SEC. 15. From and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a _posse comitatus_ or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress; and no money appropriated by this act shall be used to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any troops in violation of this section; and any person willfully violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This act passed the Senate, after full consideration, without a single vote recorded against it on its final passage, and, by a majority of more than two-thirds, it was concurred in by the House of Representatives. The purpose of the section quoted was stated in the Senate by one of its supporters as follows: Therefore I hope, without getting into any controversy about the past, but acting wisely for the future, that we shall take away the idea that the Army can be used by a general or special deputy marshal, or any marshal, merely for election purposes, as a posse, ordering them about the polls or ordering them anywhere else, when there is an election going on, to prevent disorders or to suppress disturbances that should be suppressed by the peace officers of the State; or, if they must bring others to their aid they should summon the unorganized citizens, and not summon the officers and men of the Army as _posse comitatus_ to quell disorders, and thus get up a feeling which will be disastrous to peace among the people of the country. In the House of Representatives the object of the act of 1878 was stated by the gentleman who had it in charge in similar terms. He said: