66 the attention of Congress before the approach- They are organized and armed. They ef ing recess, I have not time to sufficiently fect their objects by personal violence, often examine the accompanying report to enable extending to murder. They terrify witnesses. me to suggest definite legislative action to They control juries in the State courts, and insure the support which may be necessary in sometimes in the courts of the United States. order to give a thorough trial to a policy long Systematic perjury is one of the means by needed. which prosecutions of the members are defeated. From information given by officers of the State and of the United States and by credible private citizens, I am justified in affirming that the instances of criminal violence perpetrated by these combinations within the last twelve months in the above-named counties could be reckoned by thousands." I ask for all the strength which Congress can give me to enable me to carry out the reforms in the civil service recommended by the commissioners, and adopted, to take effect, as before stated, on January 1, 1872. The law which provides for the convening of a commission to devise rules and regulations for reforming the civil service authorizes, I received information of a similar import I think, the permanent organization of a pri- from various other sources, among which were mary board, under whose general direction all the joint select Committee of Congress upon examinations of applicants for public office Southern Outrages, the officers of the State, shall be conducted. There is no appropri- the military officers of the United States on ation to continue such a board beyond the duty in South Carolina, the United States termination of its present labors. I therefore attorney and marshal, and other civil officers recommend that a proper appropriation be made to continue the services of the present board for another year, and in view of the fact that three members of the board hold positions in the public service which precludes them from receiving extra compensation under existing laws, that they be authorized to receive a fair compensation for extra services rendered by them in the performance of this duty. U. S. GRANT. of the Government, repentant and abjuring members of those unlawful organizations, persons specially employed by the Department of Justice to detect crimes against the United States, and from other credible persons. Most, if not all, of this information, except what I derived from the Attorney General, came to me orally, and was to the effect that said counties were under the sway of powerful combinations, properly known as "Ku Klux Klans," the objects of which were, by force On Lawlessness in South Carolina, April and terror, to prevent all political action not 19, 1872. To the House of Representatives : in accord with the views of the members, to deprive colored citizens of the right to bear arms, and of the right to a free ballot; to suppress schools in which colored children were taught, and to reduce the colored people to a these combinations were organized and armed, condition closely akin to that of slavery; that and had rendered the local laws ineffectual to protect the classes whom they desired to oppress; that they had perpetrated many murders, and hundreds of crimes of minor degree, all of which were unpunished; and that witnesses could not safely testify against them unless the more active members were placed under restraint. U. S. GRANT. addressed me a communication from South Carolina, in which he stated that in the counties of Spartanburg, York, Chester, Union, Laurens, Newberry, Fairfield, Lancaster, and On Treatment of Immigrants, May 14, 1872. Chesterfield there were combinations for the purpose of preventing the free political action To the Senate and House of Representatives of citizens who were friendly to the Constitution and the Government of the United States, and of depriving the emancipated classes of the equal protection of the laws. "These combinations embrace at least two thirds of the active white men of those counties, and have the sympathy and countenance of a majority of the other third. They are connected with similar combinations in other counties and States, and no doubt are part of a grand system of criminal associations pervading most of the southern States. The members are bound to obedience and secrecy by oaths which they are taught to regard as of higher obligation than the lawful oaths taken before civil magistrates. of the United States: In my message to Congress at the beginning of its present session, allusion was made to the hardships and privations inflicted upon poor immigrants on shipboard and upon arrival on our shores; and a suggestion was made favoring national legislation for the purpose of effecting a radical cure of the evil. Promise was made that a special message on this subject would be presented during the present session should information be received which would warrant it. I now transmit to the two Houses of Congress all that has been officially received since that time bearing upon the subject, and recommend that such legisla and being unable to give it my approval, return