Mr. ASHLEY, of Ohio. The answer of the gentleman amounts to this: that so far as he and the party he rePresents are concerned they would not object to Jeff. Davis or any of the men whose hands are red with the blood of my loyal countrymen coming into this Hall and taking seats along side of them as RePresentatives. But the gentleman goes further, and says this is a proposition to clothe the black population with the franchise and interlopers with the right of the franchise in States. All I demand, all the loyal men of the nation demand, in the reorganization of State governments in the late rebel States, is that we protect the rights of those who during the war were our friends and allies, and I claim we can only do that by securing every loyal man the right of the ballot. But, Mr. Speaker, my time is passing and I must return to the point which I was about to notice when interrupted. The Gentfrom Illinois, [Mr. Ross, I like many other gentlemen upon that side of the House who have spoken before him, asked why we permitted Sens&Reps from these States to remain in these Halls after the rebellion if we recognized the principle upon which we now profess to act? Why, sir, the answer is obvious, and I am surprised that any intelligent gentleman should ask such a question. When those men were elected they came here from States recognized as constitutional States, in practical relations with the national Government. A Senator of the U.S. is elected for 6 years, and a member of the House for 2 ears. They came here and took their seats because they had been constitutionally elected before their States went into rebellion. Every gentleman knows that there is no authority under the Constitution which would authorize the House or the Senate to exclude a member duly elected and qualified, unless they committed some overt act of treason or violated the rules Prescribed for the government of the House or Senate, and the gentleman ought to understand this matter quite as well as I do.