THE SECOND FREEDMEN'S BUREAU BILL BECOMES A LAW.
The Discovery of the Majority -- The Senate Bill -- The
House Bill -- Its Provisions -- Passage of the Bill --
Amendment and Passage in the Senate -- Committee of
Conference -- The Amendments as Accepted -- The Bill as
Passed -- The Veto -- The Proposition of a Democrat Accepted
-- Confusion in Leadership -- Passage of the Bill over the
Veto -- It Becomes a Law.
Congress having succeeded in placing the Civil Rights Bill in the
statute-book in spite of Executive opposition, was not disposed to
allow other legislation which was regarded as important to go by
default. The disposition of the President, now plainly apparent, to
oppose all legislation which the party that had elevated him to office
might consider appropriate to the condition of the rebel States, the
majority in Congress discovered that, if they would make progress in
the work before them, they must be content to do without Executive
approval. The defection of the President from the principles of the
party which had elected him, so far from dividing and destroying that
party, had rather given it consolidation and strength. After the veto
of the Civil Rights Bill, a very few members of the Senate and House
of Representatives who had been elected as Republicans adhered to the
President, but the most of those who had wavered stepped forward into
the ranks of the "Radicals," as they were called, and a firm and
invincible "two-thirds" moved forward to consummate legislation which
they deemed essential to the interests of the nation.
So fully convinced were the majority that some effective legislation
for the freedmen should be consummated, that two days after the final
vote in which the former bill failed to pass over the veto, Senator
Wilson introduced a bill "to continue in force the Bureau for the
relief of Freedmen and Refugees," which was read twice and referred to
the Committee on Military Affairs.
The bill, however, which subsequently became a law, originated in the
House of Representatives. In that branch of Congress was a Special
Committee on the Freedmen, who were able to give more immediate and
continuous attention to that class of people than could committees
such as those of the Judiciary and Military Affairs, having many other
subjects to consider.
The Committee on the Freedmen, having given much time and attention to
the perfection of a measure to meet the necessities of the case, on
the 22d of May reported through their chairman, Mr. Eliot, "A bill to
continue in force and amend an act entitled 'an act to establish a
Bureau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees, and for other
purposes.'"
This bill provided for keeping in force the Freedmen's Bureau then in
existence for two years longer. Some of the features to which the
President had objected in his veto of the former bill had been
modified and in part removed. In providing for the education of
freedmen, the commissioner was restricted to cooperating so far with
the charitable people of the country as to furnish rooms for
school-houses and protection to teachers. The freedmen's courts were
to be kept in existence till State legislation should conform itself
to the Civil Rights Bill, and the disturbed relations of the States to
the Union were restored. The President was required to reserve from
sale public lands, not exceeding in all one million of acres, in
Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana, to be assigned
in parcels of forty acres and less to loyal refugees and freedmen.
One week after the introduction of the bill, its consideration was
resumed. The question was taken without debate, and the bill passed by
a vote of ninety-six in favor and thirty-two against the measure.
Fifty-five members failed to vote.
On the day following, May 30th, the clerk of the House conveyed the
bill to the Senate. It was there referred to the Committee on Military
Affairs, as that committee already had before them seven bills
relating to the same subject. Nearly a fortnight subsequently, the
committee reported back to the Senate the House bill with certain
amendments. The report of the committee, and the amendments proposed
therein, could not be considered in the Senate until the lapse of
another fortnight. On the 26th of June, the amendments devised by the
committee were read in the Senate and adopted. Mr. Davis made a number
of attempts to have the bill laid on the table or deferred to a
subsequent day, but without success. Mr. Hendricks and Mr. Buckalew
made ineffectual attempts to amend the bill by proposing to strike out
important sections.
The Senate indulged in but little discussion of the bill or the
amendments. The bill as amended finally passed the Senate by a vote of
twenty-six for and six against the measure. The bill then went to the
House for the concurrence of that body in the amendments passed by the
Senate.
The Committee on the Freedmen made a report, which was adopted by the
House, to non-concur in the amendments of the Senate. A Committee of
Conference was appointed on the part of the Senate and the House.
They, after consultation, made a report by which the Senate
amendments, with some modifications, were adopted.
