The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-02

manding General of the district setting forth
the ground of such refusal or striking from the
Ilst; Provided, that no person shall be disqual-
ned as member of any board of registration
by reason of race or color.
Section 6. And be il further enacted, That the
true intent and meaning of the oath prescribed
Jnlngsl that no person VINO has been q member
oi the Legislature of any State, or who has
held any executive or judicial office in any
State, whether he has taken an oath 10 support
the Constitution of the United States or not,
commencement of the Rebellion or had held
IL before, and who has afterwards engaged in
iDsurrection or rebellion against the United
States, or given aid and comfort to the enemies
thereof, ts entitled to be registered or to vote,
and the words executive and judicial officers
in any State" in said oath mentioned, shall be
construed to include all civil officers created by
law for the administration of any general law
of q State, or for the administration Of Justice,
or for the keeping of the public peace.
Section T. And be ii further enacted That the
time for completing the original registration
provided for in said act may, in the discretion
of the commander OF any district, be extended
10 the first day of October, 1867 and the boards
their duty, commencing fourteen days prior to
any election under said act, and upon reaSOna-
to revise, for period of five days, the registra
tion lists; and, upon being satisfied that any
person not entitled thereto has been registered,
to strike the name of such person from the list,
and such person shall not be allowed to vote.
And such Board shall also, during the same
person, add to such registry the names of all
persons who at that time possess the qualitica-
tions required by said act who have not been
already registered. And no person shall at any
time be entitled TO be registered or to vote by
reason of any Executive pardon or amnesty for
any act or thing which, without such pardon or
amnesty, would disquallfy him from registra-
Section s. And be it further enacted, That sec
tion four of said last named act shall be con-
strued to authorize the commanding general
named therein, whenever he shall deem 1t
needful, to remove any member of a board of
registration, and to appoint another in his
stead. and to fill any vacancy in such board.
Section 8. And be 1t further enacted, That all
members of said boards of registration, and all
persons hereafter elected or appointed to office
in said military districts, under any so-called
State or municipal authority, or by detail or
appointment OF the district commanders, shall
be required to take and subscribe the oath of
office prescribed by law for officers of the United
States
Section TO- And be it further enacted, That no
district commander or member of the board of
registration. or any OF the officers or appointees
acting under them, shall be bound in his action
by any opinion of any civil officer OF the United
Section IL. And be 1t futher enacted, That all
the provisions of this act, and the acts to which
this is supplementary, shall be construed libe-
rally to the end that all the intentS thereof
may be fully and perfectly carried cut.
A close reading of the context will show
that the powers conferred on the General of
the Army relate solely to the removal and ap-
pointment of civil officers in the State Govern
ments, and to no other subject whatever. This
is so evident, ON careful reading of the act,
as to preclude elucidation. STILL questions
might arise as to the completeness of General
Grants authority within this narrow sphere.
The third section would seem to make it
plenary, but more careful examination will
show that it is limited. There are two kinds
of interference permitted to the General; one
supervisory over the action of the District
Commanders, the other a direct intervention
without their agency. The first is very
carefully limited. 1t consists solely in the
power to annul orders made by the
District Commanders. These commanders
have full power to remove any State
officers they please, to appoint whomso-
ever they please for their successors, and
orders take effect Immediately without the
approval of the General of the Army. The
authority conferred on him is not that of ap-
proval but of ''disapproval;" that is to say,
the order goes into effect without his ap-
proval but he can annul it afterwards if he
chooses to intervene for that purpose. He
cannot intervene to keep the orders of Dis
trict Commander in force, but only to revoke
them. His direction, therefore, to General
Sheridan's successor not to modify any of
Sheridans orders was in excess of his au-
thority. The law authorizes General Hancock
(see provisO to section A. to remove any OF
General Sheridan's appointees he thinks fit,
and to appoint whom he thinks fit in their
place. General Grant can, to be sure, after
law gives him no authority to interfere before
hand to prevent it. His forbidding the re-
vocation of Sheridan's orders was clearly
illegal, as he seems to be himself now con-
vinced.
With regard to the powers which General
Grant may exercise directly and de noUo in
the Military Districts, they are confined solely
to the removal of civil officers and filling the
vacancies. He can displace whom he will;
appoint whom he will; and neither the Dis
trict Commanders below him nor the Presi-
dent above him can interfere. The reason
why the President cannot interfere is that
General Grant possesses this authority by law,
and the President is as much bound to obey
the law as the lowest subordinate in the
army. And, for precisely the same reason,
General Grant cannot forbid District Com
mander to exercise any authority which the
law declares he may exercise. This is why
his prohibition to modify Sheridan's orders is
illegal.
The release of the District Commanders, by
the tenth section of the act, from obligation to
pay any regard to any civil officer Of the
United States as to the extent of their powers,
goes for nothing as against the President
who, besides being civil officer, is the Com
mander-in- Chief of the Army. The District
Commanders would be obliged to defer to the
opinion of the President respecting the extent
of their powers, though not to that OF the
Judges of the Supreme Court who are merely
civil officers. No law can be passed abrldging
the military authority of the President as
Commander in Chief of the Army; or If passed,
il would be null and bind nobody.
Whether the second section Of the Army
Appropriation bill is constitutional, is point