opposed, he thus declared those of which he was in favor: "Mr. Speaker, having stated thus frankly what I will not support, it may be asked me what affirmative action do you propose shall be taken?' This is a most important inquiry. But, sir, aware of all the responsibilities which devolve upon me as a Representative, of all the perils which environ my country, asking for that wisdom of duty which cometh down freely from above, and hoping for that fortitude which renders man 'equal to either fortune,' I have no difficulty in answering the inquiry. I propose that the Constitution of the Republic shall remain forever intact, the same invulnerable, immortal ægis of human rights, forged upon the stithies of our revolutionary demi-gods. I propose that the Union of the States ordained by our fathers, and upon which their and our common Father has smiled glory and prosperity, shall, at all hazard and by every power of the Government, be maintained. I propose that the just laws of my country shall be enforced everywhere throughout her borders, and by every constitutional means; and that such additional legislation shall be immediately had as will enable such object to be accomplished. I propose that the property of the Republic which has been unlawfully seized shall be repossessed; that the civil and military officers of the Government, who for the discharge of their duties have been imprisoned or beleaguered, shall immediately be succored; and that the honor of our flag, which has been tarnished, shall be vindicated before the world. I propose that the will of the people of the Union, mighty, majestic, and constitutionally expressed at the national election, shall be respected and obeyed. And above all, sir, do I propose that liberty shall not again be beaten down upon the threshold and beside the altars of this her temple. That the free principles which underlie the whole structure of the Republic, for which constitutions were ordained, laws enacted, and the will of the people expressed, shall not again be compelled to pass under the yoke of slavery."

Mr. Duell, of New York, also said: "In my judgment, the present is no time for compromise. Until the strength of the Government be tested, it is not right, or legal, or politic to consider concessions. It is only when traitors have been reduced to obedience, or the Government has proved impotent, that we should be constructing articles of agreement. A compromise at this time would be the humiliation of one section, loyal to the Union and obedient . to the laws made under the Constitution, to another section in array against the Government of the Union, and defying law, order, justice, and right. My remedy, then, will be found in executing the Constitution as it is, and enforcing the laws of the General Government. I have no sympathy with any man who repudiates the Constitution of our common country, whether he resides North or South.

By that Constitution I abide, both in its letter and in its spirit. Standing firmly upon the principles of freedom and the Constitution we shall have no cause for self-reproach, even if civil war should follow."

Mr. Reynolds, of New York, said: “We are asked to make new laws. I answer, there are too many already. Let the present laws be enforced. Amend the Constitution? Let the people do it in the regular way, whenever they think it desirable. I shall not object. No, sir; obey the Constitution, and administer the laws as they are, and all will be well. Stand by the Union of our fathers. Rally under the glorious folds of the Stars and Stripes, AND THE COUNTRY WILL BE SAVED. And for the rest, let us trust in God, and keep our powder dry.'"

In the House the Committee on Military Affairs reported a supplementary bill which proposed to amend the act of 1798, that provides for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, to suppress insurrection and repel invasion.

Mr. Stanton, of Ohio, thus explained the supplementary bill: "In my judgment, that law covers the case of an insurrection against the authority of the United States, and authorizes the calling out of the militia for the purpose of putting down an insurrection against the authority of the United States. But I find that the late Attorney-General, Mr. Black, has expressed a different opinion to the President of the United States of this section of the law, and holds that it only authorizes the President to call out the militia to aid the officer of the court-the marshal-in the execution of process directed to him, and to overcome coinbinations against the execution of some particular law, and does not authorize the calling out of the militia for the purpose of putting down a general insurrection against the authority of the United States. In my judgment, the law was intended to go that far; but in order to remove doubt and ambiguity, and to avoid any obscurity, the Committee on Military Affairs deemed it their duty to report this bill."

Mr. Sickles, of New York, inquired: "Do I understand that it is one of the premises upon which this bill is founded that there is a general insurrection against the authority of the United States?

Mr. Stanton: "Yes, sir."