Mr. Eliot, Chairman of the Committee on the Freedmen, and of the
Committee of Conference on the part of the House, at the request of a
member, thus explained the amendments proposed by the Senate: "The
first amendment which the Senate made to the bill, as it was passed by
the House, was simply an enlargement of one of the sections of the
House bill, which provided that the volunteer medical officers engaged
in the medical department of the bureau might be continued, inasmuch
as it was expected that the medical force of the regular army would be
speedily reduced to the minimum, and in that case all the regular
officers would be wanted in the service. It was therefore thought
right that there should be some force connected with the Bureau of
Refugees and Freedmen. The Senate enlarged the provisions of the House
bill by providing that officers of the volunteer service now on duty
might be continued as assistant commissioners and other officers, and
that the Secretary of War might fill vacancies until other officers
could be detailed from the regular army. That is the substance of the
first material amendment.
"The next amendment strikes out a portion of one of the sections of
the House bill, which related to the officers who serve as medical
officers of the bureau, because it was provided for in the amendment
to which I have just referred.
"The next amendment strikes out from the House bill the section which
set apart, reserved from sale, a million acres of land in the Gulf
States. It may perhaps be recollected that when the bill was reported
from the committee, I stated that, in case the bill which the House
had then passed, and which was known as the Homestead Bill, and which
was then before the Senate, should become a law, this section of the
bill would not be wanted. The bill referred to has become a law, and
this section five, providing for that reservation, has, therefore,
been stricken from the bill.
"The next amendment made by the Senate was to strike out a section of
the House bill which simply provided that upon application for
restoration by the former owners of the land assigned under General
Sherman's field order, the application should not be complied with.
That section is stricken out and another substituted for it, which
provides that certain lands which are now owned by the United States,
having been purchased by the United States under tax commissioners'
sales, shall be assigned in lots of twenty acres to freedmen who have
had allotments under General Sherman's field order, at the price for
which the lands were purchased by the United States; and not only that
those freedmen should have such allotments, but that other freedmen
who had had lots assigned to them under General Sherman's field order,
and who may have become dispossessed of their land, should have
assignments made to them of these lands belonging to the United
States. I think the justice of that provision will strike every one.
And it will be perhaps a merit in the eyes of many that it does not
call upon the Treasury for the expenditure of any money. In the bill
which was passed by the House, it will be recollected that there was a
provision under which there should be purchased by the commissioner of
the bureau enough public lands to be substituted for the lands at
first assigned to freedmen. Instead of that, provision is made by
which they can have property belonging to the United States which has
come into its possession under tax sales, and where the titles have
been made perfect by lapse of time.
"The next amendment of the Senate provides that certain lands which
were purchased by the United States at tax sales, and which are now
held by the United States, should be sold at prices not less than ten
dollars an acre, and that the proceeds should be invested for the
support of schools, without distinction of color or race, on the
islands in the parishes of St. Helena and St. Luke. That is all the
provision which was made for education.
"The only other material amendment made by the Senate gives to the
commissioner of the bureau power to take property of the late
Confederate States, held by them or in trust for them, and which is
now in charge of the commissioner of the bureau, to take that property
and devote it to educational purposes. The amendment further provides
that when the bureau shall cease to by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in exist, such of the
late so-called Confederate States as shall have made provision for
education, without regard to color, should have the balance of money
remaining on hand, to be divided among them in proportion to their
population."
The vote followed soon after the remarks of Mr. Eliot, and the bill,
as amended, passed the House of Representatives.
The following is the bill as it went to the President for his
approval:
"AN ACT to continue in force and to amend 'An Act to
establish a Bureau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees,'
and for other purposes.
"_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That
the act to establish a bureau for the relief of freedmen and
refugees, approved March third, eighteen hundred and
sixty-five, shall continue in force for the term of two
years from and after the passage of this act.
"SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That the supervision
and care of said bureau shall extend to all loyal refugees
and freedmen, so far as the same shall be necessary, to
enable them, as speedily as practicable, to become
self-supporting citizens of the United States, and to aid
them in making the freedom conferred by proclamation of the
commander-in-chief, by emancipation under the laws of
States, and by constitutional amendment, available to them
and beneficial to the republic.
"SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted_, That the President
shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
appoint two assistant commissioners, in addition to those
authorized by the act to which this is an amendment, who
shall give like bonds and receive the same annual salaries
provided in said act; and each of the assistant
commissioners of the bureau shall have charge of one
district containing such refugees or freedmen, to be
assigned him by the commissioner, with the approval of the
President. And the commissioner shall, under the direction
of the President, and so far as the same shall be, in his
judgment, necessary for the efficient and economical
administration of the affairs of the bureau, appoint such
agents, clerks, and assistants as may be required for the
proper conduct of the bureau. Military officers or enlisted
men may be detailed for service and assigned to duty under
this act; and the President may, if, in his judgment, safe
and judicious so to do, detail from the army all the
officers and agents of this bureau; but no officer so
assigned shall have increase of pay or allowances. Each
agent or clerk, not heretofore authorized by law, not being
a military officer, shall have an annual salary of not less
than five hundred dollars, nor more than twelve hundred
dollars, according to the service required of him. And it
shall be the duty of the commissioner, when it can be done
consistently with public interest, to appoint, as assistant
commissioners, agents, and clerks, such men as have proved
their loyalty by faithful service in the armies of the Union
during the rebellion. And all persons appointed to service
under this act, and the act to which this is an amendment,
shall be so far deemed in the military service of the United
States as to be under the military jurisdiction and entitled
to the military protection of the Government while in
discharge of the duties of their office.
"SEC. 4. _And be it further enacted_, That officers of the
Veteran Reserve Corps or of the volunteer service, now on
duty in the Freedmen's Bureau as assistant commissioners,
agents, medical officers, or in other capacities, whose
regiments or corps have been or may hereafter be mustered
out of service, may be retained upon such duty as officers
of said bureau, with the same compensation as is now
provided by law for their respective grades; and the
Secretary of War shall have power to fill vacancies until
other officers can be detailed in their places without
detriment to the public service.
"SEC. 5. _And he it further enacted_, That the second
section of the act to which this is an amendment shall be
deemed to authorize the Secretary of War to issue such
medical stores or other supplies, and transportation, and
afford such medical or other aid as may be needful for the
purposes named in said section: _Provided_, That no person
shall be deemed 'destitute,' 'suffering,' or 'dependent upon
the Government for support,' within the meaning of this act,
who is able to find employment, and could, by proper
industry or exertion, avoid such destitution, suffering, or
dependence.
"SEC. 6. Whereas, by the provisions of an act approved
February sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, entitled
'An act to amend an act entitled "An act for the collection
of direct taxes in insurrectionary districts within the
United States, and for other purposes," approved June
seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-two,' certain lands in
the parishes of Saint Helena and Saint Luke, South Carolina,
were bid in by the United States at public tax sales, and,
by the limitation of said act, the time of redemption of
said lands has expired; and whereas, in accordance with
instructions issued by President Lincoln on the sixteenth
day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, to the
United States direct tax commissioners for South Carolina,
certain lands bid in by the United States in the parish of
Saint Helena, in said State, were in part sold by the said
tax commissioners to 'heads of families of the African
race,' in parcels of not more than twenty acres to each
purchaser; and whereas, under the said instructions, the
said tax commissioners did also set apart as 'school-farms'
certain parcels of land in said parish, numbered in their
plats from one to sixty-three inclusive, making an aggregate
of six thousand acres, more or less: _Therefore, be it
further enacted_, That the sales made to 'heads of families
of the African race,' under the instructions of President
Lincoln to the United States direct tax commissioners for
South Carolina, of date of September sixteenth, eighteen
hundred and sixty-three, are hereby confirmed and
established; and all leases which have been made to such
'heads of families' by said direct tax commissioners shall
be changed into certificates of sale in all cases wherein
the lease provides for such substitution; and all the lands
now remaining unsold, which come within the same
designation, being eight thousand acres, more or less, shall
be disposed of according to said instructions.
