Clark, C. L. Cobb, Conger, Conner, Corker, Cowles, affirmed in the Declaration of Independence, Darrall, J. Dixon, N. F. Dixon, Dockery, Doa, Duke, the great forerunner of the Federal ConstituFarnsworth, Ferriss, Fisher, Fitch, Gilfillan, Griswold, Hambleton, Hamill, Hamilton, Harris, Haw- tion; and whereas in the course of time, the kins, Hays, Heflin, Hoar, Hoge, Holmes, Hooper, question of secession being still undecided by Hotchkiss, Ingersoll, Jenckes, J A. Johnson, A. H. Jones, T. L. Jones, Judd, Kelley, Kelsey, Ketcham, any tribunal of the Federal Government, cerKnapp, Laflin, Lash, Logan, Long. Lynch, Manning, tain States did secede and set up a governMayham, Maynard, McCarthy, McGrew, McKee, ment of their own in accordance with honest McKenzie, J. H. Moore, Morey, Morphis, Morrell, Morrissey, Mungen, L. Myers,' Negley, O'Neill, convictions of their reserved rights, and a great H. E. Paine, W. W. Paine, Palmer, Perce, Platt, civil war ensued in which said States and govPoland, Pomeroy, Porter, W. P. Price, Prosser, Rai- ernment were subdued and overthrown, the ney, Roots, Sargent, Sawyer, Schumaker, Shanks, L. A. Sheldon, Sherrod, Shober, J. S. Smith, W. J. great experiment having been made and setSmith, W. C. Smith, Stokes, Stoughton, Strader, tled by arms; and whereas the leaders and Strickland, Swann, Sypher, Tillman, W. Townsend, soldiers in said war for secession or revolution Trimble, Twichell, Van Auken, Wallace, Wheeler, and the people of said States have for nearly Whiteley, Whitmore, Williams, E. M. Wilson, Young-125. six years after peace conformed to all the requirements of the Government of the United States, and have been fully reconstructed under the laws and regulations of its Congress: Be it therefore, NAYS-Messrs. Ambler, Asper, Beatty, Biggs, Bingham, Bird, J. Brooks, Buffinton, Burchard, S. Clarke, A. Cobb, Coburn, Cook, Crebs, Donley, Ela, Finkelnburg, Garfield, Haight, Haldeman, Hale, Hawley, Hay, Hill, Holman, Julian, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, McCrary, McNeely, Mercur, E. H. Moore, W. Moore, Morgan, Morrill, Niblack, Orth, Packer, Peck, Peters, Phelps, Potter, Randall, Reeves, Rice, Scofield, J. A. Smith, Starkweather, Stevenson, Stiles, Strong, Tanner, Taylor, Upson, Van Trump, Van Wyck. Ward, W. B. Washburn, Welker, Willard, J. T. Wilson, Wolf, Wood-64. IN SENATE. 1871, March 3-A motion to lay the bill on the table was disagreed to-yeas 22, nays 33: YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Buckingham, Casserly, Corbett, Cragin, Davis, Hamilton of Maryland, Har- Resolved, That it is the bounden duty of the Government and Congress of the United States, if they would revere the common brotherhood, trials, sufferings, and glorious achievements of a noble ancestry, and act in the liberal, magnanimous, and Christian spirit of an enlightened age, to grant free, unqualified, and perfect pardon and amnesty to all political offenders in said war, that the Government of the fath, ers, with all its privileges and blessings, may be restored for the benefit of the whole people, 99 oť and that the original, more perfect union the Constitution may be reëstablished, exalted, and secured forever. 66 Which was disagreed to-yeas 14, nays 143, YEAS-Messrs. Beck, Bird, Duke, Gibson, Gris NAYS-Messrs. Abbott, Ames, Blair, Boreman, After further debate, another motion to lay it on the table was lost-yeas 13, nays 40: YEAS-Messrs. Cragin, Edmunds, Gilbert, Harlan, Howell, McDonald, Pool, Ramsey, Rice, Schurz, Scott, Sprague, Tipton-13. NAYS- Messrs. Abbott, Ames, Bayard, Blair, Boreman, Buckingham, Cameron, Chandler, Conkling, Corbett, Davis, Fenton, Flanagan, Fowler, Hamilton of Maryland, Harris, Hill, Howard, Johnston, Kellogg, Lewis, McCreery, Miller, Nye, Osborn, Pomeroy, Revels, Robertston, Ross, Sawyer, Sherman, Spencer, Stearns, Stewart, Stockton, Trumbull, Warner, Williams, Wilson, Yates-40. The bill then passed without a division. Right of Secession, and Amnesty. IN HOUSE. 