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RECONSTRUCTION. FINAL REPORT OF TIIE JOIST CONGRESS IONAL COMMITTEE. PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S "POLICY" REVIEWED. The Late Rebel States Disorganized Communities ReroBstrottlon belongs exdiisivelv to Congress-' GUARANTEES OP SECURITY FOR THE FUTURE NECESSARY. THE REBEL STATES KOT ENTITLED TO REP RESEKTATIOS IN CONGRESS. The following is the report of the Committee on Reconstruction, submit ted in the Honse and Senate yester day: The joint committee of the two houses of Congress, appointed under the con current resolution of December 13, 1865, with direction " to inquire into the con dition of the States which formed the and report whether they or any of them are entitled to be represented in either house of Congress, with leave to report Toy bill or otherwise," ask leave to re port : That they have attended to the duty assigned them as assiduously as other duties would permit, and now submit to Congress as the result of their delib erations a resolution proposing amend ments to the Constitution, and two bills, of which they recomendthe adoption. . Before proceeding to set forth in de tail their reasons for the conclusion to which, after great deliberation, your committee have arrived, they beg leave to advert, briefly, to the course of pro ceedings they found it necessary to adopt, and to explain the reasons there for. The resolutions under which your committee was appointed directed them to inquire into the condition of the Con federate States, and report whether they were entitled to representation in Con gress. It is obvious that such an inves tigation, covering so large an extent of territory, and involving so many im portant considerations, must necessarily require no trifling labor, and consume a very considerable amount of time. It must embraace the condition in which those States were left at the close of the war; the measures which have been ta ken toward the organization of civil government, and the disposition of the people toward the United States ; in a word, their fitness to take an active part in the administration of national af fairs. As to their condition at the close of the rebellion, the evidence is open to all, and admits of no dispute. They were in a state of titter exhaustion. Having protracted their struggle against Federal authority until all hope ot suc cessful resistance had ceased, and laid down their arms only because there was no longer any power to use them, the people of those States were left bank rupt in their public finances, and shorn of the nrivat.e wealth n'lnnii imi h&. . 1 . . ., . uivii null uluic given them power and influence. They were also necessarily in a state of com plete anarchy, without governments, and without the power to frame govern ments, except by the permission of those who had been successful in the war. The President of the United States, in the proclamations under which he appointed provisional govern ors, and in his various communications to them, has in exact terms, recognized the fact that the people of those 'States "were, when the rebellion was crashed, "deprived of all civil government, and must proceed to organize anew." In his conversation with Mr. Stearns, of Jlassachusetts,certified by himself Presi dent Johnson said: "The State insti tutions are prostrated, laid out on the ground, and they must be taken up and adapted to the progress of events." Finding the Southern States in this condition, and Congres having failed to provide for the contigency, his duty was obvious. As President of the Uni ted States he had no power, except to execute the laws of the land as Chief Magistrate. These laws gave him no authority over the subject of reorgani zation, but by the Constitution he "was Commander-iu-chief of the army and navy of the United States. These Con federate States embraced a portion of the people of the Union who had been in a state of revolt, but had been re duced to obedience by force " of arms. They were in an abnormal condition, without civil government, without com mercial connections, without national or international relations, and subject only to martial law. By withdrawing their representation in Congress, by renouncing the privilege of representa tion, by organizing a separate govern ment, and by levying war against the United States, they destroyed their State constitutions in respect to the vi tal principle which connected their re spective States with the Union, and sev ered their federal relations ; and nothing of those constitutions was left of which the United States were bouDd to take notice. For four years they had a de facto government, but it was usurped and illegal They chpthe tribunal of arms wherein to decide whether or not it should be-legalized, and they were defeated. At the dose, of the rebellion, therefore, the people of the rebellious States were found, as the President ex presses it, deprived of all civil govern ment. 6 Under this state of affairs it was plain ly the duty of the President to enforce existing national laws, and to establish as far as he could, such a system pf gov ernment as might be provided for by existing national statutes. As Commander-in-Chief of a victorious army it was his duty under the law of na tions and the army regulations to re store order, to preserve, property, and to protect the people against violence from any quarter, until provision should be made by law for their government. He might, as President, assemble Con gress and submit the whole matter to the law-making power, or he might continue military supervision and con trol until Congress should assemble on its regular appointed day. Selecting the latter alternative, "he proceeded, by virtue of his power, as Commander-in- Chief, to appoint provisional governors over the revolted States. These were regularly commissioned, aiid their com pensation was paid, as the Secretary of War states " from the appropriation for army contingencies, ueeause ine amies performed by the parties were regard ed as of a temporary cnaracter, ancuia rv to t.liA withdrawal of military force. ; the disbandment of armies, ana the re- i duction of military expenditure, by pro- ! visional organization for the protection ; of civil rights, the preservation of peace, and to take the place ot armed force in the respective States." It cannot, we think, be contended that these governors possesed or could ex ercise any but military authority. They