the same to the Senate, the House in which it originated, without my signature. tion be had as will secure, first, such room and accommodations on shipboard as are necessary for health and comfort, and such privacy and protection as not to compel immi- The bill appropriates the sum of $25,000 to grants to be the unwilling witnesses to so much compensate Dr. J. Milton Best for the destrucvice and misery; and, second, legislation to tion of his dwelling-house and its contents by protect them upon their arrival at our sea-order of the commanding officer of the United ports from the knaves who are ever ready to States military forces at Paducah, Kentucky, despoil them of the little all which they are on the 26th day of March, 1864. It appears able to bring with them. Such legislation will that this house was one of a considerable numbe in the interests of humanity, and seem to ber destroyed for the purpose of giving open be fully justifiable. The immigrant is not a range to the guns of a United States fort. On citizen of any State or Territory upon his the day preceding the destruction the houses arrival, but comes here to become a citizen of had been used as a cover for rebel troops a great republic, free to change his residence at attacking the fort, and apprehending a rewill, to enjoy the blessing of a protecting Gov-newal of the attack, the commanding officer ernment, where all are equal before the law, and to add to the national wealth by his industry. caused the destruction of the houses. This, then, is a claim for compensation on account of the ravages of war. It cannot be denied that the payment of this claim would invite the presentation of demands for very large sums of money; and such is the supposed magnitude of the claims that may be made against the Government for necessary and unavoidable destruction of property by the Army that I deem it proper to return this bill for reconsideration. On his arrival he does not know States or corporations, but confides implicitly in the protecting arms of the great, free country of which he has heard so much before leaving his native land. It is a source of serious dis appointment and discouragement to those who start with means sufficient to support them comfortably until they can choose a residence and begin employment for a comfortable sup- It is a general principle of both international port to find themselves subject to ill-treatment and municipal law that all property is held and every discomfort on their passage here, subject not only to be taken by the Governand at the end of their journey seized upon by ment for public uses, in which case under the professed friends, claiming legal right to take Constitution of the United States the owner is charge of them for their protection, who do entitled to just compensation, but also subject not leave them until all their resources are ex- to be temporarily occupied, or even actually hausted, when they are abandoned in a strange destroyed in times of great public danger, and land, surrounded by strangers, without em- when the public safety demands it, and in this ployment and ignorant of the means of secur- latter case Governments do not admit a legal ing it. Under the present system this is the obligation on their part to compensate the fate of thousands annually, the exposures on owner. The temporary occupation of, injuries shipboard and the treatment on landing driv- to, and destruction of property caused by ing thousands to lives of vice and shame actual and necessary military operations, is who, with proper humane treatment, might generally considered to fall within the lastbecome useful and respectable members of mentioned principle. If a Government makes society. compensation under such circumstances, it is a matter of bounty rather than of strict legal right. I do not advise national legislation in affairs that should be regulated by the States, but I see no subject more national in its character than provision for the safety and welfare of the thousands who leave foreign lands to become citizens of this Republic. When their residence is chosen they may then look to the laws of their locality for protection and guidance. The mass of immigrants arriving upon our shores, coming as they do on vessels under foreign flags, makes treaties with the nations furnishing these immigrants necessary for their complete protection. For more than two years efforts have been made, on our part, to secure such treaties, and there is now reasonable ground to hope for success. U.S. GRANT. If it be deemed proper to make compensation for such losses, I suggest for the consideration of Congress whether it would not be better, by general legislation, to provide some means for the ascertainment of the damage in all similar cases, and thus save to claimants the expense, inconvenience, and delay of attendance upon Congress, and, at the same time, save the Government from the danger of having imposed upon it fictitious or exagger ated claims supported wholly by ex parte proof. If the claimant in this case ought to be paid, so ought all others similarly situated, and that there are many such cannot be doubted. Besides, there are strong reasons for believing that the amount of damage in this case has been greatly over estimated. If this be true, Veto Message on J. Milton Best's Claim it furnishes an illustration of the danger of Bill, June 1, 1872. To the Senate of the United States: I have examined the bill (S. No. 105) entitled "An act for the relief of J. Milton Best," trusting entirely to ex parte testimony in such A like bill for the relief of Thomas B. Wallace, of Lexington, Missouri, was also vetoed a day or two later. VI. POLITICAL VOTES IN THIRD SESSION OF FORTYFIRST CONGRESS. On Appointing_Commissioners to San (penter, Chandler, Cole, Conkling. Corbett, Cragin, Domingo. IN SENATE. 