d by the House of
Representatives, six only by the Senate, giving to the House portion
of the committee a majority of three. We all know that in joint
committees the members vote, not as the representatives of the two
houses, but _per capita_. The vote of a member of the committee from
the House weighs precisely the same as the vote of a member of the
committee from the Senate; so that, to all intents and purposes, if we
pass this concurrent resolution, which we can not repeal but by the
concurrence of the other house, we place the consideration of these
grave questions in the hands of a committee which we can not control,
and in which we have no equal voice.

"Under the Constitution, upon all subjects of legislation but one, the
two houses are equal and cooerdinate branches of Congress. That one
relates to their representation in the bodies, to their membership,
that which constitutes their existence, which is essential to their
life and their independence. That is confided to each house, and to
each house alone, to act for itself. It judges for itself upon the
elections, returns, and qualifications of its members. It judges, it
admits, it punishes, it expels. It can not share that responsibility
with any other department of the Government. It can no more share it
with the other house than it can share it with the Supreme Court or
with the President. It is a matter over which its jurisdiction is
exclusive of every other jurisdiction. It is a matter in which its
decisions, right or wrong, are absolute and without appeal. In my
opinion the Senate of the United States can not give to a committee
beyond its control this question of the representation in this body,
without a loss of its self-respect, its dignity, its independence;
without an abandonment of its constitutional duty and a surrender of
its constitutional powers.

"There is another provision in this resolution, as it stands, that we
shall refer every paper to the committee without debate. Yes, sir, the
Senate of the United States is to be led like a lamb to the slaughter,
bound hand and foot, shorn of its constitutional power, and gagged,
dumb; like the sheep brought to the block! Is this the condition to
which the Senator from Michigan proposes to reduce the Senate of the
United States by insisting upon such a provision as that contained in
the resolution as it comes from the House of Representatives?

"There is a still graver objection to this resolution as