j had no powers to organize civil govern ments, nor to exerc se any authority, except that which inhered in their own persons unaer tncir commissions. it'i ther had the President, as a command er-in-chief, any other than military pow er. Uut he was in exclusive possession ot the mititary authority. It was tor him to decide how far he would exer cise it, how far he would relax it, and on what terms he would withdraw it. He might properly permit the people to assemble, and to initiate local govern ments ami to execnte such local laws as they might choose to frame, not iiicon sistent with nor in opposition to the United States. And, if satisfied that they might safely be left to themselves, he might withdraw the military forces altogether, and leave the people of auy or all of these Statos to govern them selves without his interference. In the language of the Secretary of State, in his telegram to the provisional govern or of Georgia, dated Oct. 28, 1865, he might "recognize the people of any State as having resumed the relations of loy ality to the Union," and act, in his mili tary capacity, on this hypothesis. All this was within his own discretion, as militay commander. But it was not tor him to decide upon the nature or ef fect of anv system of government which the people of these States might see fit to adopt. Ihis power is lodged by the Constitution in the Congress of the United States that branch ofthe Gov ernment in which is vested the author ity to fix the political relations of the States to the Union, whose duty it is toguranteeto eachtate a republican form of government, and to protect each and all of them against foreign or domestic violence, and against each other. We cannot, therefore, regard the various acts of the President in re lation to the formation of local govern ments in the insurrectionary States, and the conditions imposed bv him upon their action, in any other light than as intimations to the people that as Commander-in-Chief of the army, he M ould consent to withdraw military rule just in proportion as they should, by their acts, manifest a disposition to preserve order among themselves, establish gov ernments denoting loyality to the Uni on, and exhibit a settled determination to return to their allegiance leaving with the lawmaking power to fix the terms of their final restoration to all the rights and privileges as States ofthe Union. That this was the view of his power taken by the President is evi dent from expressions to that effect in the communications of the Secretary of State to the various provisional govern ors and the repeated declarations of the President himself! Auy other supposi tion inconsistent with it would impute to the President designs of encroach ment upon a co-ordinate branch ofthe Government, which should not belight ly attributed to the Chief Magistrate of the nation. When Congress assembled in Dec ember last, the people of most ofthe States lately in rebellion had, under the advice of the President, organized local governments, and some of them had acceded to the tenns proposed by him. In his annual message, he stated in general terms what had been done, but he did not see fit to communicate the details for the information of Con gress. While in this and in a subse quent message the President urged the speedy restoration of these States, and expressed the opinion that their condi tion was such as to justify their restor ation, yet it is quite obvious that Con gress must either have acted blindly on that opinion of the President, or pro ceeded to obtain the information requis ite for intelligent action on the subject. The impropriety of proceeding wholly on the judgment of any one man, how ever exalted his station, in a matter in volving the welfare ofthe Republic in all future time, or of adopting anv Dlan. coming from any source, without fully iuutisuiuuuig an us oeanngs ana com prehending its full effect, was annarpiit The first step, therefore, was to obtain the required information. A call was accordingly made on the President, for the information in his possesion as to what had been done, in order that Con gress might judge for itself as to the grounds of the belief expressed by nini in the fitness of States m rebellion to participate fully in the conduct of national affairs. This infor mation was not immediately communi ted. When the response was finally made, some six weeks after vonr com mittee had been in actual session.it was found that the evidence unnn whih tha President seems to have based his sug gestions was incomplete and unsatifac tory. Authenticated copies ofthe con stitutions and ordinances adopted by the conventions in three of the States had been submit! ed ; extracts from news papers furnished scanty imformation as to the action of one other State, and nothing appears to have been commu nicated as to the remainder. There was no evidence of the loyalty of those who participated in these conventions, and in one State alone was any. propo sition made to submit the action ofthe convention to the final judgment of the people. - Failing to obtain the desirfld informa tion, and leftte grope for light wherev er it might be found, your committee did not deem it either advisable or safe to adopt, without further examination, the suggestions of the President, more especially as he had not deemed it ex pedient to remove the military force, to suspend martial law, or to restore the writ of habeas eorpus,bnt still thought it necessary to exercise oyer the people of the rebellious States his military power -and lhnsdiotion. ihis conclu sion derived greater force from the fact, undisputed, that m all those states, ex cept Tennessee, and perhaps Arkansas. the elections which were held for State officers and members of Congress had resulted almost universally in the defeat of candidates who had been true to the Union, and in the election.of notorious and unpardoned rebels, men who could not take the prescribed oath ot office, and whp made no secret of their hos tility to the government and the peo ple ot the United States. Under tnese circumstances anything like hasty ac tion would have been as dangerous as it was was obviously unwise. It appeared to your committee that but one course remained, viz : to inves tigate carefully and thoroughly the state of feeling and opinion existing a Uiong the people of these States ; to as certain how far their pretended loyalty could be relied upon,and thence to infer whether