ove the
military force, to suspend martial law, or to restore the
writ of habeas corpus, but still thought it necessary to
exercise over the people of the rebellious States his
military power and jurisdiction. This conclusion derived
greater force from the fact, undisputed, that in all those
States, except Tennessee, and, perhaps, Arkansas, the
elections which were held for State officers and members of
Congress had resulted almost universally in the defeat of
candidates who had been true to the Union, and in the
election of notorious and unpardoned rebels--men who could
not take the prescribed oath of office, and who made no
secret of their hostility to the Government and the people
of the United States.

"Under these circumstances, any thing like hasty action
would have been as dangerous as it was obviously unwise. It
appeared to your committee that but one course remained,
viz.: to investigate carefully and thoroughly the state of
feeling and opinion existing among the people of these
States; to ascertain how far their pretended loyalty could
be relied upon, and thence to infer whether it would be safe
to admit them at once to a full participation in the
Government they had fought for four years to destroy. It was
an equally important inquiry whether their restoration to
their former relations with the United States should only be
granted upon certain conditions and guarantees, which would
effectually secure the nation against a recurrence of evils
so disastrous as those from which it had escaped at so
enormous a sacrifice."

The theory of the President, and those who demanded the immediate
admission of Southern Senators and Representatives, was stated in the
report to amount to this:

"That, inasmuch as the lately insurgent States had no legal
right to separate themselves from the Union, they still
retain their positions as States, and, consequently, the
people thereof have a right to immediate representation in
Congress, without the imposition of any conditions whatever;
and, further, that until such admission, Congress has no
right to tax them for the support of the Government. It has
even been contended that, until such admission, all
legislation affecting their interests is, if not
unconstitutional, at least unjustifia