Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-07-21
THE MEMPHIS APPEAL
PRESIDENTS VETO MESSAGE
100 u WASHINGTON, July %.

I9 the House OF Representatives oi the unitet
I return herewith the bill entitled " All
!, act supplementary to an act 70 provide
for the more efficient government of the
e rebel states passed on the I'd day o.
, March, 1867, and the act supplementary
|. thereto, passed on the 23d day of March,
1867 " and will state az briefly a. pOssi-
: bic some OF the reasons which prevent
h me from giving my approval. This is
5, one OF a series of measures passed by
congress during the last four months, on
the subject Of reconstruction. The mes
sage returning the act Of March %
last, stated at length my objections to
the passage Of that bill. They apply
: equally well to the bill now before me,
aud i am content TO refer to them and
Teiterate my conviction thst they are
sound and unanswerRble. There are
some points peculiar TO this bill TO which
1 viii proceed at once TO consider. The
! first section imports to declare the true
intent and meaning, in some particulars,
of the two prior acts upon this subject
= 1t is declared that the intent Of those
acts was, first that the existing govern
ments in the ten rebel states were not
legal state governments; and, second,
; that thereafter said governments, 70 be
continued, were TO be continued subject,
in all respects, to the military COM
mauders Of the respective districts, and
to the paramount authority Of congress.
Congress may, by q declaratOry act, tlx
upon a prior act a construction altogether
at variance with its apparent meaning,
and from the time, at least when said
construction is fixed, the original act will
be construed and mean exactly what it is
stated to meaE by the declaratOry statute.
There will be then, from the time this
bill may become q law, no doubt as TO
: the relation in which the existing gov
ernments in those states, called in the
original act the provisional governments,
stand towards the United States, as their
relations stood before the declaratory act.
These governments, it is true, were made
subject to absolute military authority in
many i'm portant respects, bat not in all.
The language of the act being subject
70 the military authority Of the
| United States, as hereinafter pre-
scribed by the sixth section Of
the original act. These governments
were made, in all respects, subject to the
paramount authority OF the United
States. Now, by this deelarstory act, it
appears that congress did not by the
original act intend to limit the military
authorities to any particulars or subjects
therein prescribed, but meant TO make
To universal lAu5Y ONEL AAl NA4G5C LELl
states, this military government is now
declared to have unlimited authority. 1t
is no longer confined to the preservation
Of the public peace, the administration
Of criminal laws, the registration of
voters and the superintendent Of cleo
ti0ns, but, in all respects, is asserted to
be paramount TO the existing civil gov
Z ernments. Ii is impossible 70 conceive
I any state Of society more IntOlerable
than this. and yet it is to this condition
that Y, coo 900 American citizens are re-
/ duced by congress Of the United States
/ over every foot Of the immense territory
/ occupied by these American citizens.
/ The constitution Of the United States,
/ theoretically, is in full operation. It
binds all the people there, and should
protect them. yet they are denied every
one of its sacred guarantees. And Of
/ what avail will it be to any one of these
I southern people, when guarded by file
/ Of soldiers, to ask for the cause of arrest
,0r the production of the warrant? OF
"A hat avail to ask for the privilege Of bail
VIII IN in military custody, which knows
no such thing a. bail? OF what avail to
demai7d a trial by jury, protest for wit
uesses. u copy Of Indictment, the prIvl-
lepe of e, ouDsel, or that greater privilege, |
the writ o. habeas corpus? The veto Of
the original bill OF March ID was basel .
on two disl tnet grounds: The inter- /.
ference Of co ugress ID duties strictly
pe-tsining to l'e reserved powers, and |
the establishment Of military tribunals /
for the trial of citiz- z-ens in time of peace. /
The impartial reau ct OF that message /
will understand that a u It contains with I
respect TO military despCtism and martial Z
law has reference especially 70 fear,
however conferred on the district COM 4
mauders, TO displaee the criminal courts 1
and assume jurisdiction 10 try and pun |
ish by military boards. Most potentially |
the suspension Of haUeas corpus was I
martial law and military despotisul. The |
act now before me not only declares LhaI |
the intent was to confer such military I
authority, but to confer unlimited suthor-
ity over all the older courts of the state, /
and over all officers of the state. legisla- 1
tive, executive aud judicial. Not con-
tent with the general grant Of congress,
the second section Of this bill specifically |
gives to each military commander pow
er to suspend or relieve from office, or
from the performance Of official duties
and exercise Of official powers, any Off
Ger. or any person holding or protesting
to hold or exert civil or military Office in
such district under any pow
er, elective, appointahle, or de-
rived from or granted by or claimed
under any so-called state, or the govern
ment thereof, or any municipal or other
division thereof power that, hitherto,
all the departments of the federal gov
eminent, acting in concert or separately,
have not dared 70 exercise, is here at
tempted to be conferred on a subordinate
military officer. To him, as a military
officerO the federal government, is given
the power, supported by a sufficient mill
tary force, to remove every civil officer
of the United States. What neXt2 The
district commander who has thus dis
placed the civil officers is authorized TO
fill the vacancy by the detail of an
officer or 3 soldier Of the army. By the
of some other person this
military officer, whether an officer or q
soldier, is to perform duties of such
officer or person so suspended or re-
moved. In other words, an officer or
soldier of the army is transferred into
civil officer. He may be made COVER
nor, d legislator or a judge. However
unfit be may deem himself for such
civil duties, he must obey the order. The
officer if detailed, must 90 on the su-
urenle bench Of the state with the same
prompt obedience as if detailed to act in
A court martial The soldier, n detailed
10 act as a Justice of the peace, must obey
as quickly as if detailed for picket duty.
What is the character OF such military
civil officers This bill declares that he
shall perform the duties Of the civil Office
TO which be is detailed. 1t Is clear, how
ever. that be does not lose his position in
military service he is stili an officer or
soldier be is sgiil subject to the rules and
regulations which govern the army,
must yield due respect and obedience 20
ward his superioFs. The clear intent OF
this section is, that the officer or soldier
detailed to fill a civil Office must
execute its duties according to the laws
of the state. If he is appointed COVER
nor OF q state, be is TO execute his du
ties as provided by the laws Of that state,
and for the time being his military char
acter is 70 be suspended in his new civil
capacity. If he is appointed state
treasurer he must at once assume Gus
tody and disbursements Of funds Of the
state, and perform those duties precisely
according to the laws Of the state, for he
h intrusted with no other official duty or
other official power when holding the
ofice of treasurer and intrUsted with
funds. 1t happens that be is required
by the state laws to enter into
bond with security and take an {
osfb of Office. From the beginning {
If fhe bill to the end there is no prOvi- {
sion Of any bond or oath Of Office, or for
apv single qualification required under I
state laws, such as residence, citizenship, :
or ANYTHING else. The only oath is that
for in the ninth section, by the !
terms Of which every one detailed OF
appointed to aAy civil Office in g state is
REQUIRED to take an oath prescribed by Z
law for officers Of the United states,
Thus an officer OF the army Of the United
states, ordered to ill civil Office in one
Of these states, gives no official bond and
takes no official oath for the performance I
Of has new duties; but as civil officer
oi the state. he easily takes the same
oath which he had already taken as q
military odieer Of the United States.
He is at least a military officer per- Z
forming civil dhties, and the authority !
under which, he acts is federal authority /
only. and the inevitable result is that the {
federal, by the agency u its own OH s
GERS, in effect, sssL mes the civil govern II
ment Of the state. A singuler contra {
diction is apparent here. Congress de- {
clares these local state governments to be
illegal governments, and then provides
A. All ahn