POWERS OF CONGRESS TO PROHIBIT INEQUALITY, CASTE, AND OLIGARCHY OF THE SKIN. SPEECH IN THE SENATE, FEBRUARY 5, 1869. The Senate having under consideration a joint resolution from the House of Representatives proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States on the subject of Suffrage in the words following, viz.:-- “ARTICLE ----. “SECTION 1. The right of any citizen of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of the race, color, or previous condition of slavery of any citizen or class of citizens of the United States. “SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce by proper legislation the provisions of this Article.”-- Mr. Sumner offered the following bill as a substitute:-- SECTION 1. That the right to vote, to be voted for, and to hold office shall not be denied or abridged anywhere in the United States, under any pretence of race or color; and all provisions in any State Constitutions, or in any laws, State, Territorial, or Municipal, inconsistent herewith, are hereby declared null and void. SEC. 2. That any person, who, under any pretence of race or color, wilfully hinders or attempts to hinder any citizen of the United States from being registered, or from voting, or from being voted for, or from holding office, or who attempts by menaces to deter any such citizen from the exercise or enjoyment of the rights of citizenship above mentioned, shall be punished by a fine not less than one hundred dollars nor more than three thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the common jail for not less than thirty days nor more than one year. SEC. 3. That every person legally engaged in preparing a register of voters, or in holding or conducting an election, who wilfully refuses to register the name or to receive, count, return, or otherwise give the proper legal effect to the vote of any citizen, under any pretence of race or color, shall be punished by a fine not less than five hundred dollars nor more than four thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the common jail for not less than three calendar months nor more than two years.