Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-07-21
Plan for the Re-Admission of the Seeded
stateS.-PrafIamati of The praSidnnt

stateS.-PTGelamation Of the President
| MHEREAs, At the late session Congress passed a
| bill &c guarantee to certain states whose govern
N tents have been usurped or overthrow, a repub
Iran form Of government, COPY of which is here
unto annexed; and
WHEREAS, The said bill was presented to the
President Of the United States for his approval
thaR-sn hour before the SIM sdis Adjournment Of
saIG'seSslon, and was not-signed by him. and
| MHEREAS, me said bill contains, among other
things, plan for restoring the States in rebellion
| to their proper practical relation in the Union
| which plan expressed the sense of Congress mon
that subject, and which plan it is now tboupLt A. =
| lay before the people for their consideration
4 Now, therefore, /, Abraham Lincoln. President
/ OF the United States, do proclaim, declare and
make known that, while am, as l was il. Decem
| Der last, When by proclamation l proIounded &
| plan tcr eStoTatlon, unprepared, by formal ap-
| proval Of this bill. to be lnfexibly committed to
any single plan of restoration and while am also
unprepared to declare that the free State constitu
! lions and governments already adopted and in
stalled in Arkansas and Louisiana shall be set
aside, and held for naught, thereby repeliing and
/ dlscourasing the loyal citizens who have set up
the same as to further effort or to declare consti-
tutonal comp etency in Congress to aboish slavery
| IN the States, but the same time sincerely
hoping and expecting that constitutional amend
ment aboushing slavery throughout the nation
may De adopted, nevertheless am fully satisfied
win the system for restoration contained in the
o1'L' az one very proper for the loyal people of
any State choosing to adopt it. and am and ar ali
tiles shail De prepared to give the executive aid
dnu assistance 10 any such people so soon, as the
nntary resistance to the United States shall have
eeen suppressed IN any such State and the peorIo
thereof shall have sufficiently returned to their
| obedience of the Constitution ana laws of tba
| United States, in which case Military Governors
will be appointed, with directions to proceed ac
cording to the bill.
In testimony whereof, have hereunto set nv
hand, and caused the seal OF the United States to
be affixed. "
Done at the city of Washington this sth dav Of
July, in the year of Lord, 1864, and of the in
pendence of the United States the SSth
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President
WI. H SEWARD, Secretary of State.
THE PLAN.
The plan above referred to, as adopted bv
Congress and thus approved by the Presi-
dent, is in substance as follows:
The bill as passed provides for the appoint
ment Of a Provisional Governor for each reb-
ell State, with pay and emoluments of Brig
adler General. Such Governor, so soon as
the military resistance to the United States
shall have been suppressed in any such State,
and the people thereof shall have sufficiently
returned to their obedience to the Constitu-
ton and the laws of the United States, is to
direct the United States Marshal to enroll all
the male citizens of the United States resi-
dent in the State and to require of them the
oath of allegiance. In case a majority of the
persons enrolled shall have taken the oath,
the Provisional Governor shall, by proclama-
ton, invite the loyal people of the State to
eject delegates to Convention for the re-es-
adjustment of the State Government, citi-
zens who are in the military service to be al
lowed to vote at their headquarters for dele
gates. No person who has held office, or vol
unfairly borne arms under the rebel usurpa-
ton, is to be allowed to vote for delegate,
or serve as delegate to the Convention. The
convention is required to declare the sub
mission of the State to the Constitution and
laws of the United States, and to incorporate
In its Constitution provision DISTINGUISHING
all who have held offices, except merely
ministerial, or military below the grade of
Colonel, under the usurped power A
provision has been Incorporated prohibiting
involuntary seryitude and guaranteeing uni
Versal freedom, and a provision forbldding
the recognition or payment Of any debt Gre
ated or sanctioned by the usurped power
The people Of the State are to vote for or
against the Constitution so framed, which, if
adopted, shall be certified to the President,
who, after obtaining the assent of Congress,
shall recognize the Government so establish
ed. Senators, Representatives and Electors
may be chosen from the date of such recog-
milton, and not before. The Convention shall
be dissolved if it refuses to re-establish the
State Government upon the above conditions,
but another may subsequently be called in
the same manner. Until recognition by the
United States, the Provisional Government
in each State is to see to the execution of the
United States laws and those of the State
before it went into rebellion, save that those
relative to slavery shall not be enforced.
Until recognition the Provisional Govern
ment is to assess and levy taxes, as they were
required to be levied in the last fiscal year
before the rebellion. All persons held to in
voluntary servitude in the rebel States are
declared forever free, and if restrained of
their liberty hereafter, to be discharged on
ha6eas corpus, the person convicted ofrestrain-
ing them to be punished by heavy fine and
Imprisonment. Every person hereafter hold
ing office, except those merely ministerial or
below the grade of Colonel, is declared not
to be citizen of the United States.