1870, December 21-This resolution passed the Senate: JOINT RESOLUTION authorizing the appointment of commissioners in relation to the Republic of Dominica. Edmunds, Flanagan, Hamilton of Texas, Hamlin, NAYS-Messrs. Casserly, McCreery, Morrill of IN HOUSE. 1871, January 10-Mr. AMBLER submitted the following addition: "Provided, That nothing in these resolutions contained shall be held, understood, or construed as committing Congress to the policy of annexing the territory of said republic of Dominica." Which was agreed to-yeas 108, nays 76: Resolved, &c., That the President of the United States be authorized to appoint three commissioners, and also a secretary, the latter to be versed in the English and Spanish languages, to proceed to the island of San Domingo and to inquire into, ascertain, and report the political state and condition of the republic of Dominica, the desire and disposition of the people of the said republic to become annexed to, and to form part of, the people of the United YEAS-Messrs. Adams, Ambler, Archer, Asper, States; the physical, mental, and moral con. Axtell, Barnum, Beaman, Beatty, Beck, Biggs, dition of the said people, and their general Bird, Booker, Boyd, G. M. Brooks, J. Brooks, Burchcondition as to material wealth and industrial ard, Burr, Calkin, Coburn, Conger, Conner, Cook, capacity; the resources of the country; its Cox, Crebs, Dawes, Dickey, Dickinson, Dox, Duke, Ela, Eldredge, Farnsworth, Ferriss, Finkelnburg, mineral and agricultural products; the pro- Fox, Garfield, Getz, Gibson, Griswold, Haight, Halducts of its waters and forests; the general deman, Hale, Hamill, Hawkins, Hawley, Hay, character of the soil; the extent and propor- sey, Kerr, Lewis, Manning, Marshall, Mayham, MeHoar, Holman, Hooper, Johnson, Judd, Julian, Keltion thereof capable of cultivation; the cli- Cormick, McCrary, Morgan, Morrell, Morrissey, mate and health of the country; its bays, Mungen, Niblack, Palmer, Peters, Pomeroy, Potter, harbors, and rivers; its general meteoro-ker, Shanks, L. A. Sheldon, Sherrod, Shober, Slocum, Randall, Reeves, Rice, Rogers, Sargent, Schumalogical character, and the existence and fre- J. A. Smith, J. S. Smith, Starkweather. A. F. Stequency of remarkable meteorological phenom- vens, Stone, Strong, Swann, Sweeney, Tanner, Tillena; the debt of the Government and its obli- man, W. Townsend, Trimble, Tyner, Upson, Van Auken, Van Trump, Voorhees, Washburn, Welker, gations, whether funded and ascertained and Wells, Wheeler, Willard, Williams, E. M. Wilson, admitted, or unadjusted and under discussion; J. T. Wilson, Winchester, Wolf, Wood-108. treaties or engagements with other Powers; Bailey, Banks, Barry, Benjamin, Bennett, Bingham, NAYS-Messrs. Armstrong, Arnell, Atwood, Ayer, extent of boundaries and territory-what pro Bowen, Buck, Buffinton, Burdett, B. F. Butler, R. portion is covered by grants or concessions, R. Butler, Churchill, W. T. Clark, A. Cobb, C. L. and generally what concessions or franchises Cobb, Degener, Donley, Duval, Fisher, Fitch, Gilfillan, Hamilton, Harris, Heflin, Hoge, Jenckes, A. have been granted; the terms and conditions H. Jones, Kelley, Kellogg, Ketcham, Knapp, Laflin, on which the Dominican Government may Lawrence, Loughridge, Maynard, McCarthy, Mcdesire to be annexed to and become part of Grew, McKee, McKenzie, Mercur, J. H. Moore, W. Moore, Morphis, Myers, Negley, O'Neill, Orth, the United States as one of the Territories Packard, H. E. Paine, Peck, Perce, Platt, Poland, thereof; such other information with respect Porter, Prosser, Rainey, Sawyer, Scofield, P. Shelto the said Government, or its territories, as Taylor, Twichell, Van Horn, Van Wyck, Wallace, don, W. J. Smith, Stevenson, Stokes, Stoughton, to the said commissioners shall seem desirable Whitmore, Winans, Witcher-76. or important with reference to the future incorporation of the said Dominican republic into the United States as one of its Territories. SEC. 2. That the said commissioners shall, as soon as conveniently may be, report to the President of the United States, who shall lay their report before Congress. SEC. 3. That the said commissioners shall serve without compensation except the pay. ment of expenses, and the compensation of the secretary shall be determined by the Secretary of State, with the approval of the President. Yeas 32, nays 9: YEAS-Messrs. Abbott, Ames, Brownlow, Car The resolution then passed-yeas 122, nays 63. The negative vote was exclusively Dem ocratic, except Messrs. Beatty, Boyd, Finkelnburg, Hoar, Peters, and Willard. affirmative vote was exclusively Republican. IN SENATE. The 1871, January 11-Various amendments were proposed and rejected, when the House amendment was agreed to-yeas 57, nays none. [For President Grant's Message transmitting the report of the commissioners appointed under this act, see chapter V:] Modification of the Test-Oath. IN SENATE. 