"SEC. 7. _And be it further enacted_, That all other lands
bid in by the United States at tax sales, being thirty-eight
thousand acres, more or less, and now in the hands of the
said tax commissioners as the property of the United States,
in the parishes of Saint Helena and Saint Luke, excepting
the 'school-farms,' as specified in the preceding section,
and so much as may be necessary for military and naval
purposes at Hilton Head, Bay Point, and Land's End, and
excepting also the city of Port Royal, on Saint Helena
island, and the town of Beaufort, shall be disposed of in
parcels of twenty acres, at one dollar and fifty cents per
acre, to such persons, and to such only, as have acquired
and are now occupying lands under and agreeably to the
provisions of General Sherman's special field order, dated
at Savannah, Georgia, January sixteenth, eighteen hundred
and sixty-five; and the remaining lands, if any, shall be
disposed of, in like manner, to such persons as had acquired
lands agreeably to the said order of General Sherman, but
who have been dispossessed by the restoration of the same to
former owners: _Provided_, That the lands sold in compliance
with the provisions of this and the preceding section shall
not be alienated by their purchasers within six years from
and after the passage of this act.
"SEC. 8. _And be it further enacted_, That the
'school-farms' in the parish of Saint Helena, South
Carolina, shall be sold, subject to any leases of the same,
by the said tax commissioners, at public auction, on or
before the first day of January, eighteen hundred and
sixty-seven, at not less than ten dollars per acre; and the
lots in the city of Port Royal, as laid down by the said tax
commissioners, and the lots and houses in the town of
Beaufort, which are still held in like manner, shall be sold
at public auction; and the proceeds of said sales, after
paying expenses of the surveys and sales, shall be invested
in United States bonds, the interest of which shall be
appropriated, under the direction of the commissioner, to
the support of schools, without distinction of color or
race, on the islands in the parishes of Saint Helena and
Saint Luke.
"SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That the assistant
commissioners for South Carolina and Georgia are hereby
authorized to examine the claims to lands in their
respective States which are claimed under the provisions of
General Sherman's special field order, and to give each
person having a valid claim a warrant upon the direct tax
commissioners for South Carolina for twenty acres of land;
and the said direct tax commissioners shall issue to every
person, or to his or her heirs, but in no case to any
assigns, presenting such warrant, a lease of twenty acres of
land, as provided for in section seven, for the term of six
years; but, at any time thereafter, upon the payment of a
sum not exceeding one dollar and fifty cents per acre, the
person holding such lease shall be entitled to a certificate
of sale of said tract of twenty acres from the direct tax
commissioner or such officer as may be authorized to issue
the same; but no warrant shall be held valid longer than two
years after the issue of the same.
"SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That the direct tax
commissioners for South Carolina are hereby authorized and
required, at the earliest day practicable, to survey the
lands designated in section seven into lots of twenty acres
each, with proper metes and bounds distinctly marked, so
that the several tracts shall be convenient in form, and, as
near as practicable, have an average of fertility and
woodland; and the expense of such surveys shall be paid from
the proceeds of sales of said lands, or, if sooner required,
out of any moneys received for other lands on these islands,
sold by the United States for taxes, and now in the hands of
the direct tax commissioners.
"SEC. 11. _And be it further enacted_, That restoration of
the lands now occupied by persons under General Sherman's
special field order, dated at Savannah, Georgia, January
sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, shall not be
made until after the crops of the present year shall have
been gathered by the occupants of said lands, nor until a
fair compensation shall have been made to them by the former
owners of said lands, or their legal representatives, for
all improvements or betterments erected or constructed
thereon, and after due notice of the same being done shall
have been given by the assistant commissioner.
"SEC. 12. _And be it further enacted_, That the commissioner
shall have power to seize, hold, use, lease, or sell, all
buildings and tenements, and any lands appertaining to the
same, or otherwise, held under claim or title by the late
so-called Confederate States, and any buildings or lands
held in trust for the same by any person or persons, and to
use the same or appropriate the proceeds derived therefrom
to the education of the freed people; and whenever the
bureau shall cease to exist, such of the late so-called
Confederate States as shall have made provision for the
education of their citizens, without distinction of color,
shall receive the sum remaining unexpended of such sales or
rentals, which shall be distributed among said States for
educational purposes in proportion to their population.
"SEC. 13. _And be it further enacted_, That the commissioner
of this bureau shall at all times coöperate with private
benevolent associations of citizens in aid of freedmen, and
with agents and teachers, duly accredited and appointed by
them, and shall hire or provide by lease buildings for
purposes of education whenever such associations shall,
without cost to the Government, provide suitable teachers
and means of instruction; and he shall furnish protection as
may be required for the safe conduct of such schools.
