. If the bill to protect all persons in the U.S. in their civil rights and furnish the means of their vindication, I which has just passed the Senate by almost the entire vote of the Republican party he constitutional, what, I ask, is the use of this proposed amendment? What is the use of authorizing Congress to do more than Congress has already done, so far as one branch is concerned, in passing a bill to guaranty civil rights and immunities to the people of the U.S. without distinction of race or color? If it is necessary now to amend the Constitution of the U.S. in the manner in which the learned gentleman who reported this amendment proclaims, then the vote of the Senate of the U.S. in passin that bill guarantying civil rights to all without regard to race or color was an attempt to project legislation that was manifestly unconstitutional, and which this proposed amendment is to make legal. Now, sir, on the 5th of Januar. 1866, Mr. TRUMBULL introduced a bill into The Senate of the U.S., in this language: That thereshall be nodiscriminationin civil rights or immunities among the inhabitants of any State orTerritory of the U.S.on account of race, color or previous condition of slavery but the inhabitants of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishmentfor crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall have the sump right to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties and give evidence, to inherit, purchase. But this proposed amendment goes much sell, hold, and conveyreal and personal prop c y. Sir, I shall deal with these grave questiousin a spirit of candor, and with no disrespect to the committee of 15 as individuals, yet I shall not hesitate to lay bare the wicked despotism which is the result of the making and sustaining such an unauthorized body who are sitting as an inquisition upon the liberties of the people. My whole am ition is to save my country and its liberties, and may God give me wisdom so to act as to further the great objects of the war, and relieve an oppressed people from the exercise of despotic power. want all errors or wrongs on the part of the southern people, growing out of the war, to he at once buried orever in the deep ocean of oblivion. Great disasters threaten us by the hands of fanaticism. Let us remember that civilWars usually men ace liberty, and often end in its overthrow and destruction. No sentiment of disloyalty to the great doe trines of self government embodied in the Constitution has or shall ever beat or throbin my heart. To the maintenance of those doctrines I have devoted the whole of my time in this body, and to them and the safeguards of constitutional liberty I shall devote the balance of my life. In devotion to and love of my country, Iwill yield to no man on earth. My only hope for liberty is in the full restoration of all the States, With the rights of representation in the Congress of the U.S. upon no condition but to take the oath laid down in the Constitution. In the legislation by the States they should look to the protection, so curity, advancement, and imrovement, phys ically and intellectually, of al classes, as well the blacks as the whites. Negroes should have the channels of education opened to them by the States, and by the States they should be protected in life liberty, and property, and by the States should be allowed all the rights of being witnesses, of suing and being sued, of contracting, and doing every act or thing that a white man is authorized by law to do. But to give to them the right of suffrage, and hold ofice, and marry whites, in my judgment is dangerous and never ought to be extended to them by any State. However, that is a matter belonging solely to the sovereign will of the States. I have faith in the people, and dark and gloomy as the hour is, I do not des air of free government. Iplant myself upon the will of God to work out a bright destiny for the American people. Let old issues, old feuds, and old questions be buried in the past. New and living issues are upon us. Let itbe said of us in this period of our country s great trial and agony that there was a band of patriots in this Congress who devoted their energies and their influence, re gardless of party differences, to strengthen the arm of the resident in his noble purpose of restoration, and who with honest hearts strained I every nerve to make this a more pe etual Union, knowing in that at work no orth, East, West, or South, an remembering thatas Christ gave His life to save a fallen world, so did that noble band dedicate the part of their lives in which they were engaged as guardians of the peoples honor to the org givenessof their brethren in the South, and the restoration of all the States. With all the States fully rep presented, our future would be much brighter than was that of our fathers who fled from ersecution in the Old World, and under our nstitution commenced this present Government, although we have a vast debt upon our shoulders which, with a united country and an equalization of taxes, we can very soon pay. iatever is done, let it be the act of calm, dispassionate, and enlightened reason, exercised for the best