Mr. Sickles: "Then the gentleman differs broadly with the President elect, who says that there is no danger, no trouble, and treats the idea of apprehension with ridicule. There is a great discrepancy here.

"I will state what I understand to be the present condition of things, and what I understand to be the necessity that exists for the pas sage of such a measure as this. The incoming Administration does not desire to be under the necessity of running counter to the opinion of the Attorney-General under the present Administration, and of subjecting itself to the charge of usurpation, by exercising powers the

existence of which is denied by that officer. It therefore desires, by remedial legislation, to cure that defect and omission. We have before us six seceding States organized into a separate hostile confederacy. It is said that it is about to have, in thirty days, an army of fifty regiments, backed up by a fund of $14,000,000."

Mr. Craige, of North Carolina, said: "I desire to correct the gentleman. The Southern Confederacy is not hostile. 'Its Government desires to be friendly.”

Mr. Stanton: "So I understand. It regards the right of secession as a constitutional right, and on that idea claims to be friendly; but, not recognizing that theory, we cannot so regard it.

"Mr. Speaker, we have the important ports of Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans, in which the authorities of the United States are superseded, where its laws cannot be executed, and where no duties can be collected, unless some mode be adopted, aside from the ordinary mode of collection. One of two things has to be done either this right of secession has to be recognized, the execution of the laws of the United States in these ports to be abandoned, or they must be treated as free ports, and.all the foreign commerce of the country diverted from the ports of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore; or else the duties on imported goods must be collected at those ports, or they may be suspended as ports of entry, and their commerce made illegitimate.

"One of these two things must be done. Now, I take it there are very few gentlemen that are prepared to say that the authority of the United States over those ports shall be surrendered and abandoned; that the whole foreign commerce of the country shall change its course and go to those ports for the purpose of escaping duties. That, I take it, there are very few gentlemen prepared to recognize as a state of things which is to be allowed to continue.

"Now, Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that it is the expectation of the incoming Administration either to collect duties at those ports by vessels of war stationed off their harbors, or, by some measure to be authorized at this session of Congress, to close their ports, and not regard them any longer as ports of entry. One of these things has to be, and inevitably must be done. Now, if the Southern Confederacy should treat that as a hostile act, an act of war, and should organize an armed force to make an aggressive war upon the United States, this Government must be placed in a position to protect and defend itself. I do not myself suppose that even the possession of the forts in the Southern States will be regarded as a matter of sufficient practical importance to imperil the peace of the country by attempting their recapture, until all hopes of a peaceable adjustment are abandoned. But if there should be a hostile attack made on vessels of the United States stationed off Southern ports, if that mode of executing the laws should be resisted by march

ing Southern armies into Northern States, or by seeking the capture of the capital of the Republic, then the Administration must be placed in a position to protect and defend itself against aggression."

Mr. Howard, of Michigan, who supported the bill, said: "I suppose the idea of those gentlemen who attack the bill so violently is that, in some way, secession is a peaceful or constitutional remedy; or, in other words, that it has a legal existence. Could any thing be more absurd? Or, if they themselves admit that this is revolution, how can they resist the suppression of revolution? Mr. Speaker, we need but a moment to show that it has no legal foundation whatever; for an ordinance of secession can by no possibility rise higher, in a legal point of view, than the State constitution. If a secession convention be legal, or if it be regular, if it observe all formality, if it receive the unanimous indorsement of the people of the seceding States, then it rises just as high, and no higher, than any other organic act of the State. It is just as high as a State constitution, and no higher. And yet the Constitution makes the Constitution itself, and the laws of the Union, and the treaties made by the authorities of the United States the supreme law of the land, any thing in any State constitution, or, if you please, any thing in your ordinances of secession, to the contrary notwithstanding. It is absurd. It needs only to be stated, to show that it can have no legal foundation whatever. It is, therefore, a revolution-no more and no less."

Mr. Pryor, of Virginia, replied: "In a word, sir, it is a measure of coercion-a_measure under the authority of which the President may carry on a campaign of vigorous hostilities against a State-a measure, in truth, of civil and fraternal war.

