4. From this power in the Constitution I pass to another, also in the Constitution, supplied by the _second clause of the Constitutional Amendment_. It is there provided that Congress shall “enforce” the abolition of Slavery by “appropriate legislation.” Here, according to all rules of interpretation and the judgments of the Supreme Court, Congress is empowered to do what in its discretion seems best to this end. It may adopt any “means” which seem “appropriate.” It may select any weapon in the arsenal. I do not stop to cite judgments of the Court, or to dwell on this power. The case is clear, and I challenge contradiction. As the grant is recent, it is not open to any suggestion of loss or waiver by desuetude or non-user. It is fresh as the abolition of Slavery itself, and at this moment is just as vital. You may as well deny the one as the other. Here, even at the cost of repetition, allow me to remind you that already, during the present session, the Senate, in pursuance of this power, has undertaken to pass “a bill to _protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights_, and furnish the means of their vindication.” The declared object of the bill, in its very title, is the protection of all persons in the United States in their civil rights; and this object is carried out by the following provision:-- “There shall be no discrimination in civil rights or immunities among the inhabitants of _any State or Territory of the United States_ on account of race, color, or previous condition of slavery.” The bill proceeds to provide machinery and penalties for the enforcement of this prohibition. Mark, if you please, that this is not merely in the Rebel States, nor even in the States where Slavery was recently abolished, but everywhere throughout the United States. All this is done by virtue of that very clause of the Constitutional Amendment which I adduce. It is done by Congress, in the exercise of its discretion, in order to “enforce” the abolition of Slavery. It is the “means” which Congress adopts. It is the weapon which Congress selects from the arsenal. But surely, if Congress, in order to “enforce” the abolition of Slavery, can secure all persons throughout the United States in _civil rights_, it can, out of the same abundant power, secure all persons throughout the United States in _political rights_; and this is precisely what is proposed by the bill of the Senator from Illinois. My own proposition, as I now present it, aims for the present at securing _political rights_ throughout the Rebel States; but the irresistible argument is the same in each case. Each is to “enforce” the abolition of Slavery.