Dixon, Doolittle and Norton voted in the affirmative.

The public opinion of the country unmistakably sustained this legislation--the purpose to extend protection to the freedmen being deep-set and all-pervading among the men of the North who had triumphed in the war.

When the bill reached the House it was referred to the Select Committee on Freedmen's Affairs, of which Mr.Thomas D.Eliot of Massachusetts was chairman.

It was promptly reported and came to a final vote on the 6th of February, when it was passed on a call of yeas and nays by 136 to 33.

It was a clear division upon the line of party, the nays being composed entirely of Democrats, with the possible exception of Mr.
Rousseau of Kentucky, who had been elected with the aid of Republican votes.
One of the most striking speeches made in the House upon the subject was by Mr.Ignatius Donnelly of Minnesota.