it would be safe to admit them at once to a full participation in the Government they had fought for four years to destroy. It was an equally important inquiry whetner their resto ration to their former relations with the United States should only be gran ted upon certain conditions and guaran tees, which would effectually secure the nation against a recurrence of evils so disastrous as those from which it had escaped at so enormous a sacrifice. To obtain the necessary information, re course could only be had to the examination of witnesses whose position had given them the best means of forming an accurate judg ment, who could state facts from their own observation, and whose character and stand ing afforded the best evidence of their truth fulness and impartiality. A work like this, covering so large an extent of territory, and embracing such complicated and extensive inquiries.necessarily required much time and labor. To shorten the time as much as pos sible, the work was divided and placed in the hands of four sub-committees, who have been diligently employed in its accomplish ment. The result of their labors has been heretofore submitted, and the country will judge how far they sustain the President's views, and bow tar they justify the conclu sions to which your committee" have finally arrived. A claim for the immediate admission of Senators and Representatives from the so called Confederate States has been urged, which seems to your committee not to be founded either in reason oi in law, and which cannot be passed without comment. Stated in a few words, it amounts to this : that, inasmuch as the lately insurgent States had no legal right to separate themselves from the Union, they still retain their posi tions as States, and consequently the eople thereof have a right to immediate representa tion in Congress, without the imposition of any conditions whatever; and further, that until such admission, Congress has no right to tax them for the support of the Govern ment. It has even been contended that, until such admission, all legislation affecting their interests is, if not unconstitutional, at least unjustifiable and oppressive. It is believed by your committee that all these propositions are not only wholly un tenable, but, if admitted, would tend to the destruction of the Government It must not be forgotten that the Deorjle of these States, without justification or ex cuse, rose in insurrection against the United States. They deliberately abolished their State governments, so far as the same con nected them political.y with the Union as members thereof under the Constitution. They deliberately renounced their allegiance to the Federal Government, and proceeded to establish an independent government for themselves. In the prosecution of this en terprise they seized the national forts, arsen als, dock-yards, and other public property within their borders, drove out from among them those who remained true to the Union, and heaped every imaginable insult and in jury upon ttie United States and its citizens. Finally they opened hostilities and levied war against the Government. They contin ued this war for four years with the most determined and maliguant spirit, killing in battle and otherwise large numbers of loyal people, destroying the property of loyal citi zens on ine sea ana on tne land, and entail ing on the government an enormous debt in curred to sustain its rightful authority. Whether legally and constitutionally or not they did in fact withdraw from the Union, and made themselves subjects of another government of their ov. n creation ; and they only yielded when, after a long, bloody, and wasting war, they were compelled by utter exhaustion to lay down their arms; and this they did, not willingly, but declar ng that they yielded because they could no longer resist, affording no evidence whatever of re pentance for their crime, and expressing no regret except that they had no longer the power to continue the desperate struggle. It cannot, we think, be denied bv knv nn having a tolerable acquaintance with public law, that the war thus waged was a civil war ot the greatest magnitude. The people wa ging it were necessarily subject to all the rules which by the law of nations control a contest of that character, and to all the legi timate consequences following it. One of those consequences was that, within the lim its prescribed by humanity, the conquered rebels were at the mercy of the conquerors. That a Government thus outraged had a most perfect right to exact indemnity for the injuries done and security against the recurrence of such outrages in the future, would seem too clear-for dispute. What the nature of that security should be, what proof should be required of a return to allemance. what time should elapse before a people thus demoralized should be restored in full to the enjoyment of political rights and privileges, are questions for the law-making power to decide, and that decision must depend on grave considerations of the public safety and the general welfare, It is, moreover, contended, and with aD- parent gravity, that from the peculiar nature ana cnaracter oi our. Government no such right on the part of the conqueror can exist; that from the momeut when rebellion lays down its arms, and actual hostilities cease, all political rights of rebellious communities are at once restored; that because the Deo- ple of a State of the Union were once an or ganized community within the Union, they necessarily so remain, and their right to be represented in Congress at anv and all times. and to participate m the government ofthe country unaer all circumstances, admits of neither question nor dispute. If this is in deed true, then is the Government of the United States powerless for its own protec tion, and flagrant rebellion carried to the ex treme of civil war is a pastime which any State may play at, not only certain that it can lose nothing in any event, but may be the gainer by defeat If rebellion succeeds, it accomplishes its purpose, and destroys the Government If it fails, the war has been barren of results, and the battle maybe fought out in the legislative halls of the country. Treason, defeated in the field, has only to take possession of Congress and the Cabinet .