Gallery eBooks

They apply equally well to the bill now before
me, and I am content merely to refer to them and to reiterate my
conviction that they are sound and unanswerable.
There are some points peculiar to this bill, which I will proceed at
once to consider.
The first section purports to declare "the true intent and meaning,"
in some particulars, of the two prior acts upon this subject.
It is declared that the intent of those acts was, first, that the
existing governments in the ten "rebel States" "were not legal State
governments," and, second, "that thereafter said governments, if
continued, were to be continued subject in all respects to the military
commanders of the respective districts and to the paramount authority
of Congress."
Congress may by a declaratory act fix upon a prior act a
construction altogether at variance with its apparent meaning, and
from the time, at least, when such a construction is fixed the original
act will be construed to mean exactly what it is stated to mean by the
declaratory statute.


Pages:
529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553