d,
although not represented in Congress. If it be true that the
people of the so-called Confederate States have no right to
throw off the authority of the United States, it is equally
true that they are bound at all times to share the burdens
of Government. They can not, either legally or equitably,
refuse to bear their just proportion of these burdens by
voluntarily abdicating their rights and privileges as States
of the Union, and refusing to be represented in the councils
of the nation, much less by rebellion against national
authority and levying war. To hold that by so doing they
could escape taxation, would be to offer a premium for
insurrection--to reward instead of punishing treason."

Upon the important subject of representation, which had occupied much
of the attention of the committee and much of the time of Congress,
the report held the following words:

"The increase of representation, necessarily resulting from
the abolition of slavery, was considered the most important
element in the questions arising out of the changed
condition of affairs, and the necessity for some fundamental
action in this regard seemed imperative. It appeared to your
committee that the rights of these persons, by whom the
basis of representation had been thus increased, should be
recognized by the General Government. While slaves they were
not considered as having any rights, civil or political. It
did not seem just or proper that all the political
advantages derived from their becoming free should be
confined to their former masters, who had fought against the
Union, and withheld from themselves, who had always been
loyal. Slavery, by building up a ruling and dominant class,
had produced a spirit of oligarchy adverse to republican
institutions, which finally inaugurated civil war. The
tendency of continuing the domination of such a class, by
leaving it in the exclusive possession of political power,
would be to encourage the same spirit and lead to a similar
result. Doubts were entertained whether Congress had power,
even under the amended Constitution, to prescribe the
qualifications of voters in a State, or could act directly
on the subject. It was doubtful in the opinion of your
committee whether the States would consent to surrender a
power