"Such, sir, are the object and effect of this bill; but it is distinguished by details of a still more monstrous character. It submits to the fallible and capricious judgment of a single individual-the President of the United Statesto determine when occasion shall require the employment of force against a State, and so invests him with the arbitrary power of initiating civil war. To carry out the suggestion of his understanding, (it may be the impulse of his resentment or the dictate of his ambition,) the bill authorizes the President to grasp all the naval and military resources of the country

the militia as well as the regular servicemillions of men-and to hurl them in fatal at. tack upon a member of this Confederacy."

Mr. Curtis, of Iowa, continued the debate, and in reply to the previous speaker said: "To say that we have not the constitutional power to protect ourselves is an absurdity; and to say that we are going to revolutionize ourselves, is to say that we are going to commit suicide, and conclude our career as a felo de se. Can it be possible, does anybody suppose, that the Federal Government designs to create revolution; that it designs to promote civil war; that it de

signs to destroy itself? Does anybody really suppose a nation would be guilty of the folly of raising soldiers for the purpose of desolating and destroying its own fair proportions? Is there any President, any prince, any potentate, that would, with purpose and power, seek to destroy his own power? And will our Government, our republican Government, disregard this fundamental principle of self-preservation?" On the motion to postpone the further consideration of the bill to a future day, Mr. Bouligny, of Louisiana, when the vote was taken, said: "With all due respect to the gentleman who introduced this bill, I must say-and it is my duty to say-that it is the most infamous and outrageous bill that has ever been presented to Congress; and I say, shame on the head of the man who did it. I vote 'aye.'"

The following resolution, censuring the Secretary of the Navy, was reported to the House by Mr. Dawes :

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy, in accept ing without delay or inquiry the resignations of officers of the navy who were in arms against the Government when tendering the same, and of those who sought to resign that they might be relieved from the restraint imposed upon them by their commissions on engaging in hostility to the constituted authorities of the nation, has committed a grave error, highly prejudicial to the discipline of the service and injurious to the honor and efficiency of the navy; for which he deserves the censure of this House.

On taking the question, it was adopted. Ayes, 95; noes, 62.

Subsequently, the report of the Committee of Thirty-three was taken up for final action. The vote was first taken on the following proposition of Mr. Burch, of California:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it be, and is hereby, recommended to the several States of the Union, that they, through their respective Legislatures, request the Congress of the United States to call a convention of all the States, in accordance with article fifth of the Constitution, for the purpose of amending said Constitution, in such manner and with regard to such subjects as will more adequately respond to the wants, and afford more sufficient guarantees to the diversified and growing interests of the Government, and of the people composing the same. This proposition was rejected by a vote of 74

to 108.

A motion was then made to lay the whole subject on the table, which was lost. Ayes, 14; noes, 179.

A vote was next taken on the following proposition of Mr. Kellogg, of Illinois:

Strike out all after the word "that,” and insert: The following articles be, and are hereby, proposed and submitted as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of said Constitution, when ratified by Conventions of three-fourths of the several States.

ART. 13. That in all the territory now held by the United States situate north of latitude 36° 30' involuntary servitude, except in the punishment for crime, is prohibited while such territory shall remain under a territorial government; that in all the territory now held 'south of said line, neither Congress nor any Ter

ritorial Legislature shall hinder or prevent the emi gration to said territory of persons held to service exists by virtue of any law or usage of such State, from any State of this Union, when that relation while it shall remain in a territorial condition; and when any territory north or south of said line, within such boundaries as Congress may prescribe, shall contain the population requisite for a member of Congress, according to the then Federal ratio of representation of the people of the United States, it may, if its form of government be republican, be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, with or without the relation of persons held to service and labor, as the constitution of such new State may provide.

ART. 14. That nothing in the Constitution of the United States, or any amendment thereto, shall be so construed as to authorize any department of the Government to in any manner interfere with the relation lation exists, nor in any manner to establish or sustain of persons held to service in any State where that rethat relation in any State where it is prohibited by the laws or constitution of such State. And that this article shall not be altered or amended without the consent of every State in the Union.