"SEC. 14. _And be it further enacted_, That in every State
or district where the ordinary course of judicial
proceedings has been interrupted by the rebellion, and until
the same shall be fully restored, and in every State or
district whose constitutional relations to the Government
have been practically discontinued by the rebellion, and
until such State shall have been restored in such relations,
and shall be duly represented in the Congress of the United
States, the right to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be
parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease,
sell, hold, and convey real and personal property, and to
have full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings
concerning personal liberty, personal security, and the
acquisition, enjoyment, and disposition of estate, real and
personal, including the constitutional right to bear arms,
shall be secured to and enjoyed by all the citizens of such
State or district, without respect to race or color, or
previous condition of slavery. And whenever in either of
said States or districts the ordinary course of judicial
proceedings has been interrupted by the rebellion, and until
the same shall be fully restored, and until such State shall
have been restored in its constitutional relations to the
Government, and shall be duly represented in the Congress of
the United States, the President, shall, through the
commissioner and the officers of the bureau, and under such
rules and regulations as the President, through the
Secretary of War, shall prescribe, extend military
protection and have military jurisdiction over all cases and
questions concerning the free enjoyment of such immunities
and rights; and no penalty or punishment for any violation
of law shall be imposed or permitted because of race or
color, or previous condition of slavery, other or greater
than the penalty or punishment to which white persons may be
liable by law for the like offense. But the jurisdiction
conferred by this section upon the officers of the bureau
shall not exist in any State where the ordinary course of
judicial proceedings has not been interrupted by the
rebellion, and shall cease in every State when the courts of
the State and the United States are not disturbed in the
peaceable course of justice, and after such State shall be
fully restored in its constitutional relations to the
Government, and shall be duly represented in the Congress of
the United States.
"SEC. 15. _And be it further enacted_, That the officers,
agents, and employees of this bureau, before entering upon
the duties of their office, shall take the oath prescribed
in the first section of the act to which this is an
amendment; and all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with
the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.
On the 16th of July the President returned the bill to the House of
Representatives, in which it originated, with his "objections thereto"
in writing. The following is
THE VETO MESSAGE.
"_To the House of Representatives:_
"A careful examination of the bill passed by the two houses
of Congress, entitled 'An act to continue in force and to
amend "An act to establish a bureau for the relief of
freedmen and refugees," and for other purposes,' has
convinced me that the legislation which it proposes would
not be consistent with the welfare of the country, and that
it falls clearly within the reasons assigned in my message
of the 19th of February last, returning without my signature
a similar measure which originated in the Senate. It is not
my purpose to repeat the objections which I then urged. They
are yet fresh in your recollection, and can be readily
examined as a part of the records of one branch of the
National Legislature. Adhering to the principles set forth
in that message, I now reäffirm them, and the line of policy
therein indicated.
"The only ground upon which this kind of legislation can be
justified is that of the war-making power. The act of which
this bill was intended as amendatory was passed during the
existence of the war. By its own provisions, it is to
terminate within one year from the cessation of hostilities
and the declaration of peace. It is therefore yet in
existence, and it is likely that it will continue in force
as long as the freedmen may require the benefit of its
provisions. It will certainly remain in operation as a law
until some months subsequent to the meeting of the next
session of Congress, when, if experience shall make evident
the necessity of additional legislation, the two houses will
have ample time to mature and pass the requisite measures.