1870, April 22-The following bill passed without a division: A BILL prescribing an oath of office to be taken by persons who participated in the late rebellion but who were not disqualified from holding office by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Be it enacted, &c., That when any person, who is not rendered ineligible to office by the provisions of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution, shall be elected or appointed to any office of honor or trust under the Government of the United States, and shall not be able on account of his participation in the late rebellion to take the oath prescribed in the act of Congress approved July 2, 1862, said person shall, in lieu of said oath, before entering upon the duties of said office, take and subscribe the oath prescribed in an act of Congress entitled "An act prescribing an oath of office to be taken by persons from whom legal disabilities shall have been removed,' approved July 11, 1868. IN HOUSE. 1871, February 1-The bill passed-yeas 118, nays 90: to the tenure of civil offices, passed March 2, 1867, and April 5, 1869; which passed finallyyeas 159, nays 25: YEAS-Messrs. Allison, Armstrong, Asper, Atwood, Axtell, Ayer, Bailey, Banks, Barry, Beaman, Beck, Bingham, Bird, A. Blair, Boles, Bowen, Boyd, G. M. Brooks, J. Brooks, Buckley, Buffington, Burchard, Burdett, Burr, B. F. Butler, R. R. Butler, Calkin, Cobb, Cook, Conger, Cowles, Cox, Crebs, Cullom, Churchill, W. T. Clark, S. Clarke, A. Cobb, C. L. Darrall, Dawes, Dickinson, J. Dixon, N. F. Dixon, Dockery, Donley, Dox, Duke, Duval, Eldredge, Ferry, Fisher, Fitch, Fox, Garfield, Getz, Gibson, Gilfillan, Haldeman, Hale, Hamill, Hamilton, Harris, Hawkins, Hay, Heflin, Hoar, Holmes, Hooper, Ingersoll, Johnson, A. H. Jones, T. L. Jones, Julian, Kelley, Kellogg, Kelsey, Ketcham, Knapp, Knott, Lawrence, Logan, Loughridge, Manning, Mayham, McCormick, McCrary, McGrew, McKee, McKenzie, Morphis, Morrell, Morrill, Morrissey, Mungen, L. McNeely, J. H. Moore, W. Moore, Morey, Morgan, Myers, Negley, Niblack, O'Neill, Orth, Packard, Packer, H. E. Paine, Palmer, Peck, Peters, Platt, Pomeroy, Porter, Potter, Prosser, Reeves, J. M. Rice, Roots, Sargent, Sawyer, Scofield, L. A. Sheldon, P. Sheldon, Shober, Slocum, John A. Smith, Joseph S. Smith, W. J. Smith, Starkweather, Stevenson, Stiles, Stokes, Stone, Strickland, Strong, Swann, Sypher, Tanner, Taylor, W. Townsend, Trimble, Twichell, Tyner, Upson, Van Horn, Van Trump, Voorhees Wallace, C. C. Washburn, W. B. Washburn, Welker' Wells, Williams, E. M. Wilson, J. T. Wilson, Winchester, Witcher, Wolf, Wood-159. NAYS-Messrs. Ambler, Arnell, Beatty, Benjamin, Benton, Coburn, Degener, Farnsworth, Ferriss, Finkelnburg, Hawley, Jenckes, Laflin, Lynch, Maynard, Mercer, E. H. Moore, Poland, Shanks, W. C. Smith, Stevens, Stoughton, Taffe, Tillman, Willard-25. IN SENATE. 1871, February 18-The bill was indefinitely postponed, without a division. Pherson's History of Reconstruction, pages [For other votes on this subject, see Mc173-178, 397, 413-415.] road Company. The following are the principal provisions of this bill, approved March 3, 1871: YEAS-Messrs. Adams, Archer, Asper, Axtell, Ayer, Witcher, Wood, Woodward, Young-118. [For President Grant's Message on this bill, see chapter V. Bill to Repeal the Tenure-of-Office Act. 1870, December 12-Mr. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER introduced a bill to repeal the acts relating Colorado, at or near the southeastern boundary of the State of California; thence by the most direct and eligible route to San Diego, California, to ship's channel, in the bay of San Diego, in the State of California, pursuing in the location thereof, as near as may be, the thirty-second parallel of north latitude, and is vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this act. It shall have power to purchase the stock, land grants, franchises, and appurtenances of, and consolidate on such terms as may be agreed upon between the parties, with any railroad company or companies heretofore term "ship's channel," as used in this bill, chartered by congressional, State, or territorial shall not be construed as conveying any authority, on the route prescribed in the first section of this act; but no such consolidation shall be with any competing through line of railroads to the Pacific ocean. It shall have power to purchase lands, or to accept donations, or grant of lands, or other property, from States or individuals. The right of way through the public lands is granted to the said company for the construction of the said railroad and telegraph line, and the right is given to take, from the public lands adjacent to the line of said road, earth, stone, timber, and other materials for the construction thereof. Said right of way is granted to said company to the extent of two hundred feet in width on each side of said