-.. . Your committee does not deem it either necessary or proper to discuss the question whether the late Confederate States are still States of this Union, or can ever be other wise. Granting this profitless abstraction, about which so many words have been was-. ted, it by no means follows that the people of those States may not-place themselves in a condition to abrogate the powers and priv ileges incident to a State of the Union, and deprive themselves of all pretence of right to exercise those powers and .enjoy those ' privileges. . A State within the Union has obligations to discharge as a member of the Union. It must submit to Federal laws and uphold Federal authority. It must have a government, republican in form, under and by which it is connected with the General Government, and through which it can dis cbarge its obligations. It is more than idle, it is a mockery, to contend that a people who have thrown off their allegiance, destroyed the' local government which bound these States to the Union as members thereof, or cieued it authority, refused to execute its laws and abrogated every provision which gave them political rights within the Union, still retain through all the perfect and entire ngnt to resume at their own will and pleas ure all their privileges within the Union, and especially to participate in its govern ment, and to control the conduct of its af fairs. To admit such principles tor one mo ment would be to declare that treason is al ways master and loyalty a blunder. ' Such a principle is void by its very nature and es sence, Decause inconsistent witn tue theory of government and fatal to its existence! On the contrary, we assert that no portion oi ine people ot this country, whether m State or Territory, have the right while re maining on its soil to withdraw from or neglect the authority of the United States. They must obey its laws as paramount, and acknowledge its jurisdiction. They have no right to secede ; and while tliey can destroy their State governments and place them selves beyond the pale of the Union, so far as the exercise ot State privileges is con cerned, they cannot - escape the obligations imposed upon them by the Constitution and the laws, nor impair the exercise of national authority. . The Constitution, it will be ob served,, does ' not act upon States, as such, but upon the people. While, therefore, the people cannot escape . its authority, the States may, through the act of their people, cease to exist in an organized form, and thus dissolve their political relations with the United States. That taxation should be only with the consent ofthe people, through their own representatives, is a cardinal prin ciple ot all tree governments ; but it is not true that taxation and representation must go together under all circumstances and at every moment of time. '. The people of the District of Columbia and ot the Territories are taxed, although not represented in Con gress. Ifitbetrue that the people of the so-called Confederate States have no right to throw off the authority of the United States, it is equally true that they are bound at all times to share the burdens of government They cannot either legally or equitably re fuse to bear their just proportion of these burdens by voluntarily abdicating their rights and privileges as States of the Union and refusing to be represented in the coun cils of the nation, much less by rebellion Against national authority and levving war. To hold that by so doing they could csci pe taxation wouia De to oner a premium tor in surrection ; to reward instead of punishing reason. io noia mat as soon as govern ment is restored to its full authority it can be allowed no time to secure itself against similar wrongs in the future, or else omit the ordinary exercise of its constitutional power to compel equal contribution from all to ward the expenses ofthe government, would be unreasonable in itself and uniust to the nation. It is sufficient to reply that the loss of representation by the people of the insur rectionary States was their own voluntary choice. They might abandon their privile ges, but they could not escape their obliga tion. And surely they have no right to com plain, if before resuming their privileges, and while the people of the United States are devising means for the public safety, ren dered necessary by the act of those who thus disfranchised themselves, they are compelled to contribute their iust proportion of the general burden of taxation incurred by their wicKeanes3 ana iotiy. Equally absurd is the pretence that the legislative authority of the nation must be inoperative, so far as they are concerned, while they, by their own act have lost the right to take part in it Such a proposition carries its own retutation on its tace. While thus exposing fallacies, which, as your committee believe, are resorted to for the purpose of misleading the people, and distracting t heir attention from the questions at issue, we freely admit that such a condi tion of tilings should be brought, if possible, to a speedy termination. It is most desira ble that the union of all the States should become perfect at the earliest moment con sistent with the peace and welfare of the na tion, that all these States should become ful ly represented in the national councils, and take their share in the legislation of the. country. The possession and exercise of more than its just share of power by any section is injurious, as well to that section as to all others. Its tendency is distracting and demoralizing, and such a state of affairs is only to be tolerated on the ground of a necessary ' regard to the public safety. As soon as that safety is secured it should ter minate. Your committee came to the consideration of the subject referred to them with the most anxious desire to ascertain what was the con dition of the people ofthe States recently in insurrection, and what, if anything, was necessary to be done before restoring them to the full enjoyment of all their original priv ileges. It was undeniable that the war into which they had plunged the country had ma terially changed their relations to the people of the loyal States. Slavery has been abol ished by constitutional amendment A large proportion of the population had become, instead of mere chattels, free men and citi zens. Through all the past struggle these had remained true and loyal, and had in large numbers fought on the side of the Uni on. It was impossible to abandon these without securing them their rights as free men and citizens. The whole civilized world have cried out against such base ing-atitude, and the bare idea is offensive