In the mean time the questions arise, Why should this war
measure be continued beyond the period designated in the
original act? and why, in time of peace, should military
tribunals be created to continue until each 'State shall be
fully restored in its constitutional relations to the
Government, and shall be duly represented in the Congress of
the United States?' It was manifest with respect to the act
approved March 3, 1865, that prudence and wisdom alike
required that jurisdiction over all cases concerning the
free enjoyment of the immunities and rights of citizenship,
as well as the protection of person and property, should be
conferred upon some tribunal in every State or district
where the ordinary course of judicial proceeding was
interrupted by the rebellion, and until the same should be
fully restored. At that time, therefore, an urgent necessity
existed for the passage of some such law. Now, however, war
has substantially ceased; the ordinary course of judicial
proceedings is no longer interrupted; the courts, both State
and Federal, are in full, complete, and successful
operation, and through them every person, regardless of race
or color, is entitled to and can be heard. The protection
granted to the white citizen is already conferred by law
upon the freedman; strong and stringent guards, by way of
penalties and punishments, are thrown around his person and
property, and it is believed that ample protection will be
afforded him by due process of law, without resort to the
dangerous expedient of 'military tribunals,' now that the
war has been brought to a close. The necessity no longer
existing for such tribunals, which had their origin in the
war, grave objections to their continuance must present
themselves to the minds of all reflecting and dispassionate
men. Independently of the danger in representative republics
of conferring upon the military, in time of peace,
extraordinary powers--so carefully guarded against by the
patriots and statesmen of the earlier days of the republic,
so frequently the ruin of governments founded upon the same
free principle, and subversive of the rights and liberties
of the citizen--the question of practical economy earnestly
commends itself to the consideration of the law-making
power. With an immense debt already burdening the incomes of
the industrial and laboring classes, a due regard for their
interests, so inseparably connected with the welfare of the
country, should prompt us to rigid economy and retrenchment,
and influence us to abstain from all legislation that would
unnecessarily increase the public indebtedness. Tested by
this rule of sound political wisdom, I can see no reason for
the establishment of the 'military jurisdiction' conferred
upon the officials of the bureau by the fourteenth section
of the bill.
"By the laws of the United States, and of the different
States, competent courts, Federal and State, have been
established, and are now in full practical operation. By
means of these civil tribunals ample redress is afforded for
all private wrongs, whether to the person or to the property
of the citizen, without denial or unnecessary delay. They
are open to all, without regard to color or race. I feel
well assured that it will be better to trust the rights,
privileges, and immunities of the citizens to tribunals thus
established, and presided over by competent and impartial
judges, bound by fixed rules of law and evidence, and where
the rights of trial by jury is guaranteed and secured, than
to the caprice and judgment of an officer of the bureau,
who, it is possible, may be entirely ignorant of the
principles that underlie the just administration of the law.
There is danger, too, that conflict of jurisdiction will
frequently arise between the civil courts and these military
tribunals, each having concurrent jurisdiction over the
person and the cause of action--the one judicature
administered and controlled by civil law, the other by the
military. How is the conflict to be settled, and who is to
determine between the two tribunals when it arises? In my
opinion it is wise to guard against such conflict by leaving
to the courts and juries the protection of all civil rights
and the redress of all civil grievances.
"The fact can not be denied that since the actual cessation
of hostilities many acts of violence--such, perhaps, as had
never been witnessed in their previous history--have
occurred in the States involved in the recent rebellion. I
believe, however, that public sentiment will sustain me in
the assertion that such deeds of wrong are not confined to
any particular State or section, but are manifested over the
entire country--demonstrating that the cause that produced
them does not depend upon any particular locality, but is
the result of the agitation and derangement incident to a
long and bloody civil war. While the prevalence of such
disorders must be greatly deplored, their occasional and
temporary occurrence would seem to furnish no necessity for
the extension of the bureau beyond the period fixed in the
original act. Besides the objections which I have thus
briefly stated, I may urge upon your consideration the
additional reason that recent developments in regard to the
practical operations of the bureau, in many of the States,
show that in numerous instances it is used by its agents as
a means of promoting their individual advantage, and that
the freedmen are employed for the advancement of the
personal ends of the officers instead of their own
improvement and welfare--thus confirming the fears
originally entertained by many that the continuation of such
a bureau for any unnecessary length of time would inevitably
result in fraud, corruption, and oppression.
"It is proper to state that in cases of this character
investigations have been promptly ordered, and the offender
punished, whenever his guilt has been satisfactorily
established. As another reason against the necessity of the
legislation contemplated by this measure, reference may be
had to the 'Civil Rights Bill,' now a law of the land, and
which will be faithfully executed as long as it shall remain
unrepealed, and may not be declared unconstitutional by
courts of competent jurisdiction. By that act, it is enacted
'that all persons born in the United States, and not subject
to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are
hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and
such citizens, of every race and color, without regard to
any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted, shall have the same right in every
State and Territory of the United States, to make and
enforce contracts, to sue, to be parties, and give evidence,
to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and
personal property, and to full and equal benefit of all laws
and proceedings for the security of person and property, as
is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like
punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any
law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to the
contrary notwithstanding.'