interests of all, ever remembering that Christian injunction of doing unto others as we would that they should do unto us. In in litical course my conscience is clear, 81d ll not be content until the bright her itage of our fathers is transmitted to their descendants unimpaired. I know human nature is frail. We are not so constituted that we can all think alike. I have no feelings against those who disagree with me, and my only regret is that they cannot look at the situation of our country from a stand above and beyond party. I have been treated with great respect by those who disa gree with me, and fee bound to believe that the are moved by honest convictions of duty an in all charitableness l am willing toaccord to them the same rights I claim for myself. Let us treat our southern brethren with kindness. They deserve our sympathy and an rt, for serely have they been chastened. 0d gave His only begotten Son to save the world. Can we not give up our assiona and prejudices to save the Union? hen you refuse representation you dissolve the Union, prostrate the constitution, and erect an imerial despotism over nearly 1/3rd of the Hnion. l e despot isms of Europe will shout over our fall, whdie the people of Ireland and all the downtrodden masses will shed tears, mingled with blood. Holding 11 States as conquered provinces, and the enforcement oftaxes upon them, must alienate all the aTTections of the South, and finally end in revolution and blood. Congress has no power to dissolve the Union. I cannot join with northern disunionists in such an abominable act. I call upon the people of the South to fill up the ranks and make a more determined effort to get into the Union than they did to get out. Let the angel of love blot out the memories of the past insurrection, and hover herwings over 8 united Union. I Whegevethe Senate the constitntionalspower to pass that bill lightsto all, TFitTs uc the nrganic law in the mannerpr ion? This is but another attempt to consolidate the power of the States in the Federal Government. this another step to an imperial despotism. It is but another attempt to blot out from that flag the 11 stars that represent the States of the South and to consolidate in the FederaL Government, by the action of Congress, all the Eowers claimed by the Czar Of nssia or the mperor of the breach. It provides that all persons in the several States shall have equal protection in the right of life, liberty, and property. Nowz it is claimed by gentlemen upon the other side of the House that negroes are citizens of the U.S. Suppose that in the State of NewJerse negroes are citizens, as they are claimed to e by the other side of the House, and the change their residence to the State of SCarolina, if this amendment be passed Congress can pass under it a law compelling SCarolina to grant to negroes every right accorded to white people there; and as white men there have the right to marry white women, as oes, under this amendment, would be entitle to the same right; and thus miscegenation and mixture of the races could be authorized in any State, as all citizens under this amendment are entitled to the same privileges and immunities, and the same protection in life, liberty, and property. Will gentlemen upon the other side dispute my position? I defygcontradiction. Why sir, it says that the people bf aQEStatf shall have the privileges and immunities of citizens in the selembflfigis. whham pflfllege? What an immunity? Will learned gentlemen deny that the right of marriage is a contract and a privilege: Its source is the law of nature. whence it as flowed into the municipal laws of every civilized country, and into the general law of nations. (Bishop on Marriage and Divorce, section 29.) The organic law says that no person but a natural born citizen, or a citizen when it was made shall be eligible to the office of president. This amendment would make all citizens eligible, negroes as well as whites. For if negroes are citizens, they are natural born, whbecause they are the descendants of ancestors for several generations back who were born here as well as themselves. 2Thenecroes cannot be citizens in a new State in which they may take up their residence unless they are entitled tot e privileges and immunities of the citizens resident in that State. Most of the States make a distinction in the rights of mar ried women. This would authorize Congress to repeal all such distinctions. Marriage is a contract as set down in all the books from the Year books down to the present time. A white citizen of an State may marry awhite woman; butif a blue citizen goes into the same State he is entitled to the some privileges and immunities that white citizens ave, and therefore under this amendment a negro might be allowed to marry a white woman. I will not go for an amendment of the Constitution to give a power so dangerous, so likely to degrade the white men and women of this country, which would put it in the power of fanaticism in times of excitement and civilWar to allowthe people of any State to mingle and mix themselves by marriage with negroes so as to run the pure white blood of the Anglo Saxon people of the