d denied the constitutional
power of the General Government to extend the elective franchise to
negroes, but he was equally decided in the assertion of the right of
every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This was his
language:

"'But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of the
war, it is not competent for the General Government to
extend the elective franchise in the several States, it is
equally clear that good faith requires the security of the
freedmen in their liberty and their property.'

"There were some members of Congress who expressed the opinion that in
the reoerganization of the rebellious States the right of suffrage
should be extended to the colored man, though this was not the
prevailing sentiment of Congress. All were anxious for a
reoerganization of the rebellious States, and their admission to full
participation in the Federal Government as soon as these relations
could be restored with safety to all concerned. Feeling the importance
of harmonious action between the different departments of the
Government, and an anxious desire to sustain the President, for whom I
had always entertained the highest respect, I had frequent interviews
with him during the early part of the session. Without mentioning any
thing said by him, I may with propriety state that, acting from the
considerations I have stated, and believing that the passage of a law
by Congress, securing equality in civil rights to freedmen and all
other inhabitants of the United States, when denied by State
authorities, would do much to relieve anxiety in the North, to induce
the Southern States to secure these rights by their own action, and
thereby remove many of the obstacles to an early reconstruction, I
prepared the bill substantially as it is now returned with the
President's objections. After the bill was introduced and printed, a
copy was furnished him, and at a subsequent period, when it was
reported that he was hesitating about signing the Freedmen's Bureau
Bill, he was informed of the condition of the Civil Rights Bill then
pending in the House, and a hope expressed that if he had objections
to any of its provisions he would make them known to its friends, that
they might be remedied, if not destructive of the measure; that there
was believed to be no disposition on the part of Congress, and
certainly none on my part, to have bills presented to him which he
could not approve. He n