SECTION 1. The national debt is hereby declared to be of paramount
obligation, to which the faith of the nation is pledged; and Congress
shall not, at any time, do anything, directly or indirectly, to impair
this obligation in any part, but shall in all ways maintain it in full
force and virtue.
SECTION 2. Debts and liabilities incurred in aid of rebellion are
without any just consideration, and void; and no tax, duty, or impost
shall be laid, nor shall any appropriation of money be made by the
United States, or by any one of the States, or by any county, town, or
corporation therein, for the payment of any such debt or liability, or
any part thereof.
June 20th, Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, from the Committee on the
Judiciary, reported this to the Senate, with the recommendation
that it be indefinitely postponed, and it was so postponed.
Meanwhile both Houses had adopted the Fourteenth Constitutional
Amendment, reported by the Joint Select Committee on
Reconstruction, which contains a kindred proposition.