country into the black blood of the negro or the copper blood of the Indian. Now, sir, the words “privileges and immunities" in the Constitution of the U.S. have been construed by the courts of the several States to mean privileges and immunities in a limited extent. t was so expressly decided in Massachusetts by Chief Justice Parker, one of the ablest ndges who ever sat upon the bench in the U.S. These words, as now contained in the Constitution of the U.S., were nsed in a qualified sense, and subject to the local control, dominion, and the vereignty of the States. But thimacth of regard to the life, liberty, and property of the people, so as to enable and empower Congresstinction, for instance, between a crime committed by a white man and a crime committed by a black man, or allow white people privilege, immunities, or property not allowed to a black man. Take the State of Kentucky, for instance. According to her laws, if a negro commits a rape upon a white woman he is punished by death. If a white man commits that offense, the punishment is imprisonment. Now, according to this proposed amendment, the congress of the U.S. is to have the right to repeal the law of Kentucky and compelt at State to inflict the same punishment upon a white man for re O as upon a black man. Accordin to the organic law of Indiana a negro is forbidden to come there and hold property. This amendment would abrogate and blot out forever that law, which is valuable in the estimation of the sovereign people of Indiana. In the State of Pennsylvania there are laws which make a distinction with regard to the schooling of white children and the schooling of black children. It is provided that certain schools shall be designate and seta art for white children, and certain other schoo s designated and set apart for black children. Under this amendment, Congress would havepower to compel the State to provide for white children and black children to attend the same school, upon the principle that all the people in the several States shall have equal protection in all the rights of life, liberty, and property, and all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. the States to ccnlrgizea conso i a WOT in this Federal government which our fathers. never in unhelwjrserlliiiffffill, l men who are honest, and love their countrv. Congress preposest aamcud the Constitution O as to ta eaymytha rights of the States with 5 to pass laws compelling the a rogation of all I the statutes of the States which makes a dis I The effect of this proposed amen rib is to take as“ r V fer with the internal oligennd relations and who believe in the doctrines upon which the constitutional liberty of this country is founded, must admit that the rights of the States were the most jealous rights which our fathers had in view; and when they wrested from England the independence of the several States, they wrested em as 13 independent States and nations, free from each other, with all rights and privileges given to the people to exercise, carry into effect, and control a Government according to their own exclusive will and judgment. Let us see what Chief Justic e Parker says upon this subject of privileges and immunities o citizens of the several States, as already incorporated in the organic law of this country. He says, in 6 Pickering, pages 92 and 93, in the ca“se of Abbot vs. Bailey: The constitutional provision referredto is necessarily limited and qualified; for it cannot be pretended that a citizen of RhdIsland coming into this Stateto live is {pm hm entitledto the full privileges ot the citizen if any term of yesidoncq is prescribed asprcliininar to the exercise of political or municipal rights. The severnl States than remain sovereign for some purposes, and foreign to each other. as before the adoptionof the Constitutionof the U.S.: and especiallyin regard to the administration of justice and in the regulation of property and of estates.the law: of marriageand divorce and the protectionof the personsof thosewho live under theirjurisdiction.” Does this amendment propose to leave the several States foreign to each other as regards the regulation of property and of estates, the laws of marriage and divorce, and the protec vtion of the powers of those who live under their jurisdiction? No, Sir; it proposes to take away all those rig its ofa. State, and under this broad principlie o r equality which during the last five years has been proclaimed thron. but the land to empower the Federal Government to exer gise an absolute, despotic, uncontrollable power of entering the domain of the States and saying to them, EXonLStata laws mnst be repealed wherever they do not we to the colored population of the countryt e same rights and privil as to which your white citizens are entitl " I will not vote for any amendment to the organic law that is to affect the 11 southern States as long as those States are denied representation. [he courts have decided that guamntMFW., and immunities are not powersland when Constitutions amorized Cungress s necessary and proper to carilintgeleglTTon the pgwem vested in the Government ritwmeant: powers strictly. Upon this point the