to all right thinking men. Hence it becomes important to inquire what could be done to secure their rights, civil and political. It was evident to your committee that adequate security would only be found in appropriate constitutional provisions. By an original provision of the Constitution, representation is based on the ' whole number of free persons in each State, and three-fifths of all other persons. When all become free, representation of all neces sarily follows. As a consequence the inevit able effect of the rebellion would be to in crease the political power of the insurrec tionary States, whenever they should be al lowed to resume their position as States of the Union. As representation is, " by the Constitution, -based upon population, your committee did not think it advisable to re commend a change of that basis. The exer cise of representation necessarily resulting from the abolition of slavery was considered the most important element in the questions arising out of the changed condition of af fairs, and the necessity for some fundamental action in this regard seemed imperative. It appeared to your committee that the rights of these persons, by whom the basis of repny sentation had been thus increased, should be recognized by the general government While slaves they were not considered as having any rights, civil or political. It did not seem just or proper that all the political ad vantages derived from their becoming free should be confined to their former masters, who had fonght against the Union, and withheld from themselves, who had always been loyal.' - Slavery, by building up a ruling and dominant class, had produced a spirit of oligarchy adverse to republican institutions, which finally inaugurated civil : war.' . The tendency ot 'continuing the . domination of such a class by leaving it in the exclusive possession of political power would be to en courage the same spirit and lead to a similar result .Doubts were "entertained whether Congress had power even under the amended Constitution to prescribe the qualifications of voters in a State, or could act directly on the subject It was doubtful in the opinion of your committee whether the States would consent to surrender a power they had always exercised, and to which they were attached. As the best, not the only method of sur mounting all difficulty, and as eminently just and proper in itself, yoife committee comes to ine conclusion mat political power should be possessed in all the States exactly in proportion as the right of suffrage should be granted without distinction of color or race. . .This, it was thought, would leave the who!'; question with the peopnf each State, holding out to all the advantage of increased political poweivas an inducement to allow all to participate in its exercise. Such a proposition would he in its nature gentle and pnrsua'sive, and would lead, it was hoped, at no distant day, to an equal participation of all, without distinction, in all the rights and privileges of citizenship, thus affording a full and adequate protection to all classes of citizens, since we would have, through the ballot-box,the power of self-protection. ' Holding these views, your committee pre pared an amendment to the Constitution to carry out this idea, and submitted the same to Congress. Unfortunately, as we think, it did not receive the necessary constitutional support in the Senate, and therefore could not be proposed for adoption by the States. The principle involved in that amendment is, however, believed to be sound, and your committee have again proposed it in another form, hoping that it may receive the appro bation of Congress. ... Your committee have been unable to find in the evidence submitted to Congress by the President under date of March 6, 1866, in compliance with the resolutions of January 5 and February 27, 1866, any satisfactory proof that4therof the insurrectionary States, except perhaps the State of Tennessee, has placed itself in a condition to resume its po litical relations to the Union. The first step toward that end would necessarily be the es tablishment of a republican form of govern ment by the people. It has been before re marked that the provisional governors ap pointed by the President in the exercise of his military authority could do nothing by virtue of the power thus conferred toward the establishment of a State government. Thptr upr nrincf nnrlpr thn Wnprkmarfmanf and were paid out of its funds. . They were simply imaging over the chasm between re- I bellion and restoration. And yet we find them calling conventions and convening j Legislatures! Not only this, but we find the j conventions and Legislatures thus convened ij acting under executive direction as to the provisions required to be embodied in their constitutions and ordinances, as conditions precedentdto .their reorganization, by the President. The inducement held out by the President for compliance with the conditions imposed was directly in one instance and presumably thereafter in others, the immedi ate admission of Senators and Representa tives to Congress. The character of the con ventions and Legislatures thus assembled was not such as to inspire confidence in the good faith of their members. ' Gov. Perry, of South Carolina, dissolved the convention as sembled in that State before the suggestion liad reached Columbia from Washington that the rebel war debt should be repudiated, and gave as his reason that it was a "revolu tionary body." There is no evidence of the loyalty or disloyalty ot the members of these conventions and Legislatures except the fact of pardons being asked for on their account Some of these States now claiming represen tation refused to adopt the conditions im posed. . No reliable information is found in these papers as to the constitutional provis ions ot several ot these states, while in not one of them is the slightest evidence to show that these " amended constitutions," as thev are called, have ever been submitted to the people for their adoption. . In North-Caroli na alone an ordinance was passed to that ef fect, but it does not appear to have been act ed on. Not one of them, therefore, has been ratifi'xL Whether with President Johnson we adopt the theory that the old constitutions were abrogated and destroyed and the peo ple " deprived of all government," or wheth er we adopt the alternative doctrine that they were only suspended and were revived by the suppression of