1870, December 19-Mr. THOMAS L. JONES moved a suspension of the rules that he might offer and the House adopt the following resolution: Whereas the Government of the United States was established as a confederacy of coequal States, delegating certain powers to a Federal head or common agent, and reserving all others "to the States respectively or to the people;" and whereas the question of secession was from the beginning a debatable one, held by some to be a sovereign right reserved, and denied by others; and whereas the right of revolution is admitted by all and was Rice, Sherrod, Winchester, Woodward-14. NAYS-Messrs. Allison, Ambler, Arnell, Asper, Atwood, Ayer. Bailey, Banks, Barnum, Barry, Beaman, Beatty, Benjamin, Bennett, Benton, Bingham, A. Blair, Boles, Booker, G. M. Brooks, Buckley, Buffinton, Burchard, Burdett, B. F. Butler, Cessna, Churchill, S. Clarke, A. Cobb, C. L. Cobb, Coburn, Cook, Conger, Cowles, Cox, Crebs, Cullom, Dawes, Degener, Dickey, J. Dixon, N. F. Dixon, Dockery, Duval, Ela, Farnsworth, Ferriss, Ferry, Finkeinburg, Fisher. Fitch, Gilfillan, Hale, Harris, Hawkins, Hawley, Hay, Hill, Hoge, Holman, Holmes, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Jones, Judd, Kelley, Kellogg, Kelsey, Ketcham, Knapp, Laflin, Lawrence, Loughridge, Maynard, McCrary, McGrew, McKee, McKenzie, Mercur, Milnes, E. H. Moore, J. H Moore, W. Moore, Morey, Morphis, Morrell, Morrissey, Mungen, L. Myers, Negley, O'Neill, Orth, Packard, Packer, Paine, Palmer, Peck, Perce, Peters. Phelps, Poland, Pomeroy, Porter, Prosser, Roots, Sargent, Sawyer, Schumaker, Scofield, Shanks. L. A. Sheldon, P. Sheldon, Slocum, J. A.Smith, W. J. Smith, W. C. Smith, Starkweather, A. F. Stevens, Stevenson, Stokes, Stoughton, Strong, Taffe, Taylor, Tillman, W. Townsend, Twichell, Tyner, Upson, Wallace, C. C. Washburn, W. B. Washburn, Welker, Whitmore, Wilkinson, Willard. Williams, J.T. Wilson, Winans, Witcher, Wolf-143. NOT VOTING-Messrs. Adams, Ames, Archer, Armstrong, Axtell, Biggs, Bowen, Boyd, J. Brooks, Buck, Burr, R. R. Butler, Cake, Culkin, W. T. Clark, Cleveland, Conner, Covode, Darrall. DickGetz, Haight, Hambleton, Hamill, Hamilton, Hays, inson, Donley, Dox, Dyer, Eldredge, Fox, Garfield, Heflin, Hoar, Julian, Kerr, Lash, Lewis, Logan, Lynch, Manning, Marshall, Mayham, McCarthy, Niblack, Platt, Potter, Rainey, Randall, Rogers, McCormick, McNeely, Morgan, Morrill, Newsham, Sanford, Schenck, Shober, J. S. Smith, Stiles, Stone, Strader, Strickland, Swann, Sweeney, Sypher, Tanner, Wyck, Voorhees, Ward, Wells, Wheeler, E. M. WilTrimble, Van Auken, Van Horn. Van Trump, Van son, Wood-78. Tariff and Taxation. IN HOUSE. 1870, December 12-Mr. KELLEY moved a suspension of the rules that he might offer, and the House adopt this resolution: lican; the negative exclusively Democratic, except Mr. Deweese. The Arlington Estate. IN SENATE. 1870, December 13-Mr. MCCREERY, agreeably to notice, asked leave to bring in this resolution: Resolved, That the true principle of revenue reform points to the abolition of the internal revenue system which was created as a war measure to provide for extraordinary expenses, Resolved, &c., That a joint committee of and a continuance of which involves the em- five, two from the Senate and three from the ployment, at the cost of millions of dollars House, be appointed, whose duty it shall be annually, of an army of assessors, collectors, to inquire and report what real estate, if any, supervisors, detectives, and other officers pre- belonged to the late General Robert E. Lee viously unknown; and requires the repeal, at at the time he entered the confederate serthe earliest day consistent with the mainte- vice; by what right or title he held the farm nance of the faith and credit of the Govern- and lands known as Arlington Heights, and ment, of all stamp and other internal taxes; whether he had any right, title, or claim and that properly adjusted rates shall be re- thereto which rendered Arlington liable to tained on distilled spirits, tobacco, and malt confiscation or forfeiture by reason of his parliquors so long as the legitimate expenses of ticipation in the rebellion. That the committhe Government require the collection of any tee ascertain and report whether that estate sum from internal taxes. was or was not the property of Mrs. Lee, Which was agreed to-yeas 168, nays 6: formerly Miss Custis, and inherited by her YEAS-Messrs.. Allison, Ambler, Armstrong, Ar- from her ancestors, and