houorah Who reported this resolution. [Mr. Bimlmn] l agree. That powers do not mean guarantees and privileges we all agree; and because of that this amendment in part is deemed necessary. Now, sir, another reasOn why our fathers never intended that Congress should have the right to interfere in the case of the clause of the organic law which says that “the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States, ” is this: that the 8th section of the 1st article designates and names the particular powers which Congress may exercise. It is therefore clear that the framers of the Constitution intended to exclude the exercise of all powers exce 1: those expressly named. You nowhere fin in the Constitution the grant of any power such as is now proposed to be exercise. You nowhere fin congress endowed with the right to interfere with the eminent domain on the sovereign power of a State. But each State has sovereign jurisdiction and power over the property, the liberty, the privileges, and immunities, and the livesof its citizens. I am pleased to see gentlemen upon the other side of the House coming forward to defend Stat e rights, which I regard as the vital principle of our Government. I am pleased to see the now gallant and noble advocate of liberty and State rights, the Gentfrom NewYork. [Mr. RAYMOND] standing up in the city of NewYork and defending those great rights of State jurisdiction, without which the Constitution of this country is worthless, and the liberties of the people a myth. I am willing to follow in the track of him and those who manifest the same noble spirit. I am willing to sink all parties into oblivion, if it be necessary, to save this Union. To save this Union I am willing to sink party organization so low that when Gabriel lows his born they will never hear it. I am willing to do this in order to re serve those principles ef civil liberty which huve been handed down to us by our fathers, and embodied by them in our Federal system of Government and in the self governing constitutions of the independent States of this Union. It was State rights that our fathers in framing the Constitution sought to preserve in all their just majesty. Through 75 years we are enjoyed these rights; and I desire that the shall be handed down unimpaired to our children and our childrens children forever. I ufiirm that when you attempt to ta O away those rights by constitutional amendment, you make one more stride toward a consolidation of power in one central Government; one more stride toward despotism; one more stride toward the destruction of those great principles which Washington and Jefferson and Madison regarded as the vitalizing ideas of our republican system; one more stride toward the enslavement of your posterity, whose liberties can only be guarantiecFby the maintenance of the great principles which our revolutionary fathers viii icated and sought to transmit for the benefit of their posterity. Sir, one great object which is now soughtis to prevent 11 sovereign 11States of tiis Union from being represente in the Halls of Congress while they are comielled to bear their full burden of taxation. The tendency of this clfort must be to widen and deepen that gulf between the North and South which has been created by northern fanaticism and southern rebellion. The purpose is to make that ulf so broad and vast that the southern States a all never be permitted to take their place in this Union except as mere dependencies of a consolidated central power, by virtue of which Congress shall exercise an unlimited control over the municipal concerns of those States, embracing in its jurisdiction all the most val ued rights of life, liberty, and property, which our Constitution designed to be under the guardiauslii of the individual States, which alone can give the citizen the adequate measure of protection. Sir. fdefy any man upon the other side of the House to name to me any right of the citizen which is not included in the words “life, liberty, property, privileges, and immunities, ” unless it should be the right of suffrage; and that has been decided by the circuit court of the U.S. in Corlicld vs. Coryell, 4 Washingtons Cimuit Court Reports, pages 380 and 381, to be included in the words “privileges and immunities;” that “privileges and immunities” are so broad as even to include the right of suffrage; I will not alfirm that that position is correct, nor will I den it; but if it e correct, as that high court as solemnly decided, it is easy to perceive why our fathers refused to authorize Congress to legislate on this subject by granting no power to it to legislate upon the guarantees of the organic law, and confining its legislation to the powers granted. lllmkvlsusciutha nreauic. his nhiubusaxs fln t. no person shull be deprived:, lllifeJibenbpr property without due proccss of law gellasn the other guarantees of the Cons have been repeatedly decided fthe, art of the ginitorifitatrs. 