ART. 15. The third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution shall be taken and construed to authorize and empower Congress to pass laws necessary to secure the return of persons held to service or labor under the laws of any State, who may have escaped therefrom, to the party to whom such service or labor may be due.

ART. 16. The migration or importation of persons held to service or involuntary servitude, into any State, territory, or place within the United States, from any place or country beyond the limits of the United States or territories thereof, is forever prohibited.

ART. 17. No territory beyond the present limits of the United States and the territories thereof, shall be

annexed to or be acquired by the United States, unless by treaty, which treaty shall be ratified by a vote of two-thirds of the Senate.

This proposition was rejected. Ayes, 33; noes, 158.

The vote of the House was next taken on

the following proposition, submitted by Mr. Clemens, of Virginia:

Joint Resolution.

Whereas the Union is in danger; and owing to the unhappy divisions existing in Congress, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for that body to concur, in both its branches, by the requisite majority, so as to enable it either to adopt such measures of legislation, or to recommend to the States such amendments to the Constitution, as are deemed necessary and proper to avert that danger; and whereas, in so great an emergency, the opinion and judgment of the people ought to be heard, and would be the best and surest guide to their Representatives: Therefore,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That provision ought to be made by law, without delay, for taking the sense of the people, and submitting to their vote the following resolutions as the basis for the final and permanent settlement of those disputes that now disturb the peace of the country and threaten the existence of the Union.

Joint Resolutions proposing certain amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Whereas serious and alarming dissensions have arisen between the Northern and Southern States, concerning the rights and security of the rights of the slaveholding States, and especially their right in the common territory of the United States; and whereas it is eminently desirable and proper that those dissensions, which now threaten the very existence of this

Union, should be permanently quieted and settled by constitutional provisions which shall do equal justice to all sections, and thereby restore to the people that peace and good will which ought to prevail between all the citizens of the United States: Therefore,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both Houses concurring,) That the following articles be, and are hereby, proposed and submitted as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of said Constitution, when ratified by conventions of three-fourths of the several States.

ART. 1. In all the territory of the United States now held or hereafter acquired, situate north of the southern boundary of Kansas and the northern boundary of New Mexico, slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, is prohibited, while such territory shall remain under territorial govern ment. In all the territory south of said line now held or hereafter acquired, slavery of the African race is hereby recognized as existing, and shall not be interfered with by Congress; but shall be protected as property by all the departments of the territorial government during its continuance; and when any territory, north or south of said line, within such boundaries as Congress may prescribe, shall contain the population requisite for a member of Congress, accord. ing to the then Federal ratio of representation of the people of the United States, it shall, if its form of government be republican, be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, with or without slavery, as the constitution of such new State may provide.

ART. 2. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in places under its exclusive jurisdiction, and situate within the limits of States that permit the holding of slaves.

ART. 3. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery within the District of Columbia so long as it exists in the adjoining States of Virginia and Maryland, or either, nor without the consent of the inhabitants, nor without just compensation first made to such owners of slaves as do not consent to such abolishment. Nor shall Congress at any time prohibit officers of the Federal Government, or members of Congress, whose duties require them to be in said district, from bringing with them their slaves, and holding them as such, during the time their duties may require them to remain there, and afterwards taking them from the district.

ART. 4. Congress shall have no power to prohibit, or hinder the transportation of slaves from one State to another, or to a territory in which slaves are by law permitted to be held, whether that transportation be by land, navigable rivers, or by the sea.