whether the title nell, Atwood, Axtell, Barry, Beaman, Beatty, Beck, Benton, Bingham, Bird, A. Blair, Boles, Booker, was or was not vested by law in herself and Bowen, Boyd, G. M. Brooks, J. Brooks, Buckley, her children; and if so, had General Lee Buffinton, Burchard, Burdett, Burr, R. R. Butler, If the Calkin, Churchill, W. T. Clark, S. Clarke, A. Cobb, any rights subject to forfeiture. C. L. Cobb, Coburn. Cook, Conger, Cowles, Crebs, property was sold for taxes the committee Cullom, Darrall, Dickinson, N. F. Dixon, Donley, shall report the amount of taxes assessed Dox, Duke, Duval, Eldredge, Farnsworth, Ferris, upon it, the value of the property sold, who Ferry, Fisher, Fitch, Fox, Garfield, Getz, Gibson, paid and who received the money; whether Gillfillan, Griswold, Hamill, Hawkins, Hawley, Hay, Heflin, Holmes, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Johnson, A. H. a less quantity than the whole was not suffi Jones, T. L. Jones, Julian, Kelley, Kellogg, Kel- cient to meet the demands of Government, sey, Ketcham, Knapp, Knott, Laflin, Logan, Lynch, and whether the sale as made was legal and Manning, Mayham, Maynard, McCormick, McCrary, McGrew, McKee, McKenzie, McNeely, Mercur, E. constitutional. That the committee report H. Moore, J. H. Moore, W. Moore, Morey, Morgan, what expenditure it would require to put the Morphis, Morrell, Morrill, Morrissey, Mungen, L. house and farm in good repair, in order that it Myers, Negley, Niblack, O'Neill, Orth, Packard, Packer, Paine, Palmer, Peck, Perce, Peters, Phelps, may be restored to the owner or owners in as Platt, Poland, Pomeroy, Porter, Prosser, Rainey, good condition as it was when the United Reeves, J. M. Rice, Sanford, Sargent, Sawyer, States Government took possession; also, what Schenck, Schumaker, Scofield, Shanks, L. A. Sheldon, P. Sheldon, Sherrod, Shober, Slocum, J. A. Smith, would be a reasonable and fair compensation W. C. Smith, Starkweather, A. F. Stevens, Steven- in the way of rent since the occupation by the son, Stiles, Stokes, Stone, Stoughton, Strader, Strick- Government, as well as for the waste that has land, Strong, Swann, ypher, Taffe, Tanner, Taylor, Tillman, W. Townsend, Trimble, Tyner, Upson. Van been committed on the premises by felling the Horn, Van Trump, Voorhees, Wallace, C. C. Wash- trees, destroying the orchards, or otherwise burn, Welker, Wells, Wilkinson, Willard, Williams, J. T. Wilson, Witcher, Wolf, Wood, Woodward-168.' impairing the value of the property. And if NAYS-Messrs. Asper, Ayer, Benjamin, Cox. grave-yards have been established on the land, Finkelnburg, W. J. Smith-6. then the committee shall ascertain and report the number of interments, on what terms a suitable spot for a cemetery can be purchased in the neighborhood, and the proba ble cost of removing the bodies to the new place of sepulture. And if improvements have been made upon the land since its occupation by the Government or its agents, the committee shall report upon their character and value, and whether they were necessary and proper, and if of no real value to the owner and only an incumbrance upon her estate, then they shall report the estimated or probable cost of their removal. If the Government hold and occupy any real estate, the title whereof was vested by law in General Robert E. Lee at the time he entered the confederate service, the committee shall report the same. First Session Forty-First Congress. The following resolution was inadvertently omitted from my Hand Book of Politics for 1870: 1869, March 29-Mr. MORGAN Submitted the following resolution, namely: Resolved, That as a means of relief to the people and in some degree to equalize taxa tion, the Committee of Ways and Means be, and said committee is hereby, instructed to report a bill, first, to exempt salt, tea, coffee, sugar, matches, and tobacco from every species of taxation for Federal purposes; second, to impose a tax of two and a half per cent. in gold on all bonds heretofore issued, or which may hereafter be issued, by the Government of the United States. Mr. HOOPER moved that it be laid on the table; which was agreed to-yeas 104, nays 40. The affirmative was exclusively Repub The committee shall also ascertain