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An act to protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights. Whereas, it is essential to just government we recognize the equality of all men before the law, and hold that it is the duty of government in its dealings with the people to mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion, religious or political; and it being the appropriate object of legislation to enact great fundamental principles into law: Therefore, Be it enacted That all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement; subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law, and applicable alike to citizens of every race and color, regardless of any previous condition of servitude.

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SEC. 2. That any person who shall violate the foregoing section by denying to any citizen, except for reasons by law applicable to citizens of every race and color, and regardless of any previous condition of servitude, the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges in said section enumerated, or by aiding or inciting such denial, shall, for every such offense, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars to the person aggrieved thereby, to be recovered in an action of debt, with full costs; and shall also, for every such offense, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, or shall be imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than one year: Provided, That all persons may elect to sue for the penalty aforesaid or to proceed under their rights at common law and by State statutes; and having so elected to proceed in the one mode or the other, their right to proceed in the other jurisdiction shall be barred. But this proviso shall not apply to criminal proceedings, either under this act or the criminal law of any State: And provided further, That a judgment for the penalty in favor of the party aggrieved, or a judgment upon an indictment, shall be a bar to either prosecution respectively.

SEC. 3. That the district and circuit courts of the United States shall have, exclusively of the courts of the several States, cognizance of all crimes and offenses against, and violations of, the provisions of this act; and actions for the penalty given by the preceding section may be prosecuted in the territorial, district, or circuit courts of the United States wherever the defendant may be found, without regard to the other party; and the district attorneys, marshals, and deputy marshals of the United States, and commissioners appointed by the circuit and territorial courts of the United States, with powers of arresting and imprisoning or bailing offenders against the laws of the United States, are hereby specially authorized and required to institute proceedings against every person who shall violate the provisions of this act, and cause him to be arrested and imprisoned or bailed, as the case may be, for trial before such court of the United States, or territorial court, as by law has cognizance of the offense, except in respect of the right of action accruing to the person aggrieved; and such district attorneys shall cause such proceedings to be prosecuted to their termination as in other cases: Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall be construed to deny or defeat any right of civil action accruing to any person, whether by reason of this act or otherwise; and any district attorney who shall willfully fail to institute and prosecute the proceedings herein required, shall, for every such offense, forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars to the person aggrieved thereby, to be recovered by an action of debt, with full costs, and shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not less than' one thousand nor more than five thousand dollars: And provided further, That a judgment for the penalty in favor of the party aggrieved against any such district attorney, or a judgment upon an indictment against any such district attorney, shall be a bar to either prosecution respectively.

SEC. 4. That no citizen possessing all other qualifications which are or may be prescribed by law shall be disqualified for service as grand or petit juror in any court of the United States, or of any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servi

tude; and any officer or other person charged with any duty in the selection or summoning of jurors who shall exclude or fail to summon any citizen for the cause aforesaid shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not more than five thousand dollars.

SEC. 5. That all cases arising under the provisions of this act in the courts of the United States shall be reviewable by the Supreme Court of the United States, without regard to the sum in controversy, under the same provisions and regulations as are now provided by law for the review of other causes in said court. APPROVED, March 1, 1875.

No. 100.

Joint Resolution for the Issue of

Silver Coin

July 22, 1876

A JOINT resolution for the issue of silver coin without limitation as to amount was introduced in the House May 1, 1876, by Rufus S. Frost of Massachusetts. An amended bill, drawn in accordance with the suggestions of the Treasurer of the United States, was reported, May 2, by the Committee on Banking and Currency. In submitting the amended bill it was stated that fractional currency was at the time commanding a premium of from three to three and one-half per cent. The resolution passed the House June 10. The Senate on the 21st, on motion of Sherman, added the section terminating the legal tender character of the trade dollar, and passed the bill. The bill was favorably reported in the House June 28, but the House added further amendments, and the bill went to a conference committee. The report of the committee was concurred in by the House, July 13, by a vote of 129 to 76, 82 not voting, and by the Senate the next day without a division.

