t to stop at an inn, or to ride in a car, or to cross
a bridge, but it is whether the people of any community can, by
organized fraud, terror, or violence, prevent a party or a race of
citizens from voting at an election, or the expression of opinions,
or deny to them the equal protection of the law. No court has ever
denied the power of the national government to protect its citizens
in their essential rights as freemen. No man should be allowed to
hold a seat in either House of Congress whose election was secured
by crimes such as are depicted here.

"Nor is it sufficient to say that the elections referred to were
not national elections in the sense that they did not involve the
election of a President or a Member of Congress. While the power
of Congress over the election of Senators, Representatives, and
the President extends to making and altering laws and regulations
passed by the respective states, and therefore is fuller than in
respect to state elections, yet the constitution provides that 'The
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not
be violated;' that 'All persons born or naturalized in the United
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of
the United States;' that 'No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of
the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws;'
and that 'The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state,
on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.'
It was also declared that 'Congress shall have power to make all
laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution
the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this constitution
in the government of the United States, or in any department or
office thereof.' Power is also given to Congress to enforce the
recent amendments by appropriate legislation.

"If the essential rights of citizenship are overthrown by a state
or by the people of a state, with the sanction of the local
authorities within the limits of a state, then Congress, as the
legislative power of the United States, is bound to provide additional
safeguards