and report the amount and value of the personal property taken by the Government or its agents from General Lee, or from his family, and whether or not the same can without detriment be restored in kind, and if not, what would be a just and reasonable compensation. If there are in any of the Departments any relics or mementos left by George Washington to the Custis family, and the same were taken from the house or the possession of Mrs. Lee, the committee will report who is the present custodian of such articles, and whether any of them have been lost or damaged while going to or remaining in said Departments. The committee shall take the statements of Mrs. Lee in order to identify her property with greater certainty, to discover the extent of her losses; and they shall report all facts necessary to a settlement upon the principles of substantial justice. Objection being made by Mr. EDMUNDS, the question arose, shall the leave asked be granted? Mr. DAVIS moved that the question lie on the table; which was disagreed to-yeas 9, nays 49: YEAS-Messrs. Bayard, Casserly, Davis, Fowler, Hamilton of Maryland, Johnston, Lewis, Saulsbury, Vickers-9. NAYS-Messrs. Abbott, Ames, Anthony, Boreman, Brownlow, Buckingham, Cameron, Carpenter, Chandler, Cole, Conkling, Corbett, Drake, Edmunds, Fenton, Flanagan, Gilbert, Hamilton of Texas, Hamlin, Harlan, Harris, Howard, Howe, Howell, McCreery, Morrill of Vermont, Morton, Nye, Patterson, Pool, Pratt. Ramsey, Revels, Rice, Robertson, Ross, Sawyer, Scott, Sherman, Spencer, Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Thayer, Tipton, Willey, Williams, Wilson, Windom-49. Leave to bring in the resolution was then refused-yeas 4, nays 54: YEAS-Messrs. Fowler, Hamilton of Maryland, MeCreery, Vickers-4. NAYS-Messrs. Abbott, Ames, Anthony, Bayard, Boreman, Brownlow, Buckingham, Cameron, Carpenter, Casserly, Chandler, Cole, Conkling, Corbett, Drake, Edmunds, Fenton, Flanagan, Gilbert, Hamilton of Texas, Hamlin, Harlan. Harris, Howard, Howe, Howell, Kellogg, Lewis, Morrill of Vermont. Morton, Nye, Patterson, Pomeroy, Pool, Pratt, Ramsey, Revels, Rice, Robertson, Ross, Sawyer. Schurz, Scott, Sherman, Spencer, Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Thayer, Tipton, Willey, Williams, Wilson, Windom-54. First Session Forty-Second Congress. 1871, March 13-Mr. BRAXTON offered a bill to quiet the title of the Arlington estate. [The bill provides that upon a full release and conveyance of all right, title, and interest at law and in equity by the devisees under the last will and testament of George W. P. Custis, deceased, in the tract of land called "Arlington," containing eleven hundred acres, and situate in the county of Alexandria and State of Virginia, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the said devisees, the sum of $300,000, which payment, when made, shall be in full consideration for the said property. The second section provides that this bill_shall be in force from and after its passage.] On motion of Mr. B. F. BUTLER, the bill was laid on the table-yeas 115, nays 74: YEAS-Messrs. Ambler, Averill, Barber, Beatty, Bigby, Bingham, A. Blair, G. M. Brooks, Buckley, Buffinton, Burchard, Burdett, B. F. Butler, R. R. Butler, F. Clarke, C. L. Cobb, Coburn, Conger, Cook, Cotton, Creely, Dawes, De Large, Dickey, Donnan, Dunnell, Eames, Elliott, Farnsworth, Farwell, Finkelnburg, C. Foster, Frye, Garfield, Goodrich, Griffith, Hale, Harmer, G. E. Harris, Havens, Hawley, Hay, G.W. Hazelton, J. W. Hazelton, Hoar, Holman, Hooper, Kelley, Ketcham, Lam port, Lansing, Lowe, Lynch, Manson, Maynard, Moore, Morey, Morphis, L. Myers, Orr, Packard, McCrary, McGrew, McJunkin, Merriam, Monroe, Packer, Palmer, Parker, Peck, Pendleton, Perce, Peters, Platt, Porter, Prindle, Rainey, Randall, E. H. Roberts, Rusk, Sawyer, Scofield, Sessions, H. B. Smith, J. A. Smith, W. C. Smith, R. M. Speer, T. Shanks, Sheldon, Shellabarger, Shoemaker, Slocum, J, Speer, Sprague, Stevenson, Stoughton, St. John, Sypher, Thomas, W.Townsend, Twichell, Tyner, Uplace, Walls, Wheeler, Whiteley, Willard, Williams son, Voorhees, Wakeman, Walden, Waldron, Walof Indiana, J. M. Wilson, J. T. Wilson-115. Beck, Bird, J. G. Blair, Braxton, Bright, J. Brooks, NAYS-Messrs. Acker, Adams, Archer, Arthur, Caldwell, Campbell, Carroll, Comingo, Cox, Crebe, Critcher, Crossland, Davis, Dox, Du Bose, Duke, Eldredge, Ely, Forker, Garrett, Getz, Golladay, HaldeThe petition of Mrs. Mary Ann Lee, widow man, Handley, Hanks, Harper, J. T. Harris, Hereof General Robert E. Lee, is now pending in ford, Kendall, King, Kinsella, Lamison. Leach, the Senate, reciting the circumstances attend- McKinney, Merrick, B. F. Meyers, Morgan, Niblack, Lewis, McClelland, McCormick, McHenry, McIntyre, ing the sale of the Arlington estate, and ask- Perry, Price, E. Y. Rice, J. M. Rice, Ritchie, W. R. ing that Congress appropriate $300,000 to pur- Roberts, Roosevelt, Shober, Slater, Sloss, Stevens, chase the estate from her, and proposing in Storm, Sutherland, Swann, Terry, Tuthill. Van Trump, Vaughan, Waddell, Warren, Wells, Whitthorne, Wilthat event to give the Government a clear title.liams of New York, Wood, Young-74. VII. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. The following constitutional amendments determining all questions which may arise as were proposed, during the Forty-First and Forty-Second Congresses. IN SENATE FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS. 1869, March 18-Mr. ROBERTSON proposed a new article: The Congress shall have power to establish a tribunal for the purpose of considering and to the validity of the electoral vote of any State for President and Vice President of the United States; which said tribunal shall exercise its jurisdiction under such regulations as Congress shall make. 1870, January 21-Mr. POMEROY proposed a new article: The basis of suffrage in the United States shall be that of citizenship, and all native or naturalized citizens shall enjoy the same rights and privileges of the elective franchise; but each State shall determine by law the age of the citizen and the time of residence required for the exercise of the right of suffrage, which shall apply equally to all citizens, and also shall make all laws concerning the time, places, and manner of holding elections for all State and municipal officers. 1870, April 18-Mr. DRAKE proposed a new article: SECTION 1. The United States shall protect each State against domestic violence whenever it shall be shown to the President, in such manner as the Congress may by law prescribe, that such violence exists in such State. SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 1871, January 17-Mr. YATES proposed a new article: Every person, whether a native-born or a foreign born citizen of the United States who shall have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States, shall be eligible to the office of President. IN SENATE FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. 1871, March 16-Mr. DAVIS, of Kentucky, proposed a new article: There is hereby established the Constitutional Tribunal, with power to decide all questions of conflict of jurisdiction or power between the United States and the States, or any of them; all questions of the constitutionality of bills passed by Congress, or of acts of every kind done and performed by any department or officer, or other person, under the authority of the Government of the United States; and to open and count the votes of the electors of President and Vice President of the United States. Proceedings may be had before the Constitutional Tribunal by original petition, or by appeal or writ of error from the judgments or decrees of all the courts of the United States and the States, by and in the name of any State or person, natural or artificial, directly interested in the questions involved in the proceedings. The concurrence of a majority of the whole Dumber of the Tribunal, counting one for every State, shall be necessary to enable it to render any judgment or decree; and they shall be executed and enforced by the United States according to law. Each State shall be entitled to and shall choose one member of the Constitutional Tribunal, who at the time of being chosen shall be not less than thirty years of age, and who shall have been for ten years a citizen of the United States, and five years a resident of the State. The members of the Tribunal shall hold their offices during good behavior; shall receive compensation from their respective States; may be removed by them for treason, bribery, corruption in office, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, or mental imbecility. The Tribunal may regu late the times and continuance of its terms for the transaction of business. 