Moreover, a concession of the elective franchise to the freedmen by act of the President of the United States must have been extended to all colored men, wherever found, and so must have established a change of suffrage in the Northern, Middle, and Western States, not less than in the Southern and Southwestern.
He argues that extending voting rights to freedmen would necessitate a broader change in suffrage across all states.
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No power exists in the Constitution authorizing the joint resolution or the supposed law--the only difference being that one would be more palpably unconstitutional and revolutionary than the other.
The danger of a defeat of the popular choice in an election by the House of Representatives is no greater than in an election made nominally by the people themselves.
The danger of a defeat of the people's choice in an election by the House of Representatives remains unprovided for in the Constitution.
Feeling constrained to withhold my consent, I herewith return the resolution to the Senate, in which House it originated, with a brief statement of the reasons which have induced my action.
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