1. sunbumi law is affecting the Fedgrul Government not to a plygto such r gn cgjs ana.mcised by the t lates For instance, if a State should condemn a man to death without due process of law, or take his property for public use without any compensation, the clauses of the Constitution of the U.S. would have no application to such cases; but if the Federal goverument should do the same thing, then these clauses in the organic law would apply. This position no lawyer in this House Wi I deny. What do we understand by the word property in a legal sense? Inclued in the right of property is the right to vote. The learned men on the same committee with myself will not deny that it has been so decided. In fact it is an axiom of law in thi country, that the right of voting is a Ilfillb of property. When a man has been refuse the right of voting he has the right to prosecute the man who has deprived him of that right. It has been so settled in the courts of the Union, that the right to vote is property. N ow, according to the broad construction and latitudinarinn ideas of the times, it is easy to get courts to decide that this amendment would give Congress the power to regulate suffrage in the States uii er the words property, privileges, and immunities. I know am a young man and of course pay much respect to older minds, yet I defy contradiction of any of the legal principles I am laying down. I do not want to pervert or misstate, and am always ready to be corrected it I crr. I have taken some pains to study the theor of our Government and the liberties of this niou. Now, sir, I insist that the Federal Government has no power to deprive the States of any of the rights which they have reserved to themselves. I will refer to the case of Campbell vs. Morris, 3 Harris & McHcnrys Re“ports, page 65 11 2. All power jurisdiction, and rights of sovereignty not nrnnte by the people by that instrument or relin uislied, are still retained by them in their several States and in their respectiveStato Legislatures, according to their formsof government. “Uniformity of laws in the States is contemplated by the General Government only in 2 cases, on the subject of bankrupteiesand naturalization. “The legislative power “of Congressare particular“ly defined in the 8th sectionof the 1st article. those powersdo not interferewith or nrbridgcthe power of the States to make local regulations, the operationof which is confinedto the State." This Congress, not satisfied with the powers already given by the Constitution of the U.S., ntxj believing that they have authority to pass this civil rights bill which puss ed through the Senate of the U.S., not believing according to the letter and spirit of the Constitution, within the meaning of the word “ powers, ” there is any authority in congress to carry into effect the immunities and privileges which are contained in this section, they now attempt to ingrnft and implant upon the Federal system of this country or all time to come, a despotic and supreme power which would so the very life blood of the States and deprive tiiem of the most precious and heretofore indestructible rights which they have enjoyed from the formation of the Government down to this time. It cannot be expected that the southern States or anyone of the border States in this Union will indorse through their Legislatures an amendment of this character. If this amendment were submitted to the people it would not receive the sanction of one State except Massachusetts. The name of this committee ought to be changed from the ComReconstruction to the committee on destruction. It is a source of despotism and partakes of the character of the English Inquisition and the Jacobin committee of France. It usnrps the power to regulate the affairs of the Union, sits in secret inquisition over the liberties of the people, issues edicts and mandates to Congress, and with imperial dignity orders Congress to pass laws which would sap the life blood of the notion, prostrate the Constitution, break down the Union, and destroy the rights and liberties of the people of America. lts conduct has been recorded for posterity to judge of, and that judgment will consign its acts to oblivion and eternal shame. It was established to prevent the southern States from having representation in the Union, to reducc them to conquered provinces and to blot from the flag of our country 11 of its stars, and to allow none to even come in by act of Congress, until it would ratify these abominable, despotic, and accursed amendments to the Constitution. This is wicked, pestilent, and odious despotism. I saythat the liberties of France were no more invaded. when Napo leon sought to regulate the destinies of France. The bloody acts of Nero and Caligula were not conceived in a more determined hatred of law, liberty, and order, than are the results of the action of this committee. I do not believe they intend to do wrong, but they are mad and know not what the do. They are like John Brown, who believe he was doing Gods will in the murders at Harpers Ferry. I know they would not do an intentional wrong, but fanaticism has made them delirious in their vengeance upon the South. Do not inaugurate this spirit of despotism within the portals of this apitol dedicated to the immortal Washington. But of all the amendments that have been proposed there are none so dangerous and out rageous as:his.