NAYS—Messrs. Boyer, Brooks, Chanler, Dawson, Eldridge,
Finck, Glossbrenner, Grider, Aaron Harding, Harris, Hogan,
Edwin N. Hubbell, James M. Humphrey, Kerr, Le Blond,
Marshall, McCullough, Niblack, Nicholson, Noell, Samuel J.
Randall, Ritter, Rogers, Ross, Rosseau, Shanklin,
Sitgreaves, Strouse, Taber, Taylor, Thornton, Trimble, and
Wright—33.
NOT VOTING—Messrs. Ancona, Bergen, Buckland, Culver,
Denison, Goodyear, Hulburd, Johnson, Jones, Radford, Sloan,
Voorhees, and Winfield—13.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SENATE AND THE VETO MESSAGE.
Mr. Trumbull on the amendments of the House — Mr. Guthrie exhibits feeling — Mr. Sherman's deliberate conclusion — Mr. Henderson's sovereign remedy — Mr. Trumbull on patent medicines — Mr. McDougall a white man — Mr. Reverdy Johnson on the power to pass the bill — Concurrence of the House — the Veto Message — Mr. Lane, of Kansas — His efforts for delay — Mr. Garrett Davis — Mr. Trumbull's reply to the President — The question taken — Yeas and Nays — Failure of passage.
On the 7th of February the amendments of the House to the Freedmen's
Bureau Bill were presented to the Senate, and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.
On the following day Mr. Trumbull, chairman of this committee, reported certain amendments to the amendments made by the House of Representatives. Mr. Trumbull said: "The House of Representatives have adopted a substitute for the whole bill, but it is the Senate bill verbatim, with a few exceptions, which I will endeavor to point out. The title of the bill has been changed, to begin with. It was called as it passed the Senate 'A bill to enlarge the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau.' The House has amended the title so as to make it read, 'A bill to amend an act entitled "An act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees," and for other purposes.' Of course, there is no importance in that.
"The first amendment which the House has made, and the most important one, will be found to commence in the eighth line of the first section. The House has inserted words limiting the operation of the Freedmen's Bureau to those sections of country within which the writ of habeas corpus was suspended on the 1st day of February, 1866. As the bill passed the Senate, it will be remembered that it extended to refugees and freedmen in all parts of the United States, and the President was authorized to divide the section of country containing such refugees and freedmen into districts. The House amend that so as to authorize the President to divide the section of country within which the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus was suspended on the 1st day of February, 1866, containing such refugees and freedmen, into districts. The writ of habeas corpus on the 1st day of February last was suspended in the late rebellious States, including Kentucky, and in none other. The writ of habeas corpus was restored by the President's proclamation in Maryland, in Delaware, and in Missouri, all of which have been slaveholding States.
"As the bill passed the Senate, it will be observed it only extended to refugees and freedmen in the United States, wherever they might be, and the President was authorized to divide the region of country containing such refugees and freedmen, and it had no operation except in States where there were refugees and freedmen. The House has limited it so that it will not have operation in Maryland, or Delaware, or Missouri, or any of the Northern States."
After Mr. Trumbull had stated the other and less important amendments made by the House, the Senate proceeded to consider the amendments proposed by the Judiciary Committee, the first of which was to strike out the words "within which the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus was suspended on the 1st day of February, 1866."