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REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIX, 215. ceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 44th Cong., Ist Sess., and the Cong. Record. The important discussion was over the report of the conference committee. On the trade dollar see Senate Exec. Doc. 80 and House Misc. Doc. 44, 45th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Misc. Doc. 11, 46th Cong., Ist Sess.; House Report 534, 46th Cong., 2d Sess.

Resolved

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Joint resolution for the issue of silver coin.

That the Secretary of the Treasury, under such limits and regulations as will best secure a just and fair distribu

tion of the same through the country, may issue the silver coin at any time in the Treasury to an amount not exceeding ten million dollars, in exchange for an equal amount of legal-tender notes; and the notes so received in exchange shall be kept as a special fund separate and apart from all other money in the Treasury, and be reissued only upon the retirement and destruction of a like sum of fractional currency received at the Treasury in payment of dues to the United States; and said fractional currency, when so substituted, shall be destroyed and held as part of the sinking fund, as provided in the act approved April seventeen, eighteen hundred and seventy-six.

SEC. 2. That the trade dollar shall not hereafter be a legal tender, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to limit from time to time, the coinage thereof to such an amount as he may deem sufficient to meet the export demand for the same.

SEC. 3. That in addition to the amount of subsidiary silver coin authorized by law to be issued in redemption of the fractional currency it shall be lawful to manufacture at the several mints, and issue through the Treasury and its several offices, such coin, to an amount, that, including the amount of subsidiary silver coin and of fractional currency outstanding, shall, in the aggregate, not exceed, at any time, fifty million dollars.

SEC. 4. That the silver bullion required for the purposes of this resolution shall be purchased, from time to time, at market-rate, by the Secretary of the Treasury, with any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; but no purchase of bullion shall be made under this resolution when the market-rate for the same shall be such as will not admit of the coinage and issue, as herein provided, without loss to the Treasury; and any gain or seigniorage arising from this coinage shall be accounted for and paid into the Treasury, as provided under existing laws relative to the subsidiary coinage Provided, That the amount of money at any one time invested in such silver bullion, exclusive of such resulting coin, shall not exceed two hundred thousand dollars.

APPROVED, July 22, 1876.

No. 101.

Electoral Count Act

January 29, 1877

THE result of the presidential election of 1876 turned on the counting of the electoral votes of South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon, from each of which States there were double returns. December 7, 1876, George W. McCrary of Iowa offered in the House a resolution for the appointment of a committee of five, to act with a similar committee of the Senate, with instructions to report a bill for the counting of the electoral vote. The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom the resolution was referred, reported on the 14th a substitute increasing the number of members to seven, which resolution was agreed to. A similar committee of seven was appointed by the Senate on the 18th. A committee was also appointed in the Senate to investigate the recent election, and in the House to inquire into the powers of the House in regard to counting the electoral vote. January 18 the joint committee reported a bill to regulate the electoral count. The bill passed the Senate without amendment on the 24th by a vote of 47 to 17, and the House on the 26th by a vote of 191 to 86, 14 not voting. The approval of President Grant was communicated in a special message. The count began February 1, and the result was announced in the early morning of March 2. The result of the count showed 185 votes for Hayes and Wheeler, the Republican candidates, and 184 votes for Tilden and Hendricks, the Democratic candidates. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIX, 227–229. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 44th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Record. The report of the commission is in the Record, ibid., Vol. 5, Part IV; it was also published separately. A large amount of documentary evidence was introduced in the debates. The other documentary literature is extensive. Important general references are: Stanwood, History of the Presidency, chap. 25; Johnston in Lalor's Cyclopædia, II, 50-53; Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, II, chap. 25; Cox, Three Decades, chaps. 36 and 37; Sherman, Recollections, I, chap. 28.

An act to provide for and regulate the counting of votes for President and Vice-President, and the decision of questions arising thereon, for the term commencing March fourth, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy

seven.

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Be it enacted That the Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in the hall of the House of Representatives, at the hour of one o'clock post meridian, on the first Thursday in February, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy-seven; and the

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