14

any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, with-
out due process of law, nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

This, and all other provisions of the amendment, must be
read in the light of the 5th section, and of the interpretation
already given by Congress to the same language in the 13th
Amendment already adopted, namely, section 5: "The Con-
gress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
the provisions of this article."

The clause under consideration, for the protection of life,
liberty and property, will be found in the declaration
of rights of every State, as a fundamental principle of free
government. It is a subject of "internal government,"
to regulate which is the sole and exdusive right of every
State. The proposition to vest in Congress the power of
supervision, interference and control over State legislation
affecting the lives, liberty and property of its citizens and
persons subject to its jurisdiction, is virtually to enable Con-
gress to abolish the State governments.

The second section relates to the apportionment of repre-
sentatives among the several States. This, too, proposes to
abridge the heretofore unquestioned rights of the several
States, and to upheave the foundations so securely laid by
our fathers. The basis of representation fixed by the Con-
stitution is "numbers." "This scheme," says Story, "seems
to have obtained more general favor than any other in the
Convention, because it had a natural, universal connection
with the rights and liberties of the whole people."

1 Story, 403: "Every Constitution of government in these
United States has assumed, as a fundamental principle, the
right of the people of the State to alter, abolish or modify the
form of its own government, according to the sovereign plea-
sure of the people. In fact, the people of each state have
gone much further, and settled a far more critical question by
deciding who shall be voters, entitled to approve and reject the
Constitution framed by a delegated body under their direc-
tion. In the adoption of no State Constitution has the assent
been asked of any but the qualified voters; and women and
minors, and other persons not recognized as voters by exist-
ing laws, have been studiously excluded. And yet the Con-
stitution has been deemed entirely obligatory upon them, as
well as upon the minority who voted against it. From this
it will be seen how little even in the most free of republican
governments, any abstract right of suffrage, or any original
or indefeasible privilege has been recognized in practice.
What may best promote the public weal, and secure the pub-
lic liberty and advance the public prosperity in one age or
nation, may totally fail of similar results under local, phy-
sical or moral predicaments essentially different."

"In no two of the State Constitutions will it be found that