read the constitution in the English language and write his name. So that the power which I insist belongs to the United States, and I think I have shown belongs to the States, not only exists, but is actually exercised by States, at least two States of the Union, at this moment; and indeed in nearly or quite all the States there are more or less restrictions of the right to vote; and the State and the Union have absolute power to abridge the political right to vote except for three causes only, and those three causes are race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Mr.Stewart.—I hope that the Senate will not suppose that there is any constitutional question here involved. It is simply a question of regulating the suffrage in a Territory, exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Congress of the United States. There is no doubt of the power of Congress to allow women to vote in the Territories, and I hope there will not be a great deal of time spent on that matter.
Mr. Merrimon.—Why do you want to go into a remote, sparsely settled Territory to make the experiment?
Mr. Stewart.—Why not try it everywhere? Why not try it in North Carolina? Because we can not.
Mr. Merrimon.—Why not try it in this city? Mr. Stewart.—Because we have not the power to do it.
Mr. Merrimon Merrimon.—You have in the District of Columbia.
Mr. Sargent.—We tried the question of negro suffrage in Nebraska first.
Mr. Stewart.—Negro suffrage was opened in a Territory when there were less people in it than there are here, and see how that has spread. Mr. Merrimon.—My friend did not hear my question. Why not confer suffrage on the women of the District of Columbia.
Mr. Sargent.—We will the first time we get a chance.
Mr. Stewart.—The Senator from North Carolina asks, "Why not try it here?" The question has been suggested whether there is not a constitutional reason for not trying it here, and that constitutional question applies to males as well as females. The Constitution says that Congress shall have exclusive power of legislation within the District of Columbia, and it shall exercise like power over places owned by the United States with the consent of the States for arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings, making this District under the exclusive control of Congress. I think that nothing but the emergencies of the case could have justified the experiment we tried here with negro suffrage; but we did it. We now have a fair field in the West where the country is rich and inviting, as my friend from Minnesota says, a country that is able to become a State; the land fertile, the climate salubrious, and is to be occupied by the very best people, and we can try it there under the most favorable auspices.
Mr. Conkling.—May I ask a question?
Mr. Stewart.—Most certainly.
Mr. {{sc|Conkling}Conkling.—The Senator has assured us so often that he is in earnest, that I know he will be able to afford those like me who are following him, although they may be somewhat in the dark, the requisite information. Some Senator inquired of my friend why he did not try the experiment here, and he answered that Congress has power to legislate here, and therefore there is no experiment to try here. Now I know my friend does