ART. 5. That, in addition to the provisions of the third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States, Congress shall have power to provide by law, and it shall be its duty so to provide, that the United States shall pay to the owner who shall apply for it, the full value of his fugitive slave, in all cases, when the marshal, or other officer, whose duty it was to arrest said fugitive, was prevented from so doing by violence or intimidation, or when, after arrest, said fugitive was rescued by force, and the owner thereby prevented and obstructed in the pursuit of his remedy for the recovery of his fugitive slave, under the said clause of the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof. And in all cases, when the United States shall pay for such fugitive, they shall have the power to reimburse themselves by imposing and collecting a tax on the county or city in which said violence, intimidation, or rescue was committed, equal in amount to the sum paid by them, with the addition of interest and the costs of collection; and the said county or city, after it has paid said amount to the United States, may, for its indemnity, sue and recover from the wrong-doers or rescuers, by whom the owner was prevented from

the recovery of his fugitive slave, in like manner as the owner himself might have sued and recovered. ART. 6. No future amendment of the Constitution shall affect the five preceding articles, nor the third paragraph of the second section of the first article of the Constitution, nor the third paragraph of the second section of the fourth article of said Constitution; and no amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress any power to abolish or interfere with slavery in any of the States by whose laws it is or may be allowed or permitted.

ART. 7. SEC. 1. The elective franchise and the right to hold office, whether Federal, State, territorial, or municipal, shall not be exercised by persons who are, in whole or in part, of the African race.

SEC. 2. The United States shall have power to acquire, from time to time, districts of country in Africa and South America, for the colonization, at the expense of the Federal Treasury, of such free negroes and mulattoes as the several States may wish to have removed from their limits, and from the District of Columbia, and such other places as may be under the jurisdiction cf Congress.

And whereas also, besides those causes of dissension embraced in the foregoing amendments proposed to the Constitution of the United States, there are others which come within the jurisdiction of Congress, and may be remedied by its legislative power; and whereas it is the desire of Congress, as far as its power will extend, to remove all just cause for the popular discontent and agitation which now disturb the peace of the country and threaten the stability of its institutions: Therefore,

1. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress as sembled, That the laws now in force for the recovery of fugitive slaves are in strict pursuance to the plan and mandatory provisions of the Constitution, and have been sanctioned as valid and constitutional by the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States; that the slaveholding States are entitled to the faithful observance and execution of those laws, and that they ought not to be repealed, or so modified or changed as to impair their efficiency; and that laws ought to be made for the punishment of those who attempt, by rescue of the slave, or other illegal means, to hinder or defeat the due execution of said laws.

2. That all State laws which conflict with the fugitive slave acts, or any other constitutional acts of Congress, or which, in their operation, impede, hinder, or delay the free course and due execution of any of said acts, are null and void by the plain provisions of the Constitution of the United States. Yet those State laws, void as they are, have given color to practices, and led to consequences which have obstructed the due administration and execution of acts of Congress, and especially the acts for the delivery of fugitive slaves, and have thereby contributed much to the discord and commotion now prevailing. Congress, therefore, in the present perilous juncture, does not deem it improper, respectfully and earnestly, to recommend the repeal of those laws to the several States which have enacted them, or such legislative corrections or explanations of them as may prevent their being used or perverted to such mischievous purposes.

3. That the act of the 18th of September, 1850, commonly called the Fugitive Slave Law, ought to be so amended as to make the fee of the commissioner, mentioned in the eighth section of the act, equal in amount, in the cases decided by him, whether his decision be in favor of, or against the claimant. And to avoid misconstruction, the last clause of the fifth section of said act, which authorizes the person holding a warrant for the arrest or detention of a fugitive slave, to summon to his aid the posse comitatus, and which declares it to be the duty of all good citizens to assist him in its execution, ought to be so amended as to expressly limit the authority and duty to cases in which there shall be resistance, or danger of resistance or rescue.

4. That the laws for the suppression of the African slave trade, and especially those prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States, ought to be made effectual, and ought to be thoroughly executed, and all further enactments necessary to those ends ought to be promptly made.

This proposition was rejected. Ayes, 80; noes, 113.

The first series of resolutions reported by the Committee of Thirty-three were next put to vote. They were as follows:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all attempts on the parts of the Legislatures of any of the States to obstruct or hinder the recovery and surrender of fugitives from service or labor, are in derogation of the Constitution of the United States, inconsistent with the comity and good neighborhood that should prevail among the several States, and dangerous to the peace of the Union.