1871, December 19-Mr. STEWART proposed a new article: SECTION 1. There shall be maintained in each State and Territory a system of free common schools; but neither the United States, nor any State, Territory, county, or municipal corporation shall aid in the support of any school wherein the peculiar tenets of any religious denomination are taught. SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 1871, December 21-Mr. SUMNER proposed a new article, (preamble omitted :) SECTION 1. No person who has once held the office of President of the United States shall be thereafter eligible to that office. SEC. 2. This amendment shall not take effect until after the 4th day of March, 1873. 1872, May 30-Mr. SUMNER submitted the following, (preamble omitted:) Resolved, &c., (two thirds of each House concurring therein.) That the following be proposed as an amendment to the Constitution, which, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part thereof, to wit: The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America; he shall hold his office during the term of four years, and be elected as follows: The qualified voters shall meet at the usual places of holding elections in their respective States and Territories on the first Monday in April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy six, and on the first Monday in April every four years thereafter, under such rules and regulations as the Congress may by law prescribe, and vote by ballot for a citizen qualified under the Constitution to be President, and the result of such election in each State and Territory shall be certified, sealed, and forwarded to the seat of Government in such manner as the Congress may by law direct. The Congress shall be in session on the third Monday in May after such election, and on the Tuesday next succeeding the third Monday in May, if a quorum of each House shall be present, and if not, immediately on the presence of such quorum the Senators and Representatives shall meet in the Representative Chamber in joint convention, and the President of the Senate, in presence of the Senators and Representatives thus assembled, shall open all returns of the election and declare the result. The person having the greatest number of votes cast for President shall be President, if such number be a majority; if no person have such a majority, or if the person having such majority decline the office or die before the counting of the vote, then the President of the Senate shall so proclaim; whereupon the joint convention shall order the proceedings to be officially published, stating particularly the number of votes for each person as President. Another election shall thereupon take place | fied voters therein. A number of electors in on the second Tuesday of October next suc ceeding, at which election the duly qualified voters shall again meet at the usual places of holding elections in their respective States and Territories, and vote for one of the three persons having the highest number of votes, at the preceding election in April, and the result of such election in each State and Territory shall be certified, sealed, and forwarded to the seat of Government as provided by law. On the third Tuesday in December after such second election, or as soon thereafter as a quorum of each House shall be present, the Senators and Representatives shall again meet in joint convention, and the President of the Senate, in presence of the Senators and Representatives thus assembled, shall open all the returns of the election, and declare the person having the highest number of votes duly elected President for the ensuing term. No person elected to the office of President shall thereafter be eligible for reëlection. In case of the removal of the President from office by impeachment, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the same shall devolve temporarily on the head of an