If the present question depended upon citizenship, you could not refuse to receive the petition. But it does not depend upon citizenship. The right to petition Congress is not an incident of the elective franchise. It exists where the elective franchise does not exist. The Constitution expressly secures it, not simply to _citizens_, but broadly and completely to THE PEOPLE, declaring, in the first article of its Amendments, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, _or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances_.” The term _people_ here naturally means all, without distinction of class, who owe allegiance to the Government. It is the American equivalent for _subjects_. If there were any doubt on this point, it would be removed by the clear and irresistible meaning of the term in other parts of the Constitution. Thus, in the clause constituting the House of Representatives, it is declared that it “shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the _people_ of the several States, and the _electors_ in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.” Here is an obvious difference between the “people” and “electors.” The former is broader than the latter. It is the former that constitutes the _basis of representation_, and the Constitution then proceeds to declare that this basis “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, three fifths of all other persons.” Whatever may be the position of the _fractional_ class, nothing can be clearer than that all _free persons_, without distinction of color or descent, belong to the _people_, and, so belonging, they are solemnly and expressly protected by the Constitution in the right of petition. The Constitution next provides for the “enumeration” of the _people_, and under this provision there is a decennial census of the whole _people_, without distinction of color or descent; and yet, while including all of African descent in your population, you refuse to receive their petitions.