Mr. YATES. I desire to propoun a question or 2 to the Senator, not with any view of embarrassing him, but for my own information. I should like to ask the Senator whether every man made free by the 1st clause of the constitutional amendment is not as free and entitled to the same civil and political rights and privileges as the Senator or myself. In other words, Iask whether he is not one of the people of the U.S., one of the citizens of the U.S., and entitled to the same rights and privileges as the Senator or myself or any other one of the people of the U.S., by force of the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery and emancipating that people, as I contend, into the sovereignty, into the body politic of the U.S.? That proposition being true, as I think he will admit and cannot deny, according to the stand point from which he and I see things, I will not ask him whether under the Constitution as it now exists the States have jurisdiction over the question of citizenship in the States, but I will ask him.whether, when we come to make an organic alteration in the constitution of the U.S., and when we have in view the securiu of the rights of all the citizens of the U.S. withoutregard to race or color those words, I believe, according to the opinion of the Senfrom Maryland, have no longer any meaning under the Constitution of the U.S. we propose to place it in the power of any State in this Union, a rebellious State or any other State, to disfranchise any portion of the American people I and further, Ipwill ask if it is to be submitted to the people of the rebellious States to decide whether the freedmen are to have these rights or not? Does the Senfrom Massachusetts or the Senfrom Maine, [Mr. Fassssnsiv] whose opinions are so respected in my own State, or any other Senator pretend to say that under this constitutional amendment the question of representation will be decided by the citizens of these rebellious States, by which I mean not only white citizens, but alTcitizens, the people who are as free and have the same rights that you and I have today? The question is, whether you will permit in a new organic change of the Constitution 9. portion of the people of the southern States, and rebels and traitors at that, to say who shall be represented by those States upon the Senate floor? Those are the questions that I desire to propound. I do not put them with any view of embarrassin the Senator, but for my own information; TIor will say to the Senator that I have not yet decided whether I shall support this amendment or not. I confess these questions have disturbed me to some extent, and I should like to have them answered.