the rebellion, the new provisions must be considered as equally destitute of validity before adoption by the people. If the conventions were called for the sole; purpose of putting the State govern ments into operation, they had no power either to adopt a new constitution or to amend an old one without the consent ofthe people. Nor could either a convention or a Legislature change the fundamental law without power previously conferred. In the view of your committee it follows, therefore, that the people of a Siate when the constitu tion has been thus amended might fed them selves justified in repudiating altogether all such unauthorized assumptions of power, and might be expected to do so at pleasure. So far as the disposition of the people of the insurrectionary States and the probabili ty of their adopting measures conforming to the changed condition of affairs can be in ferred from the papers submitted by the President as the basis of his action, the pros pects are far from encouraging. It appears quite clear that the anti-slavery amendments, both - to the State and federal Constitutions, were adopted with reluctance by the bodies which did adopt them ; and in some States they have been either passed by in -silence or rejected. The language of all the provisions and ordinances of the States on the subject amounts to nothing more than an unwilling admission of an unwelcome truth. As to the ordinance of secession, it is in some cases de clared u null and void," and in others aim ply " repealed," and in no instance is a refu tation of this deadly heresy considered wor thy of a place in the new constitutions If, as the President assumes, these insur rectionary States were at the close of the war wholly without State governments, it would seem that before being admitted to partici pate in the direction of public affairs such governments should be regularly organized. Long usage has established, and numerous statutes have pointed out, the mode in which this should be done " A convention to frame form of government should be assembled ' nncler competent authority.- Ordinarily this ( authority emanates from Congress, but unJer , ! the peculiar circumstances your committee is ,' not disposed to criticize the President s ac tion in assuming the power exercised by aim in ' this regard. The convention, when as sembled, should frame a constitution of gov ernment, which should be submitted to the people for adoption.. If adopted, a Legisla ture should be convened to pass the laws necessary to carry it into effect Whea a state thus organized claims representation in Congress,' the election of representatives should be provided for by law in accord ante with the laws of Congress regulating repre sentation, and the proof that the action taken has been in conformity to law should be sub mitted to Congress. -:' In no case have these essential preliminary steps been taken. The Conventions assem bled seem to have assumed that the Consti tution which had been repudiated and over thrown was still in existence and operative to constitute the States members of tke Union, and to have contented themselves, with such amendments as they were informed were requisite in order to insure their return to an immediate participation in the govern ment ofthe United States. Not waiting to ascertain whether the people they represent- t ed would adopt, even the proposed amend- mcnts, they at once called elections of Rep resentatives to Congress in nearly all instan " ces before an Executive bad been chosen to issue certificates of election under. State laws, ' and such elections as' were held were ordered by the Conventions., In one instance at least the writs of election were signed by the .Provisional Governor." Glaring irregulari ' ties and unwarranted assumptions of power are manifest in several cases, particularly in South Carolina, where the Convention, al though disbanded by the Provisional Gov ernor, on the ground that it was a revolu tionary body, assumed to district the State. It is quite evident from all these facts, and indeed from the whole mass of testimony submitted by the President to the Senate, that in no instance was regard paid to aDy other consideration than obtaining immedi ate admission to Congress, under the barren form of an election, in which no precautions were taken to secure regularity of proceed ings or the assent of the people. No Con stitution has been legally adopted, except, perhaps, in the State of Tennessee, and such elections as have been held were without authority of law. Yonr committee are ac cordingly forced to the conclusion that the States referred to have not placed themselves in a condition to claim representation in Congress, unless all the rales which have, since the foundation of the Government, been deemed essential in such cases should be disregarded.' It would undoubtedly be competent for Congress to waive all formalities to admit these Confederate States to representation at once, trusting that time and experience will act all things right. Whether it would be advisable to do so, however, must depend upon other considerations, of which it means to treat . But it may well be observed that the inducements to such a step should be of the very highest character. It seems to your -committee not unreasonable to require satis factory evidence that the ordinances and ; constitutional provisions, which the Prcsi . -dent deems essential in tlie first instance will "be permanently adhered to by the people of Tne otates seeKing restoration alter being admitted to full participation in the gov- -eminent, and will not be repudiated when that object shall have been accomplished. And here the burden of proof rests upon the late insurgents, who are seeking restoration to the rights and privileges which they wil lingly abandoned, and not upon the people of the United States, who have never under taken directly or indirectly to deprive them thereof. It should appear affirmatively that they are prepared and disposed in good faith m accept me results, ot the war, to abandon their hostility to.the government, and to live in peace and unity with the people of the loyal States, extending to all classes of citizens civil rights and privilegesy and con forming to the republican idea of liberty and equality. They should exhibit in their acts something more than unwilling submission to an unavoidable necessity ; a feeling, if not cheerful, certainly not offensive and defiant and they