Volume 142, Page 2170 View pdf image (33K) |
1868.] OF THE SENATE. 757 1. That, in a Republican Government, the right of repre- sentation is a franchise which the people may not safely re- linquish, and of which they cannot be deprived and remain free. The right of a people to representation implies the right for them to choose their Representatives, and a denial of the latter involves a destruction of the former ; hence, a Government is no longer republican when this right of the people is destroyed. 2. The Constitution of the United States, which is the creature of the States, and which constitutes the only bond of the Federal Union, prescribes the qualifications which must be possessed by members of Congress ; also the mode of choosing them, and the right conferred by the Constitu- tion on each House of Congress to "judge of the election, qualification, and returns of its members," does not author- ize the denial of representation to the people of a State or district, nor authorize the application of any new or addi- tional tests or qualifications for membership. 3. To reject a Representative duly chosen, because of any political sentiments which he may have held or may hold, is at once a flagrant violation of the Constitution, and a ruth- less annihilation of freedom itself; because freedom consists in the right to be represented by whomsoever a majority may select : Provided, There be no disqualification in the mem- ber so chosen embraced within the provisions of the Federal Constitution. 4. Each and every of the Representatives elected by the people of the State of Kentucky to the Fortieth Congress, was not only duly elected, but possessed all the qualifications required by the Constitution, and the exclusion for a single day of any one of them, upon the grounds alleged by the controlling power in the House of Representatives, was an infraction of the constitutional rights of the people, which demands our most unqualified denunciation; and in the name of an injured and outraged people, we do most solmenly and earnestly protest against such action, which, if persisted in, and established as the policy of the Govern- ment, will render the elective franchise a farce, and what we have been taught to regard as constitutional liberty but a solemn mockery. Resolved, That his Excellency, the Governor of this Com- monwealth, be requested to forward a copy of this declara- tion, duly certified, to the President of the United States, to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, to each. of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and to the Governors of |
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Volume 142, Page 2170 View pdf image (33K) |
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