Resolved, That the several States be respectfully requested to cause their statutes to be revised, with a view to ascertain if any of them are in conflict with or tend to embarrass or hinder the execution of the laws of the United States, made in pursuance of the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States for the delivering up of persons held to labor by the laws of any State and escaping therefrom; and the Senate and House of Represent atives earnestly request that all enactments having such tendency be forthwith repealed, as required by a just sense of constitutional obligations, and by a due regard for the peace of the Republic; and the President of the United States is requested to communicate these resolutions to the Governors of the several States,

with a request that they will lay the same before the Legislatures thereof respectively.

Resolved, That we recognize slavery as now existing in fifteen of the United States by the usages and laws of those States; and we recognize no authority, legally or otherwise, outside of a State where it so exists, to interfere with slaves or slavery in such States, in disregard of the rights of their owners or the peace of society.

Resolved, That we recognize the justice and propriety of a faithful execution of the Constitution, and laws made in pursuance thereof, on the subject of fugitive slaves, or fugitives from service or labor, and dis

countenance all mobs or hindrances to the execution of such laws, and that citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.

Resolved, That we recognize no such conflicting elements in its composition, or sufficient cause from any

source, for a dissolution of this Government; that we were not sent here to destroy, but to sustain and har monize the institutions of the country, and to see that equal justice is done to all parts of the same; and finally, to perpetuate its existence on terms of equality and justice to all the States.

Resolved, That a faithful observance, on the part of all the States, of all their constitutional obligations to each other and to the Federal Government, is essential to the peace of the country.

Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Government to enforce the Federal laws, protect the Federal property, and preserve the Union of these States.

Resolved, That each State be requested to revise its statutes, and, if necessary, so to amend the same as to secure, without legislation by Congress, to citizens of other States travelling therein, the same protection as citizens of such State enjoy; and also to protect the citizens of other States travelling or sojourning therein against popular violence or illegal summary punish ment, without trial in due form of law, for imputed

crimes.

Resolved, That each State be also respectfully requested to enact such laws as will prevent and punish

any attempt whatever in such State to recognize or set on foot the lawless invasion of any other State or territory.

Resolved, That the President be requested to transmit copies of the foregoing resolutions to the Governors of the several States, with a request that they be communicated to their respective Legislatures.

These resolutions were passed. Ayes, 136; noes, 53.

The next proposition was the report of the committee for an amendment of the Constitution, as follows:

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Repre sentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both Houses concurring,) That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the

Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the said Constitution, namely:

ART. 12. No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State.

This proposition failed to receive a two-thirds vote, and was therefore rejected. Ayes, 123; noes, 71.

The vote was subsequently reconsidered, and the resolution was then passed by the constitutional majority. Ayes, 133; noes, 65.

The bill granting to fugitives from labor a trial by jury in certain cases, was then passed. The next proposition of the committee relative to fugitives from justice was rejected.

In the Senate a bill was introduced which provided that whenever, in the opinion of the Postinaster-General, the postal service cannot be safely continued, or the post-office revenues collected, or the postal laws maintained, or the contents of the mails preserved inviolate till delivered to the proper address, or any post route, by reason of any insurrection or resistance to the laws of the United States, he may discontinue the postal service on such route, or till the same can be safely restored, and he any part thereof, and any post-offices thereon, shall report his action to Congress.

Mr. Douglas, of Illinois, said: "It strikes me it is rather a peace measure than otherwise."

Mr. Wade, of Ohio, said: "I hope that this simple bill, that has been said to be a peaceful measure, which contemplates nothing but peace, will be suffered to pass without involving any of the controverted subjects that undoubtedly will come up better on some other occasion. I am anxious to get it through without any unnecessary delay. We have no time to debate."

Mr. Green, of Missouri, replied: "I am not certain but that the substitute proposed by the Senator from Texas will accomplish all that I desire. It is useless for us to try to deceive each other, and blink a question which underlies the whole proceeding. There is no insur rection in this Union; there is no obstruction to the passage of the mails within this Union;