The PRESIDENT protempore. The reading of the message is asked for. It will be read. he Secretary read as follows: To the Senate of the U.S.: I return for reconsideration a bill entitled “An act for the admission of the State of Nebraska into the Union, ” which originated in the Senate, and has received the assent of both Houses of Congress. A bill having in view the same object was Presented for my opio few hours prior to the adjournment of the last session, but, submitted at a time when there was no opportunity for a proper consideration of the subject, I withheld my signature, and the measure failed to become a law. It appears by the preamble of this bill that “The people of Nebraska, availing themselves of the authority conferred upon them by the act passed toine nthweh1ic9ht, houfpoAnprdilu,1854 eexamh, ianvaetioand, oipstfeodu and cotonsetiotun form to the provisions and comply with the conditions of said act, and to be republican in its form of government, and that they now ask for admission into the Union.” This proposed law would therefore seem to be based upon the declaration contained in the enabling act, that upon compliance with its terms the people of Nebraska should be admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the original States. Reference to the bill, however, shows that while, by the 1st section, Congress distinctly accepts, ratifies, and confirms the constitution and State government which the people of the Territory have formed for themselves, declares Nebraska to be one of the U.S.A., and admits her into the Union upon an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatsoever, the 3rd section provides that this measure “ shall not take effect except upon the funda mental condition, that within the State of there shall beno denial of the electivefranNcehbisraes, koar of any other right, to any person by reason of race or color, excepting Indians not taxed; and upon the further fundamental condition that the Legislature of said State, by a solemn public itet, shall declare the assent of said State to dition; the said fundamental conand shall transmit to the POTUS the an authontic copy of said not, upon receipt where of the President, by proclamation, shall forthwith announce the fact, whereupon said fundamental condition shall be held as a part of the organic law of the State: and thereupon, and without urther proceedings on the part of Congress, the al mission of said State into the Union shall be considered as complete.” This condition is not mentioned in the original enabling act, was not at the time of its passage, was not sought by the people themselves, has not heretofore been applied to the inhabitants of any State asking admission, and is in direct conflict with the constitution adopted by the people and declared in the preamble “to be republican in its form of government;” for in that instrument the exercise of the elective franchise and, the right to hold office are exPressly limited to white citizens of the U.S. Congress thus under takes to authorize and compel the Legislature to change the constitution, which it is declared in the preamble has received the sanction of the people, and which by this bill is “accepted ratified, and confirmed” by the Congress of the nation. The 1st and 3rd sections of the bill exhibit yet further incongruity, By the one Nebraska is “admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatsoever;” while by the other, Congress demands, as condition precedent to her admission, requirements in our history have never been asked of any people when Presenting a constitution and State government for the acceptance of the lawmaking power. It is exHoly declared by the 3rd section that the 111– “ shall not take, effect o: upon the funda mental condition that within theState of Nebraska there shall be no denial of the elective franchise or of any other right to any person by reason of race or color, excepting Indians not taxed.” Neither more nor less than the assertion of the right of Congress to regulate the elective franchise of any State hereafter to be admitted. This condition is in clear violation of the federal Constitution, under the provisions of which, from the very foundation of the Government, each State has been left free to determine for itself theonecessary for the exercise of suffrage within its limits. Without precedentin our legislation, it is in marked contrast with those limitations which, imposed upon States that from time to time have become members of the Union, had for their object the single purpose of preventing any infringement of the Constitution of the country. If Congress is satisfied that Nebraska at the Present time possesses sufficient population to entitle her to full rePresentation ine councils of the nation, and that her people desire an exchange of a territorial for a State government, good faith would seem to demand that she should be admitted without further requirements than those exPressed in the Jnabling act, with all of which it is asserted in the preamble her inhabitants have complied. Congress may, under the Constitution, admit new States or reject them; but the people of a State can alone make or change their organic law and Prescribe the qualifications requisite for electors. Congress, however, in passing the bill in the shape in which it has been submitted for my approval, does not merely reject the application of the people of Nebraska for Present admission as a State into the Union on the ground that the constitution which they have submitted restricts the exercise of the glective franchise to the white population, but imposes conditions which, if accepted by the Legislature, may, without the consent of the people, so change the organic law as to make electors of all persons within the State, without distinction of race or color. In view of this fact, I suggest for the consideration of Congress, whether it would not be just, expedient, and in accordance with the principles of our Government, to allow the people, by popular vote or through a convention chosen by themselves for that purpose, to declare whether or not they will accept the terms upon which it is now proposed to admit them into the Union. This course would not occasion much greater delay than that which the bill contemplates when it requires that the Legislature shall be convened within 30, days after this measure shall have become a law for the purpose of considering and deciding the conditions which it imposes, and gains additional force when we consider that the proceedings attending the formation of the State constitution were not in conformity with the provisions of the enabling act; that in an aggregate vote of 7, 776 the majority in favor of the constitution did not exceed 100, and that it is alleged that in consequence of frauds even this result cannot be received as a fair exPression of the wishes of the people. As upon them must fall the burdens of a State organization it is but just that they should be permitted to determine for themselves a question which so materially affects their interests. Possessing a soil and a climate admirably adapted to those industrial pursuits which bring prosperity and greatness to a people, with the advantage of a central position on the great highway that will soon connect the Atlantic and Pacific States, Nebraska is fapidly gaining in numbers and wealth, and may within a very brief period claim admission on grounds which will chal lenge and secure universal assent. She can therefore wisely and patiently afford to.o. wait is said to be steadily and even rapidly increasing, being now generally conceded as high as 40,000, and estimated by some whose judgment is entitled to respect at a still greater number. At her Present rate of growth she will in a very short time have the requisite population for a RePresentative in Congress;. what is far more important to her own citizens, will have realized such an advance in material wealth as will enable the expenses of a State government to be borne without opPression to the tax payer. Of new communities it may be said with especial force and it is true of old ones that the inducement to immigrants, other things being equal, is in almost the precise ratio of the rate of taxation. The great States of the Northwest owe their marvelous prosperity largely to the fact that i.were continued as Territories until they had grown to be wealthy and populous communities. ANDREWJOHNSON. WASHINGTON, January 29, 1867.