should evince an entire repudiation of aJl hostility to the General Government by an acceptance of such just and favorable conditions as that government shoukt think the public safety demands. Has this been done? Let us look at the facts shown by the evidence taken by the committee. I Dirtily had ttie war closed before the peo ple of these insrtrreetionary States eome for-wa- -d and haughtily claim, as a right, the pri vilege of participating at once in that go- eminent which they had for four years be in fighting to overthrow. Allowed and em souraged by the Executive to organize Stf Ae governments, they at once place in po wer leading rebels, unrepentant and un pa rdoned, exejuding with contempt those wi io bad manifested an attachment to the Ui lion, and preferring, in many instances, th ose who had rendered themselves the most obnoxious,. In the face of the law requiring an. oath which would necessarily exclude all sich men from Federal office, they elect, ith very few exceptions, as Senators and R epresentatives in Congress, men who had ac tively participated in the rebellion, insult in gly denouncing the law as unconstitutional. It is only necessary to instance the election to the Senate of the late Vice President of tb.e Confederacy, a man who, against his o vn declared convictions, had lent all the w eight of his acknowledged 'ability and of hi b influence as a most prominent public m an to the cause of the rebellion, and who, ui lpardoned rebel as he is, with that oath st aring him in the face, had the assurance to la y his credentials on the table of the Senate ; ol .her rebels of scarcely less note or notoriety w ere selected from other quarters. Profesa ii ig no repentance, glorying apparently in tl ie crime they had committed, avowing s till, as the uncontradicted testimony of Mr. ( Itephens and many others proves, an adher c ace to the pernicious doctrine of secession, f jid declaring that they yielded only to ne- sessity, they insist with unanimous voice ' jpon their rights as States, and proclaim " that they will submit to no conditions what ever preliminary to their resumption of pow er under that Constitution which they still claim the right to repudiate. . Examining the evidence taken by your committee still further, in connection with facts too notorious to be disputed, it appears tlurt the Southern press, with few exceptions, and those mostly of newspapers recently es tablished by Northern men, abounds with weekly and daily abuse of the institutions and people of the loyal States; defends the men who led, aud the principles which inci ted, the rebellion ; denounces and reviles Southern men who adhered to the Union ; and strives constantly and unscrupulously, by every means in its power, to keep alive the fire of hate and discord between the sec tions; calling upon the President to violate his oath of office, overturn the Government hy force of arms, and drive the representa tives of the people from-their seats in Con gress. The national banner is openly insul ted and the national airs scoffed at, not only by an ignorant populace, but at public meet ings; and once, auibng other not able in stances, at a dinner given in honor of a no torious rebel, who had violated his oath and abandoned bis flag. . The same individual is elected to an important office in the lead ing city of his State, although an unpardon ed rebel, and so offensive that the President refuses to allow him to enter upon his official - duties. . In another State, the leading gener al of the rebel armies is openly nominated for Governor by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, and the nomination is hailed by the people with shouts of satisfaction, and openly endorsed by the press. Looking still further at the evidence taken by your committee, it is found to be clearly shown by witnesses ofthe highest character and having the best means of observation, that the Freediaen's Bureau, instituted for the relief and protection of freedmen and re fugees, is almost universally opposed by the mass of the population, and exists in an ef ficient condition only under military protec tion, while the Union men of the South are earnest in its defence, declaring with one voice that without its protection the colored people would not be permitted to labor- at fair prices, and could hardly live in safety. They also testify that without the protection of United States troops Union men, whether of Northern or Southern origin, would be obliged to abandon their homes. ' The feeling in many portions of the coun try, toward emancipated slaves. esDesiall among the educated and ignorant, is one of imuituicjuu malicious natreo. ITiis deep seated prejudice against color is assiduously cultivated by the public journals, and leads to acts of CrueltY. OODreaaion. nnrl mnAar which the local authorities are at no pains to prevent or punish. There is no general dis position to place the colored race, constltut .g at least twM&fths of the population, upon terms even of civil equality. While mn instances may be found where large plant and men of the better class accept the git,. tion and honestly strive to bring about better order of things by employing the freed men at fair wages, and treating them kindlv the general feeling and disposition amonli all classes are yet totally averse to the toler-r toon of any class of people friendly to the Union, be they white, or black ; and this aversion is not unfrequently manifested in an insultiug and offensive manner. ; The witnesses examined as to the willins nessof the people of the South to contribute under existing laws, to the payment of the national debt, prove that the taxes levied bv the United States will be paid only oit com pulsion and with great reluctance, while there prevailed to a great extent an expectation that compensation will be made for slave, emancipated and property destroyed durin the war. The testimony on this point coniw from officers of the Union army, officers of the late rebel army, Union men of the South ern States, and avowed secessionists, almost all of whom state that, in their opinion, the people ofthe rebellious States would, if t lay should see a prospect of success, repudiate the national debt . While there is scarcely any hope or desire among leading men to renew the attempt at secession at any future time, there is stilt c. cording to witnesses, including A. II. Ste phens, who may be regarded as good au thority on that point, a