[Sidenote: The condition that the proposed Fourteenth Amendment be ratified by a sufficient number of "States" to make it a part of the Constitution.] All of the points of the measure have been commented on, except the provision in the fifth section, which makes the adoption of the proposed Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States by a number of "States" sufficient to ratify it a condition precedent to the admission of any one of these so-called "rebel States" to representation in Congress. The {122} adoption of the proposed amendment by the particular "rebel State" seeking representation was not sufficient. It must be ratified by at least three-fourths of all the "States." No matter how speedily and sincerely the legislature of Virginia might ratify the proposed Amendment, and fulfil all the other conditions required by the Act, Virginia must remain under military despotism until a very large number of the Northern "State" legislatures had pleased to ratify the proposed Amendment. This was certainly a pretty hard condition, and it was not a very fair way of forcing the legislatures of the Northern States to adopt the proposed Amendment. It was, however, an efficient weapon, and Congress had the legal power to use it. It was unconscionable, though it was one of the things about this measure which was constitutional. [Sidenote: The Tenure-of-Office bill.] Hand in hand with this bill went another measure, the purpose of which was to limit the customary power of the President, if not his constitutional power, over the civil official system, the so-called Tenure-of-Office bill. On the first day of the session, December 3d, 1866, Mr. Williams of Oregon introduced this bill in the Senate, while at the same moment a bill was introduced and passed in the House repealing that section of the Confiscation Act of July 17th, 1862, which authorized the President to extend pardon and amnesty by proclamation to persons participating in the rebellion. The Senate passed the latter bill or resolution on the 8th of January, 1867, and the President, not considering that the Congress could either give or take away his power to pardon secured to him by the Constitution, simply pocketed the resolution, and it became a law on and from the 21st of January, having been presented to the President on the 9th.