Execu tive Department senior in years. If there be no head of an Executive Department, then the Senator senior in years shall act as President until a successor is chosen and qualified. If Congress be in session at the time of the death, resignation, disability, or removal of the President, the Senators and Representatives shall meet in joint convention, under such rules and regulations as the Congress may by law prescribe, and proceed to elect by viva voce vote a President to fill such vacancy, each Senator and Representative having one vote. A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a majority in each House of the Senators and Representatives duly elected and qualified, and a majority of all the votes given shall be necessary to the choice of a President. The person thus elected as President shall discharge all the powers and duties of the office until the inauguration of the President elected at the next regular election. If Congress be not in session at the time a vacancy occurs, then the acting President shall forthwith issue a proclamation convening Congress within thirty days after the occurrence of such vacancy. On the presence of a quorum in each House, the Senators and Representatives shall meet in joint convention and elect a President, as before provided. The office of Vice President is abolished. The Senate shall choose their own Presiding Officer. IN HOUSE-FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS. 1869, December 22-Mr. LAWRENCE proposed a new article: The electors of President and Vice President shall be chosen as follows: two electors of President and Vice President shall be each State equal to the whole number of Representatives to which such State may be entitled in Congress shall be chosen in single districts of contiguous and compact territory, each containing, as nearly as practicable, au equal amount of population. The times, places, and manner of choosing such electors shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof, but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations. Congress shall by law provide for the case of absence, death, resignation, or inability of any elector, prescribe the mode of determining the validity of the choice of electors, and of contesting the right to the office of President and Vice Presi dent. 1870, February 14—Mr. INGERSOLL proposed a new article: SECTION 1. The Congress shall have power to issue United States notes and may make them a legal tender in payment of debts. 1870, April 4-Mr. JULIAN proposed a new article: SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. SEC. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 1870, April 18-Mr. BURDETT proposed a new article: SECTION 1. No State or municipal corporation within any State of the United States shall levy or collect any tax for the support or aid of any sectarian, denominational, or religious school, or educational establishment; nor shall the Legislature of any State, or the corporate authorities of any municipality within any State, appropriate any money or make any donation from the public funds or property of such State or municipality for the support or aid of any sectarian, religious, or denominational school, or educational establishment. SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 1871, January 4-Mr. COBURN proposed a new article: Congress may by law vest the election of all officers of the United States whose duties require them to reside in the several States, except judges and officers of the courts of the United States, in the people of the several States, districts, and localities therein in which they are by law required to perform their duties, subject to the directions and regulations of the President of the United States and the heads of Departments, and to arrest, suspension, or removal by the President of the United States. [This was re-presented by Mr. COBURN in first session of Forty Second Congress, ou 13th of March, 1871.] IN HOUSE-FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. 1871, March 4-Mr. POTTER proposed a new article: SECTION 1. That the Congress shall make chosen at large from each State by the quali- no law impairing the obligations of contracts, |