liens and
citizens, between artificial persons, called corporations, and natural
persons, in the right to hold real estate? If it be granted that
Congress can repeal all State laws discriminating between whites and
blacks in the subjects covered by this bill, why, it may be asked, may
not Congress repeal in the same way all State laws discriminating
between the two races on the subjects of suffrage and office? If
Congress can declare by law who shall hold lands, who shall testify, who
shall have capacity to make a contract in a State, then Congress can by
law also declare who, without regard to color or race, shall have the
right to sit as a juror or as a judge, to hold any office, and, finally,
to vote "in every State and Territory of the United States." As respects
the Territories, they come within the power of Congress, for as to them
the lawmaking power is the Federal power; but as to the States no
similar provision exists vesting in Congress the power "to make rules
and regulations" for them.

The object of the second section of the bill is to afford discriminating
protection to colored persons in the full enjoyment of all the rights
secured to them by the preceding section. It declares--

That any person who, under color of any law, statute, ordinance,
regulation, or custom, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any
inhabitant of any State or Territory to the deprivation of any right
secured or protected by this act, or to different punishment, pains, or
penalties on account of such person having at any time been held in a
condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by reason
of his color or race, than is prescribed for the punishment of white
persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction
shall be punished by fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment not
exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.

This section seems to be designed to apply to some existing or future
law of a State or Territory which may conflict with the provisions of
the bill now under consideration. It provides for counteracting such
forbidden legislation by imposing fine and imprisonment upon the
legislators who may pass such conflicting laws, or upon the officers or
agents who shall put or attempt to put them into execution. It means an
official offense, not a common crime committed agai