States Admitted. Ratio. Population.
Vermont................................... 1791 33,000 92,320
Kentucky.................................. 1792 33,000 95,638
Tennessee................................. 1796 33,000 73,864
Ohio...................................... 1802 33,000 82,443
Louisiana................................. 1812 35,000 75,212
Indiana................................... 1816 35,000 98,110
Mississippi............................... 1817 35,000 53,677
Illinois.................................. 1818 35,000 46,274
Alabama................................... 1819 35,000 111,150
Maine..................................... 1820 35,000 298,335
Missouri.................................. 1821 35,000 69,260
Arkansas.................................. 1836 47,700 65,175
Michigan.................................. 1837 47,700 158,073
Florida................................... 1845 70,680 57,951
Texas..................................... 1845 70,680 189,327 [17]
Iowa...................................... 1846 70,680 132,527
Wisconsin................................. 1848 70,680 250,497
California................................ 1850 70,680 92,597
Oregon.................................... 1858 93,492 44,630
Minnesota................................. 1859 93,492 138,909
Kansas.................................... 1861 93,492 107,206
West Virginia............................. 1862 93,492 349,628
Nevada.................................... 1864 127,000 Not known.
[Footnote 17: In 1850.]
WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1867_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I return for reconsideration a bill entitled "An act for the admission
of the State of Nebraska into the Union," which originated in the Senate
and has received the assent of both Houses of Congress. A bill having in
view the same object was presented for my approval a few hours prior to
the adjournment of the last session, but, submitted at a time when there
was no opportunity for a proper consideration of the subject, I withheld
my signature and the measure failed to become a law.
It appears by the preamble of this bill that the people of Nebraska,
availing themselves of the authority conferred upon them by the act
passed on the 19th day of April, 1864, "have adopted a constitution
which, upon due examination, is found to conform to the provisions and
comply with the conditions of said act, and to be republican in its form
of government, and that they now ask for admission into the Union."
This proposed law would therefore seem to be based upon the declaration
contained in the enabling act that upon compliance with its terms the
people of Nebraska should be admitted into the Union upon an equal
footing with the original States. Reference to the bill, however, shows
that while by the first section Congress distinctly accepts, ratifies,
and confirms the Constitution and State government which the people of
the Territory have formed for themselves, declares Nebraska to be one
of the United States of America, and admits her into the Union upon an
equal footing with the original States in all respects whatsoever, the
third section provides that this measure "shall not take effect except
upon the fundamental condition that within the State of Nebraska there
shall be no denial of the elective franchise, or of any other right,
to any person by reason of race or color, excepting Indians not
taxed; and upon the further fundamental condition that the legislature
of said State, by a solemn public act, shall declare the assent of
said State to the said fundamental condition, and shall transmit to
the President of the United States an authentic copy of said act, upon
receipt whereof the President, by proclamation, shall forthwith announce
the fact, whereupon said fundamental condition shall be held as a part
of the organic law of the State; and thereupon, and without any further
proceeding on the part of Congress, the admission of said State into the
Union shall be considered as complete." This condition is not mentioned
in the original enabling act; was not contemplated at the time of its
passage; was not sought by the people themselves; has not heretofore
been applied to the inhabitants of any State asking admission, and is in
direct conflict with the constitution adopted by the people and declared
in the preamble "to be republican in its form of government," for in
that instrument the exercise of the elective franchise and the right
to hold office are expressly limited to white citizens of the United
States. Congress thus undertakes to authorize and compel the legislature
to change a constitution which, it is declared in the preamble, has
received the sanction of the people, and which by this bill is
"accepted, ratified, and confirmed" by the Congress of the nation.
The first and third sections of the bill exhibit yet further
incongruity. By the one Nebraska is "admitted into the Union upon an
equal footing with the original States in all respects whatsoever,"
while by the other Congress demands as a condition precedent to her
admission requirements which in our history have never been asked of
any people when presenting a constitution and State government for the
acceptance of the lawmaking power. It is expressly declared by the third
section that the bill "shall not take effect except upon the fundamental
condition that within the State of Nebraska there shall be no denial of
the elective franchise, or of any other right, to any person by reason
of race or color, excepting Indians not taxed." Neither more nor less
than the assertion of the right of Congress to regulate the elective
franchise of any State hereafter to be admitted, this condition is in
clear violation of the Federal Constitution, under the provisions of
which, from the very foundation of the Government, each State has been
left free to determine for itself the qualifications necessary for
the exercise of suffrage within its limits. Without precedent in our
legislation, it is in marked contrast with those limitations which,
imposed upon States that from time to time have become members of the
Union, had for their object the single purpose of preventing any
infringement of the Constitution of the country.
If Congress is satisfied that Nebraska at the present time possesses
sufficient population to entitle her to full representation in the
councils of the nation, and that her people desire an exchange of a
Territorial for a State government, good faith would seem to demand that
she should be admitted without further requirements than those expressed
in the enabling act, with all of which, it is asserted in the preamble,
her inhabitants have complied. Congress may, under the Constitution,
admit new States or reject them, but the people of a State can alone
make or change their organic law and prescribe the qualifications
requisite for electors. Congress, however, in passing the bill in the
shape in which it has been submitted for my approval, does not merely
reject the application of the people of Nebraska for present admission
as a State into the Union, on the ground that the constitution which
they have submitted restricts the exercise of the elective franchise to
the white population, but imposes conditions which, if accepted by the
legislature, may, without the consent of the people, so change the
organic law as to make electors of all persons within the State without
distinction of race or color. In view of this fact, I suggest for the
consideration of Congress whether it would not be just, expedient, and
in accordance with the principles of our Government to allow the people,
by popular vote or through a convention chosen by themselves for that
purpose, to declare whether or not they will accept the terms upon which
it is now proposed to admit them into the Union. This course would
not occasion much greater delay than that which the bill contemplates
when it requires that the legislature shall be convened within thirty
days after this measure shall have become a law for the purpose of
considering and deciding the conditions which it imposes, and gains
additional force when we consider that the proceedings attending the
formation of the State constitution were not in conformity with the
provisions of the enabling act; that in an aggregate vote of 7,776 the
majority in favor of the constitution did not exceed 100; and that it is
alleged that, in consequence of frauds, even this result can not be
received as a fair expression of the wishes of the people. As upon them
must fall the burdens of a State organization, it is but just that they
should be permitted to determine for themselves a question which so
materially affects their interests. Possessing a soil and a climate
admirably adapted to those industrial pursuits which bring prosperity
and greatness to a people, with the advantage of a central position
on the great highway that will soon connect the Atlantic and Pacific
States, Nebraska is rapidly gaining in numbers and wealth, and may
within a very brief period claim admission on grounds which will
challenge and secure universal assent. She can therefore wisely and
patiently afford to wait. Her population is said to be steadily and
even rapidly increasing, being now generally conceded as high as 40,000,
and estimated by some whose judgment is entitled to respect at a still
greater number. At her present rate of growth she will in a very short
time have the requisite population for a Representative in Congress,
and, what is far more important to her own citizens, will have realized
such an advance in material wealth as will enable the expenses of a
State government to be borne without oppression to the taxpayer. Of new
communities it may be said with special force--and it is true of old
ones--that the inducement to emigrants, other things being equal, is in
almost the precise ratio of the rate of taxation. The great States of
the Northwest owe their marvelous prosperity largely to the fact that
they were continued as Territories until they had growth to be wealthy
and populous communities.