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2890

THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.

May 30,

The motion was agreed to; and Messrs.

"Wilson, Anthony, and Hendricks were ap-

pointed conferees on the part of the Senate.

fortification appropriation bill.

The Senate proceeded to consider its amend-

ment to the bill (H. R. No. 255) making ap-

propriations for the construction, preservation,

and repair of certain fortifications and other

works of defense for the year ending June 30,

1867, which was disagreed to by the House of

Representatives.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I move that the Sen-

ate insist on its amendment, and agree to the

conference asked by the House.

The motion was agreed to; and Messrs.

Morgan, Morkill, and Saclsbury were ap-

pointed conferees on the part of the Senate.

women's hospital.

Mr. MORRILL. There is a bill on the table

which comes from the House of Representa-

tives amended. I desire to call it up and

concur in the amendments. It is Senate bill

No. 167, to incorporate the Women's Hospital

Association of the District of Columbia.

Mr. HOWARD. It is very nearly one

o'clock, and I hope the joint resolution to

amend the Constitution will be taken up.

Mr. MORRILL. This is pending simply on

a question of concurring in the amendments

made by the House to a bill of the Senate, and

will not occupy two minutes.

Mr. HOWARD. If it does not go beyond

one o'clock I shall not object.

Mr. MORRILL. Let it come up. I move

to take it up.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate

proceeded to consider the amendments of the

House of Representatives to the bill (S. No.

167) to incorporate the Women's Hospital As-

sociation of the District of Columbia.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The first

amendment of the House has already been con-

curred in.

The Secretary read the second amendment

of the House of Representatives, which was in

the first section, line three, after the name

"Adelaide .T. Brown," to strike out all the

names to and including that of "Mary K.

Lewis," in line seven, except that of " Mary

W. Kelly," and to insert " Elmira W. Knap,

Mary C. Havermer, Mary Ellen Norment, Jane

Thompson, Maria L. Harkness, Isabella Mar-

garet Washington, and Mary F. Smith:"

Mr. MORRILL. I move that the Senate

concur in that amendment.

The motion was agreed to.

The next amendment was after the word

" Columbia," at the end of section one, to add

"by the name of the Columbia Hospital for

Women and Lying-in Asylum."

Mr. MORRILL. I move that the Senate

concur in that amendment.

The motion was agreed to.

The next amendment was in section two,

line two to strike out the word "twelve" and

insert " twenty-four" as the number of direct-

ors.

The amendment was concurred in.

The next amendment was in section three,

after the word "directors" at the end of line

three to insert "to consist of the first twelve

of the above-named incorporators."

The amendment was concurred in.

The next amendment was in section four,

line one, after the word "the" to insert "first

twelve."

The amendment was concurred in.

The next amendment was in section five,

after the word "Women" in line three, to

insert "and Lying-in Asylum."

The amendment was concurred in.

The next amendment was in section five,

line four, after the word "with" to insert

"board, lodging."

The amendment was concurred in.

The PRESlDENTpro tempore. The amend-

ments are completed.

DEATH OF GENERAL SCOTT.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before

the Senate the following message from the

President of the United States :

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

With sincere regret I announce to Congress

that Winfield Scott, late lieutenant general in

the Army of the United States, departed this

life at West Point, in the State of New York, on

the 29th day of Slay instant, at eleven o'clock

in the forenoon. I feel well assured that Con-

gress will share in the grief of the nation which

must result from its bereavement of a citizen

whose high fame is identified w^h the military

history of the Republic.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

Washington, May 30, 1806.

Mr. WILSON. I offer the following reso-

lution :

Resolved by the Senate, (the House of Representa-

tives concurring,) That the Committee on Military

Affairs and the Militia of the Senate and the Com-

mittee on Military Affairs of the House of Represent-

atives, be, and they are hereby, appointed a joint

committee of the two Houses of Congress to take into

consideration the message of the President of tho

United States announcing to Conprress the death of

Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, and to report

what method should be adopted by Congress to man-

ifest their appreciation of the high character, tried

patriotism, and distinguished public services of Lieu-

tenant General Winfield Scott, and their deep sensi-

bility upon the announcement of his death.

There being no objection, the Senate pro-

ceeded to consider the resolution ; and it was

adopted unanimously. t

Mr. WILSON. As this committee is to be

a joint one, and the resolution will have to be

acted on by the House of Representatives, I

move, for the present, that the message of the

President be laid upon the table, and printed.

The motion was agreed to.

RECONSTIUICTION.

Mr. HOWARD. I now move to take up

House joint resolution No. 127.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate,

as in Committee of the Whole, resumed the

«onsideration of the joint resolution (H. R.

