Notwithstanding all this, however, the President, in his Message to Congress of December 3d, returned to the contest. He reargued his case from every point of view, and with both moderation and great force. He restated what had been done toward Reconstruction, declaring that peace had been restored everywhere, that all the laws of the United States and all the machinery of the United States Government were in unimpeded operation everywhere throughout the length and breadth of the land, and that loyal "State" governments had been restored everywhere, and lacked but one thing of completion, viz., the admission of Representatives and Senators from ten of the eleven "States" in which secession ordinances had been passed to seats in Congress. He contended that all the departments of the United States Government had proceeded upon the view that the "States" were indestructible--the Congress, in the {105} declaration, at the outset, that the war was not to be waged in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of the "States" which were the scene of rebellion, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance thereof, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired, and in many other acts and resolutions; the Judiciary, in all proceedings affecting the reconstruction communities as "States"; and the Executive, in the entire plan of Reconstruction created by Mr. Lincoln and followed out by himself. He further contended that in recognizing these "States" as restored to their former relations, Congress was not running any risk of having disloyal men thrust into the legislative chambers of the nation, because each House of Congress could reject members-elect on account of disloyalty, and could continue to reject until the constituencies should send up such persons as the House could approve, and could expel any member whose conduct should reveal disloyalty. He therefore urged Congress to acknowledge the Reconstruction of the "States" lately in rebellion, in principle, and to apply the powers of the two Houses in regard to the elections, returns and qualifications of their respective members to the individual persons elected to seats. [Sidenote: Ineffectiveness of the President's argument.] [Sidenote: Rejection of the proposed Fourteenth Amendment by the legislatures of the Reconstructed "States."] [Sidenote: The effect of this on the temper of the North.]