Mr. SUMNER. Before the Senator passes from that part of his argument, if he will allow me, I wish to call his attention to a mint on which I should like very much to have is opinion. The Senator isaware that last Friday we passed an not containing this provision: That all personsborn in the U.S and not subject to any foreign lower(xcludinu Indians not taxed) are hereby dzccluredtodvecitizens of the U.S., without distinction of color: and thereshall be no discrimination in civil riuhts or immunities among the inhabitants of any State or Territory of the U.S. on account of race, color, or previous conditionof sluvery. Now, as I understand it, this act, which, as the Senator will see, actually annals all State laws everywhere throughout the U.S. fixing anyinequality in civil rights so far as it. has constitutional sanctionaudd do not doubt that it has constitutional sanctionis founded upon the 2nd clause of the recent amendment to the constitution abolishing slavery. Now, the point to which I ask the attention of the Senator before he passes from this branch of the discussionI sh ll value very much his conclusionupon it is whether, if we can aunul all State laws declaring inequ litgin civil rights, we cannot also annul all Sta 6 law ne inequalityiiipoli “, e er if thisa, is constitution al, as I befieve ifis, such an act as I propose Would not also be constitutionaland in that connection I would call the attention of the Senator to the famous judgment of Chief Justice Marshall (which heremembers so well) in the case of McCulloch rs. Hhe State of Maryland, where the Chief Justice distinctly declared, having the point before him, that it was within the power of Congress to select its means, provided the means were appropriate to the end; it was not for the Supreme cart, or any other branch of the Government, to sit in judgment on the means that Congress chose to select. Therefore, if Congress shall now think that in order to enforce the abolition of slavery it is necessa, in the 1st place, to annul all inequality o civil rights, and in the 2nd place to annul all inequality of political rights, ask the Senator whether approposition founded on the latter branch of the postulate can be called in question whether an act of congress annulling all State laws declaring any inequality of political rights is not absolutely constitutional.