No. 127) proposing an amendment to the Con-

stitution of the United States.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The ques-

tion is on the amendments proposed by the

Senator from Michigan, [Mr. Howard.]

Mr. HOWARD. The first amendment is to

section one, declaring that " all persons born

in the United States, and subject to the juris-

diction thereof, are citizens of the United

States and of the States wherein they reside."

I do not propose to say anything on that sub-

ject except that the question of citizenship has

been so fully discussed in this body as not to

need any further elucidation, in my opinion.

This amendment which I have offered is simply

declaratory of what I regard as the law of the

land already, that every person born within the

limits of the United States, and subject to their

jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and

national law a citizen of the United States.

This will not, of course, include persons born

in the United States who are foreigners, aliens,

who belong to the families of embassadors or

foreign ministers accredited to the Govern-

ment of the United States, but will include

every other class of persons. It settles the

great question of citizenship and removes all

doubt as to what persons are or are not citi-

zens of the United States. This has long been

a great desideratum in the jurisprudence and

legislation of this country.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The first

amendment proposed by the Senator from

Michigan will be read.

The Secretary read the amendment, which

was in line nine, after the words "section

one," to insert:

All persons born in the United States, and subject

to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United

States and of the States wherein they reside.

So that the scetion will read :

Sec. 1. A11 persons born in the United States, and

subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the

United States and of the States wherein they resido.

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall

abridge tho privileges or immunities of citizens of

the United States, nor shall any State deprive any

person of life, liberty, or property, without duo pro-

cess of law, nor deny to any person within its juris-

diction tho equal protection of the laws.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. I presume the honor-

able Senator from Michigan dpes not intend

by this amendment to include the Indians. I

move, therefore, to amend the amendment—I

presume he will have no objection to jt—by

inserting after the word " thereof the words

'' excluding Indians not taxed.'' The amend-

ment would then read:

All persons born in tho United States, and subject

to the jurisdiction thereof, excluding Indians not

taxed, are citizens of the United States and of the

States wherein they reside.

Mr. HOWARD. I hope that amendment

to the amendment will not be adopted. Indians

born within the limits of the United States,

and who maintain their tribal relations, are not,

in the sense of this amendment, born subject

to the jurisdiction of the United States. They

are regarded, and always have been in our

legislation and jurisprudence, as being quasi

foreign nations.

Mr. COWAN. The honorable Senator from

Michigan has given this subject, I have no

do'ubt, a good deal of his attention, and I am

really desirous to have a legal definition of

"citizenship of the United States." What

does it mean ? What is its length and breadth ?

I would be glad if the honorable Senator in

good earnest would favor us with some such

definition. Is the child of the Chinese immi-

grant in California a citizen? Is the child of

a Gypsy born in Pennsylvania a citizen? If

so, what rights have they? Have they any

more rights than a sojourner in the United

States? If a traveler comes here from Ethio-

pia, from Australia, or from Great Britain, he

is entitled, to a certain extent, to the protec-

tion of the laws. You cannot murder him with

impunity. It is murder to kill him, the same

as it is to kill another man. You cannot com-

mit an assault and battery on him, I appre-

hend. He has a right to the protection of the

laws ; but he is not a citizen in the ordinary

acceptation of the word.

It is perfectly clear that tho mere fact that a

man is born in the country has not heretofore

entitled him to the right to exercise political

power. He is not entitled, by virtue of that,

to be an elector. An elector is one who is

chosen by the people to perform that function,

just the same as an officer is one chosen by

the people to exercise the franchises of an

office. Now. I should like to know, because

really I have been puzzled for a long while and

have been unable to determine exactly, either

from conversation with those who ought, to

know, who have given this subject their atten-

tion, or from the decisions of the Supreme

Court, the lines and boundaries which circum-

scribe that phrase, "citizen of the United

States." What is it?

So far as the courts and the administration

of the laws arc concerned, I have supposed

that every human being within their jurisdic-

tion was in one sense of the word a citizen,

that is, a person entitled to protection ; but in

so far as the right to hold property, particu-

larly the right to acquire title to real estate,

was concerned, that was a subject entirely

within the control of the States. It has been

so considered in the State of Pennsylvania;

and aliens and others who acknowledge no

allegiance, either to the State or to the Gen-

eral Government, may be limited and circum-

scribed in that particular. I have supposed,

further, that it was essential to the existence of

society itself, and particularly essential to the

existence of a free State, that it should have

the power, not only of declaring who should

exercise political power within its boundaries,

but that if it wore overrun by another and a

different race, it would have the right to abso-

lutely expel them. I do not know that there

is any danger to many of the States in this

Union; but is it proposed that the people of Cal-

