Confederate States," and further
directed that "all papers relating to the representation of the said
States shall be referred to the said committee without debate." Mr.
Eldridge of Wisconsin objected to the introduction of the resolution,
and was met by Mr. Stevens with a motion to suspend the rules, which
was carried by 129 _ayes_ to 35 _noes_. Mr. John L. Dawson of
Pennsylvania inquired whether it would not be in order to postpone the
resolution until after the receipt of the President's message; but the
House was in no disposition to testify respect for Mr. Johnson, and the
resolution was adopted by as large a vote as that by which it had been
received.

Mr. Niblack of Indiana offered a resolution that "pending the question
as to the admission of persons claiming to have been elected
representatives to the present Congress from the States lately in
rebellion, such persons be entitled to the privileges of the floor of
the House." This was a privilege always accorded to contestants for
seats, but Mr. Wilson of Iowa now objected; and, on motion of Mr.
Stevens, the House adjourned without even giving the courtesy of a vote
to the resolution. No action of a more decisive character could have
been taken to indicate, on the threshold of Congressional proceedings,
the hostility of the Republican party, not merely to the President's
plan of reconstruction, but to the men who, under its operation in the
South, had been chosen to represent their districts in Congress.
Against a bad principle a good one my be opposed and the contest
proceed in good temper. But his is not practicable when personal
feeling is aroused. The presence in Washington of a considerable
number of men from the South, who, when Congress adjourned in the
preceding March, were serving in the Confederate Army, and were now at
the Capital demanding seats in the Senate and House, produced a feeling
of exasperation amounting to hatred. The President's reconstruction
policy would have been much stronger if the Southern elections to
Congress had been postponed, or if the members elect had remained at
home during the discussion concerning their eligibility. The presence
of these obnoxious persons inflamed minds not commonly given to
excitement, and drove many men to act from anger who were usually
governed by reason.

In the Senate the proceedings were conducted with even more disregard
of the President than had been manifested in the House. An entire
p