railroad where it may pass over the public lands; and there is also hereby granted to said company grounds for stations, buildings, workshops, wharves, switches, side-tracks, turn-tables, water-stations, and such other structures as may be necessary for said railroad, not exceeding forty acres of land at any one point. greater right to said company to the waterfront of San Diego bay than it may acquire by gift, grant, purchase, or otherwise, except the right of way, as herein granted; and provided further, that all such lands so granted by this section to said company, which shall not be sold, or otherwise disposed of, as provided in this act, within three years after the completion of the entire road, shall be subject to settlement and preemption like other lands, at a price to be fixed by and paid to said company, not exceeding an average of $2 50 per acre for all the lands herein granted. The New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Vicksburg Railroad Company, chartered by the State of Louisiana, shall have the right to connect by the most eligible route to be selected by said company with the said Texas Pacific railroad at its eastern terminus, and shall have the right of way through the public land to the same extent granted hereby to the said Texos Pacific Railroad Company; and in aid of its construction from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, thence by the way of Alexandria, in said State, to connect with the said Texas Pacific Railroad Company at its eastern terminus, there is hereby granted to said company, its successors and assigns, the same number of alternate sections of public lands per mile, in the State of Louisiana, as are by this act granted in the State of California to said Texas Pacific Railroad Company; and said lands shall be withdrawn from market, selected, and patents issued therefor, and opened for settlement and preemption, upon the same terms and in the same manner and time as is provided for and required from said Texas Pacific Railroad Company within said State of California; provided that said company shall complete the whole of said road within five years from the passage of this act. For the purpose of aiding in the construction of the railroad and telegraph line herein provided for, there is granted to the said Texas Pacific Railroad Company, its successors and assigns, every alternate section of public land, not mineral, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of twenty alternate sections per mile, on each side of said railroad line, as such line may be adopted by said company, through the Territories of the United States, and ten alternate sections of land per mile on each side of said railroad in California, where the same shall not have been sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of by the United States, and to which a preemption or homestead claim may not have attached at the time the line of said road is definitely fixed. In case any of said lands shall have been sold, reserved, oc That, for the purpose of connecting the cupied, or preempted, or otherwise disposed Texas Pacific railroad with the city of San of, other lands shall be selected in lieu thereof, Francisco, the Southern Pacific Railroad Comby said company, under the direction of the pany of California is hereby authorized (subSecretary of the Interior, in alternate sections, ject to the laws of California) to construct a and designated by odd numbers, not more than line of railroad from a point at or near Tekaten miles beyond the limits of said alternate chapa Pass, by way of Los Angeles, to the sections first above named, and not including Texas Pacific railroad at or near the Colorado the reserved numbers. If, in the too near river, with the same rights, grants, and priviapproach of the said railroad line to the bound- leges, and subject to the same limitations, reary of Mexico, the number of sections of land strictions, and conditions as were granted to to which the company is entitled cannot said Southern Pacific Railroad Company_of be selected immediately on the line of said California, by the act of July 27, 1866: Prorailroad, or in lieu of mineral lands excluded vided, however, That this section shall in no from this grant, a like quantity of unoccupied way affect or impair the rights, present or and unappropriated agricultural lands, in odd-prospective, of the Atlantic and Pacific Railnumbered sections nearest the line of said road Company, or any other railroad company. railroad may be selected as above provided; and the word "mineral," where it occurs in this act, shall not be held to include iron or coal; provided, however, that no public lands are hereby granted within the State of California further than twenty miles on each side of said road, except to make up deficiencies as aforesaid, and then not to exceed twenty miles from the lands originally granted. The IN HOUSE. 1871, March 3-The bill passed the Houseyeas 125, nays 64: YEAS-Messrs. Allison, Ames, Archer, Atwood, Axtell, Ayer, Banks, Beaman, Beck, Bennett, Brooks, Buck, Buckley, Burdett, B. F. Butler, R. Bethune, A. Blair, Boles, Booker, Bowen, G. M. R. Butler, Calkin, Cessna, Churchhill, W. T. |