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up, and on the 24th passed, the vote being 26 to 11, 19 not voting. An act of August 1, 1892, virtually reënacted the act of 1868, with the further provision that the eight hours' work should be embraced in one calendar day, and with penalties for violation of the act.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV, 77. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. On the operation of the law see Senate Exec. Doc. 72, 42d Cong., 2d Sess.; Senate Reports 417 and 418, 45th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Report 520, 46th Cong., 2d Sess. See also Senate Report 948 and House Report 1267, 52d Cong., Ist Sess.; House Report 957, 55th Cong., 2d Sess.

An Act constituting eight Hours a Day's Work for all Laborers, Workmen, and Mechanics employed by or on behalf of the Government of the United States.

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Be it enacted That eight hours shall constitute a day's work for all laborers, workmen, and mechanics now employed, or who may be hereafter employed, by or on behalf of the government of the United States; and that all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed. APPROVED, June 25, 1868.

No. 71. Oath of Office

July 11, 1868

MARCH 5, 1868, the House having under consideration a resolution for the removal of the political disabilities of R. R. Butler, a representative-elect from Tennessee, the resolution, on motion of Dawes of Massachusetts, was recommitted to the Committee on Elections with instructions to report a general bill for the removal of such disabilities. The bill was reported the same day, and on the 6th passed. Subsequent amendments in the Senate and House were unimportant, and the yeas and nays were not called for. An act of February 15, 1871, allowed those who could not take the oath prescribed by the act of July 2, 1862, and who were not rendered ineligible to office by the Fourteenth Amendment, to take the oath prescribed by this act.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV, 85. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.

An Act prescribing an Oath of Office to be taken by Persons from whom legal Disabilities shall have been removed.

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Be it enacted That whenever any person who has participated in the late rebellion, and from whom all legal disabilities arising therefrom have been removed by act of Congress by a vote of two thirds of each house, has been or shall be elected or appointed to any office or place of trust in or under the government of the United States, he shall, before entering upon the duties thereof, instead of the oath prescribed by the act of July two, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. APPROVED, July 11, 1868.

No. 72. Joint Resolution excluding Electoral

Votes of the Late Rebellious States

July 20, 1868

A JOINT resolution "excluding from the electoral college votes of States lately in rebellion which shall not have been reorganized" was introduced in the Senate, June 2, 1868, by George F. Edmunds of Vermont, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The resolution was reported on the 29th with an amendment inserting the clause beginning "nor unless such election of electors." The phraseology of the bill rather than its substance was the chief occasion of debate. The resolution passed the Senate July 10, by a vote of 29 to 5, 23 not voting. The House added the proviso as an amendment, and passed the bill on the 11th by a vote of 112 to 21, 65 not voting. The Senate, by a vote of 19 to 15, concurred. The resolution was vetoed by President Johnson July 20, and passed over the veto the same day, in the House by a vote of 134 to 36, 40 not voting, in the Senate by a vote of 45 to 8.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV, 257. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe.

A Resolution excluding from the Electoral College Votes of States lately in Rebellion, which shall not have been reorganized. Resolved. That none of the States whose inhabitants were lately in rebellion shall be entitled to representation in the electoral college for the choice of President or Vice-President of the United States, nor shall any electoral votes be received or counted from any of such States, unless at the time prescribed by law for the choice of electors the people of such States, pursuant to the acts of Congress in that behalf, shall have, since the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, adopted a constitution of State government under which a State government shall have been organized and shall be in operation, nor unless such election of electors shall have been held under the authority of such constitution and government, and such State shall have also become entitled to representation in Congress, pursuant to the acts of Congress in that behalf: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to apply to any State which was represented in Congress on the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven.

No. 73.

Rights of American Citizens in
Foreign States

July 27, 1868

IN his annual message of December 3, 1867, President Johnson called attention to the conflict between the American theory of the right of expatriation and the British theory of indefeasible citizenship, and the complications arising from the arrest of naturalized citizens of the United States in foreign countries. Papers relating to arrests of American citizens in Great Britain, particularly in connection with the efforts of the British government to suppress the Fenian movement were laid before Congress. In the House the portion of the message referred to, together with numerous resolutions and

petitions from legislatures and other bodies, and several resolutions calling for an inquiry into the rights of American citizens abroad, were referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, which submitted a report on the subject January 27, 1868. A bill to define and protect the rights of American citizens in foreign countries was reported from the committee, February 20, by Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts, and recommitted. The bill was again reported March 10, and April 20 passed, the vote being 107 to 4, 78 not voting. The Senate, by a vote of 30 to 7, struck out the clauses empowering the President in certain cases to suspend commercial intercourse with foreign States, and to arrest and detain the citizens of such States found in the United States, the provisions of the last part of section three of the act being inserted in their place. The House concurred in the Senate amendments, and July 27 the act was approved. The Republican and Democratic national platforms had already, in May and July, declared in favor of expatriation and the protection of American subjects abroad.

REFERENCES. - Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XV, 223, 224. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The text of the bill reported March 10 is in the Globe of that date; Banks's report of January 27 is House Report 13. On the general subject see Wharton, International Law Digest, II, chap. 7.

An Act concerning the rights of American Citizens in foreign States.

WHEREAS the right of expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and whereas in the recognition of this principle this government has freely received emigrants from all nations, and invested them with the rights of citizenship; and whereas it is claimed that such American citizens, with their descendents, are subjects of foreign states, owing allegiance to the governments thereof; and whereas it is necessary to the maintenance of public peace that this claim of foreign allegiance should be promptly and finally disavowed: Therefore,

Be it enacted. . ., That any declaration, instruction, opinion, order, or decision of any officers of this government which denies, restricts, impairs, or questions the right of expatriation, is hereby declared inconsistent with the fundamental principles of this government.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all naturalized citizens of the United States, while in foreign states, shall be entitled to, and shall receive from this government, the same protection of persons and property that is accorded to native-born citizens in like situations and circumstances.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That whenever it shall be made known to the President that any citizen of the United States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by or under the authority of any foreign government, it shall be the duty of the President forthwith to demand of that government the reasons for such imprisonment, and if it appears to be wrongful and in violation of the rights of American citizenship, the President shall forthwith demand the release of such citizen, and if the release so demanded is unreasonably delayed or refused, it shall be the duty of the President to use such means, not amounting to acts of war, as he may think necessary and proper to obtain or effectuate such release, and all the facts and proceedings relative thereto shall as soon as practicable be communicated by the President to Congress.

APPROVED, July 27, 1868.

No. 74.

Fourteenth Amendment to the

Constitution

July 28, 1868

VARIOUS propositions to amend the Constitution were submitted in both House and Senate during the first session of the thirty-ninth Congress. A joint resolution embodying the substance of the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment was reported in the House, April 30, 1866, by Thaddeus Stevens, from the Committee on Reconstruction, together with a bill for admission to representation of certain States ratifying the same. May 10 the resolution passed the House, the vote being 128 to 37, 18 not voting. The third section of the House resolution provided that until July 4, 1870, all persons who had voluntarily aided the rebellion should be denied the privilege of voting for

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