"By the provisions of the act full protection is afforded,
through the district courts of the United States, to all
persons injured, and whose privileges, as they are declared,
are in any way impaired, and heavy penalties are denounced
against the person who willfully violates the law. I need
not state that that law did not receive my approval, yet its
remedies are far preferable to those proposed in the present
bill--the one being civil and the other military.
"By the sixth section of the bill herewith returned, certain
proceedings by which the lands in the 'parishes of St.
Helena and St. Luke, South Carolina,' were sold and bid in,
and afterward disposed of by the tax commissioners, are
ratified and confirmed. By the seventh, eighth, ninth,
tenth, and eleventh sections, provisions by law are made for
the disposal of the lands thus acquired to a particular
class of citizens. While the quieting of titles is deemed
very important and desirable, the discrimination made in the
bill seems objectionable, as does also the attempt to confer
upon the commissioners judicial powers, by which citizens of
the United States are to be deprived of their property in a
mode contrary to that provision of the Constitution which
declares that no person 'shall be deprived of life, liberty,
or property, without due process of law.' As a general
principle, such legislation is unsafe, unwise, partial, and
unconstitutional. It may deprive persons of their property
who are equally deserving objects of the nation's bounty, as
those whom, by this legislation, Congress seeks to benefit.
The title to the land thus to be proportioned out to a
favored class of citizens must depend upon the regularity of
the tax sale under the law as it existed at the time of the
sale, and no subsequent legislation can give validity to the
rights thus acquired against the original claimants. The
attention of Congress is therefore invited to a more mature
consideration of the measures proposed in these sections of
the bill.
"In conclusion, I again urge upon Congress the danger of
class legislation, so well calculated to keep the public
mind in a state of uncertain expectation, disquiet, and
restlessness, and to encourage interested hopes and fears
that the National Government will continue to furnish to
classes of citizens, in the several States, means for
support and maintenance, regardless of whether they pursue a
life of indolence or labor, and regardless, also, of the
constitutional limitations of the national authority in
times of peace and tranquillity.
"The bill is herewith returned to the House of
Representatives, in which it originated, for its final
action.
"ANDREW JOHNSON.
"WASHINGTON, D. C., _July_ 16, 1866."
As soon as the reading of this document had been completed, a motion
was passed that it should be laid on the table and printed. Notice was
given that it would be called up for the action of the House on the
following day. Mr. Le Blond, a Democrat, suggested that it would be
too long to wait until to-morrow to pass it over the veto, and without
debate. The sooner action was taken, the more apparent would be the
bad _animus_.
"I have no objection," said Mr. Eliot, taking him at his word. Others
said, "There is no objection," whereupon the vote was reconsidered by
which the matter was postponed.
The motion to reconsider the postponement was carried, and the
previous question called, "Shall this bill become a law, the
objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding?"
"I do not see why we need be in such a hurry," said Mr. Rogers.
"One of your own side suggested that the vote better be taken now,"
replied Mr. Ashley.
"Well, he was not in earnest, of course," said Mr. Rogers, creating
some mirth by the remark.
"I hope the gentleman will make no objection," said Mr. Le Blond,
addressing his remark to Mr. Rogers.
Mr. Ward suggested that "the Democrats should choose their leader, and
not confuse us in this way."
Without further parley, the vote was one hundred and four in the
affirmative, thirty-three in the negative, and forty-five "not
voting." The Speaker then announced, "Two-thirds having voted in the
affirmative, the bill has, notwithstanding the objections of the
President, again passed."
The Clerk of the House of Representatives immediately announced the
action of that body to the Senate. Other business was at once laid
aside, and the Veto Message was read in the Senate.
Mr. Hendricks and Mr. Saulsbury then addressed the Senate in support
of the position of the President. The question being taken,
thirty-three voted for and twelve against the bill. Thereupon the
President _pro tempore_ announced, "Two-thirds of this body have
passed the bill, and it having been certified that two-thirds of the
House of Representatives have voted for this bill, I now pronounce
that this bill has become a law."
[Illustration: Hon. Eben C. Ingersoll, Representative from Illinois.]