gcnerally-prevailinn-opinion which defends the legal riht of secession, and upholds the doctrine that the first . allegiance of the people is due to the States, and not the United States. This be lief evidently prevails among leadinr aiKi prominent men as well as among the masses everywhere, except in some of the northern counties of Alabama and the eastern counties of Tennessee. The evidence of an intense hostility to the Federal Union, and an equally intense love of the late Confederacy nurtured by the war is decisive. While it appears that nearly all arc willing to submit, at least for the time hcinr to Federal authority, it is equally clear thSt the ruling motive is a desire to obtain the advantages which will be derived from a representation in Congress. Officers of the Union army on duty and Northern men who go South to engage in business are generally detested and proscribed. Southern men who adhered to the Union see bitterly hated and relentlessly persecuted. In some localities prosecutions have been instituted in State courts against Union officers for acts done in the line of official duty, and similar prosecu tions are threatened elsewhere as soon as the United States troops are removed. All such demonstrations show a state of feeling against which it is unmistakably necessary to guard. The testimony is conclusive that after the collapse of the Confederacy the feeling ofthe people of the rebellions States was that of abject submission. Having appealed to the tribunal of arms, they had no hope, except by the magnanimity of their conquerors, their lives and possibly their property might be preserved. Unfortunately the general issue of pardons to persons who had been promin ent in the rebellion, and the feeling of kind ness and conciliation manifested by the Executive, and very generally indicated, through the Northern press, had the effect to render whole communities forgetful of tne crime they had committed, defiant toward tl Federal Government, and regardless of their duties as citizens. The conciliatory measures of the Government do not seem to have been met even half way. The bitter ness and - defiance exhibited toward the United States under such circumstances is without a parallel in the history of the world. In return for our kindness we receive only an insulting denial of our authority. In return for our kind desire for the resumption of fraternal relations, we receive only an insolent assumption of rights and privileges long since forfeited. The crime we have punished is paraded as a virtue, and the principles of re publican government, which we hnve vindi cated as so terrible a cost are denounced as unjust and oppressive. . If we add to this evidence the fact that, although peace has been declared by the President, he has not, to this day, deemed it safe to restore the writ of habeas eorpnt. to relieve the insurrectionary State of martial law, nor to withdraw the troops from many localities, and that the commanding general deems an increase of the army indispensable to the preservation of order and the protec tion of loyal and well-disposed people ill the South, the proof of a condition of feeling hostile to the Union and dangerous to too Government throughout the insurrection States would seem to be overwhelming. - With such evidence before them, it is the opinion of your committee , L That the States lately in rebellion were, at the close of the war, disorganized commu nities, without civil government, aud with out constitutions or other forms, by virtuo of which political relations could legally ex ist between them and the Federal Govern ment , r . II. That Congress cannot be expected to recognize as valid the election of representa tives from disorganized communities, which, from the very nature of the case, were unable to present their claims to representation un der those established and recognized rules, the observance of which has been hitherto required. . . - . HL That Congress would not be justified in admitting such communities to a partici pation in the government of the country without first providing such constitutional or other guarantees as will aid to secure the civil rights of all citizens of the republic : a just equality of representation ;. protection against claims lounaeu in rebellion ana crimes; a temporary restriction of the right of suffrage to those who have not actively participated in the effort to destroy the Union and overthrow the Government, and the ex clusion from positions of public trust of at least a portion of those whose crimes have proved them to be enemies to the Union and unworthy of public confidence. - -Your committee will, perhaps, hardly be deemed excusable for extending this report further ; but, inasmuch as immediate and unconditional representation of the States lately in rebellion is demanded as a matter of right and delay, and even hesitation, de nounced as grossly oppressive and unjust as well as unwise and impolitic, it may not be amiss again to call attention to a few undis puted facts and the principles of public law applicable thereto, in order that the propriety of that claim may be fully considered and well understood. . The State of , Tennessee occupied a posi tion distinct from all the other insurrection ary States, and has been the subject of a separate report, which yonr committee have not thought it expedient to disturb. Wheth er Congress shall see fit to make that State the subject of separate action or to include it in the same category with all others, so far as concerns the imposition of preliminary conditions, it is not within the province of this committee either to determine or advise. To ascertain whether any of the so-called Confederate States "are entitled to be rep resented in either bouse of Congress," the es sential inquiry is whether there is in any one of them a constituency qualified to be repre sented in Congress. . The question how far persons claiming seats in cither house pos sess the credentials necessary to enable them to represent a duly qualified constituency i one for tlie consideration of each house sep arately, after the preliminary question shall have been finally determined. We now propose to restate as briefly a possible the great facts and principles appli cable to all the States recentlv in rebellion. -First The seats of the Senators and Rep resentatives from the so-called Confederate States became vacant in the year 18G1, du ring the second sesMou of the Thirty-Sixth