Speech #710019849

The first provision is found in section 2 of Article I of the original Constitution and in sections 1 and 2 of Article XIV and Article I. section 8. of the amendments to the Constitution. Article I. section 2. among other things. says: Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union according to their respective numbers. which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons. including those bound to service for a term of years and excluding Indians not taxed. threefifths of all other persons. Article XIV provides. in section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. In other words. It defines who are citizens of the United States and of the States. and. of course. it was intended to include the negroes who had recently been freed. Section 2 follows that up by providing: Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers. counting the whole number of persons in each State. excluding Indians not taxed. I call attention to the fact that that provision comes immediately after the first one I have read. and that it does not say "Inhabitants ". it does not say "citizens." but it says "the whole number of persons in each State." Before going into the argument of that matter further I want to say that Article I. section 8. which gives the Congress full power over aliens. provides that Congress shall have power "to establish a. uniform rule of naturalization." Mr. Justice Story. in his Commentaries. sections 4 and 5. says: In construing the Constitution of the United States we are in the first instance to consider what are its nature and objects. its scope and design. as are apparent from the construction of the instrument. viewed as a whole and also viewed in its component parts. Again Judge Story says: It does not follow. either logically or grammatically. that because a word is found in one connection in the Constitution with a definite sense. therefore the same sense is to be adopted in every other connection in which it occurs. * * * And yet nothing has been more common than to subject the Constitution to this narrow and mischievous criticism. (Sec. 454.) Now let us for a moment consider whether or not the 4uestion of exclusion or nonexclusion of aliens was In the minds of the framers of the Constitution at all.