The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1867-07-24

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subordinate military officer; to him as O
military officer Of the Federal Government
Is glsen the power supported by a sufficient
military toiee to remove every civil uthceT
of the United States What nexi2 The
Distfht COMMANDER who has thus dirplac-
ed the civil officers Is authorized to ill the
vacancy BY the detail Of an officer or a qol.
dier Of the army. By the appointment oi
'some other p.rson, this military officer,
whether an officer or soldier, rs TO perform
the duties of such oticr r or person 50 sus
pended or removed. In other words, an
uthcer or soldier Of the army is transferred
into civil officer. He may b. made Gov
ernor, legislator vt a judge. However
unfit he may deem msrlffor snch civil du
ties, he must obey TIE order. The officer.
If detailed, must 90 on the Supreme Bench
of the State with the same prompt obedi.
enct as if detailed to act in "A courtmartial.
The solder, il detailed to act as Justice
OF the Peace. must obey as quickly as If de
tailed tor picket duty. Wlat is the char
acter Of such military civil officer? This
bill declares that he shall perform the du-
ties Of the civil office to which he is detail
ed. Ii is clear, however, that he does not
lose his position in the military service; he
Is till an officer or soldier; he is still subject
to the rules and regulations which govern
the army, and must yield due respect and
obedience toward his superiors. The clear
intent OF this section is that the officer or
soldier detailed to fill civil office must ex-
ecute its duties according to tie laws of the
State. If he is appointed a Governor Of a
h., 81 thn J,,sia, ,N,o,-iI
ed by the laws of that State, and for the
time being his military character is to be
suspended in his new civil capacity. -
If he is appointed State Treasurer he
must at once assume the custody and dis
bursement of the funds of the State, and
perform those duties precisely accord
ing to the laws of the Stare, for he is in
trusted with no other official duty or other
official power Holding the Office of Treas
urrr and being intrusted with the funds il
happens thh he is required by :he State
laws to enter into bond, with security, and
take an oath Of Office; yet from the begin
nng OF the bill to the end there is no pro
vision of any bond or oath Of office, nor tOl
any single qualification required undtr the
State law, such as residence. citizenship. OF
anv thing else. The only oath that is pre-.
' dei tor in the nin h sect on, by the terms
of which every one detailed or appointed
10 any civil office in the State, is required
to take only the oath of Office prescribed by
law for for officers of the United States. =
Thus an officer OF the army of the United
States detailed to fill civil office in one Of
these States gives no official bond and take,
no official oath for the performance Of hi,
Il I,Yf o,x,II ,N41I Of Ia,
State, only take> the same oath which he
had already taken as military officer Of
the United States. He is at best military
officer performing ci ii duties, and the au
thority under which he acts is federal au
thority only. and the inevitable result is tina,
the Fedora Government, By the agency o
its own officers, in effect assumes the civi
government Of the State. A singular con
tradctiou is apparent here Congress de-
clares these local State governments to b.
Illegal governments, and then provides that
these illegal governments shall he carried on
by Federal officers who are to perform the
very duties imposed on its own officers py
this illegal State authority. 1t certainly
would b. novel spectecle if Congress should
attempt to carry on a legal State govern
ment by the agency Of its owh officers Ii
is yer more strange that Congress attempt,
to sustain and carry on an illegal State gov.
ernment by some federal agency In thi
connection, | must call attention to the
tenth and eleventh sections of the bill
which provide that none of the officers ol
appointees Of these military commander,
shall be bound by his actinn by any opinir r
of Il civil officer of the United States. and
tboE all tho 4 tbn shall h.,
construed literally to the end that all in
tents thereof NAV be fully and perfectly
carried out. 1t seems that Congress sup.
posed hat this bill might req1ire coustruc
ton, and they therefore applied this rule
But where is the construction to come !romi
Ccrtainlv No one can be more in want o
construction than soldier or an officer de
tailed for evil seryic. perhaps the mos
important in Stare. with the duties o
which he is altogether unfamiliar. Thi,
bill says hr shall not be bound in his actor
hv the opinion of any civil officer OF the
United States The duties of the office are
altogether civil, but when he asks tor obe
dance, he can only ask the pinion OF an
other military officer, who, perhaps, under
stands as little of his duties as he does hin
self and as to his action he is answerable tc
the military authority and he military au
thhrity alone. Strictly, no opinion of any
civil officer than IA Judge has binding
force. but these military appointeeS couC
not be bound even by a judicial opinion. =
They might very we'll say, even when theil
action is in conflict with the Supreme Courl
Of the United States. That Court is com
posed OF civil officers of the United States
,,,I honnI 70 Ior,,,
to any such opinion or any such authority.
This BILL and the acts to which it is sup
elemental, are all founded upon the as
sumption that these ten communities are
not Srates, and that their governments are
not legal Throughout the legislation upon
this subject they are called rebel States, and
in this particular bill they are Genominated
so-called States. and the vice of illega)ity is
declared to pervade all of them. The OBJ
legations of consistency bind legislative
body as well as the indiy iduals who com
pose it. 1t is now too late that these ten
communities are not States; declarations to
the contrary made in these three acts are
contradicted agoin and again by repeated
acts of legislation by Congress, from the
year 1861 to the year 1867, During tha,
period while the States were in actual re,
belIion, and after that rebellion was brought
to close, they have again and again been
recognized as States of the Union; repre-.
seutatives have been appointed to them;
they have been divided into Judicial Dis
tricts, for the holding of District aud Cir
cult Courts of the United States, as State,
Of the Upion only can be districted The
last act on this subject was passed July %,
1866, by which every one Of the ten States
was arranged into districts and circuits.
They have been called on by Congress to
act through their Legislatures, upon at least
two amendments to the Constitution of the
United States. As States, they have rati.
fed one amendment which required the
vote of twenty seven States out of the
thirty six composing the Union.
When the requisite twenty seven vote
were given j" favor Of that amendment,
& n,b ,nb H.,