Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-03-27
VETO
President ..JOhmsOn's Veto of the
Supplementary Reconstruction
Bill. %LJfF.FIL


To the House Of Representatives:
have considered the bill entitled" {" An
act supplementary to an act to provide for
the more efficient government of the rebel
States" passed March52, 1867, and to facil-
itate restoration, and now return it to the
House of Representatives with my objec-
tions. @s''+
This bill provides for elections in the ten
States brought under the operation of the
original act, to which it is supplementary.
Its details are principally directed to the
elections for the formation of the State
Constitutions, but by the sixth section of
the bill, all elections in the States occurring
while the original act remains in force, are
brought within its province. Referring to
the details, it will be found that, first of all,
there is to be registration of the voters !;
no one whose name has not been admitted
on, the list is to be allowed to vote at any
of these elections. To ascertain who is en-
titled to registration, reference is made
necessary by the express language of the
supp ement, to the original act and to the
pending bill. The fifth section of the orig
inal act provides as to voters that they shall
be made citizens of the State, twenty-One
years old or upward, of whatever race,
cotOr, or previous condition, who have
been resident of said State for one year.
This is the general qualification, followed,
however, by many exceptions. No one
can be registered, according to the orig
inal act, who may be disfranchised for
participation in the rebellion, provision
which left undetermined the question as to
what amounted to disfranchisement, and
whether, without judicial sentence, the
act itself provided that effect. This sup
Elemental bill superadds All oath to be
taken by every person, before his name can
be admitted to registration, that he has not
been disfranchised tor participation i'll any
rebellion or civil war against the United
States. 1t thus imposes upon every per-
son the necessity and responsibility OF de-
Gliding for himself, under the peril of pun
ishment by military commission if be
makes a mistake. What makes disfran-
chisement by participating in rebe lion,
and what amounts to such participation?
Almost every man, the negro as well as the
white, above twenty-one years OF age, who
was resident in the ten States during the
rebellion, voluntarily or invOluntarily. at
some time, and in some way, did partici-
pate in resistance to the lawful authority
of the General Government. The question
with the citizen to whom this oath is to be
Droposed must be a fearful one; for while
the bill does not declare that perjury may
be assigned tor such false swearing, nor fix
any penalty for the offense, we must not
forget that martial law prevails; that every
person is answerable to military commits
sion without previous presentment by a
Grand Jury, for any charge that may be
made against him, and that the supreme
authority of the military commander de-
termines the question. as to what is to be
the measure OF punishment.
The fourth section of the bill provides
that the commanding General of each dis
trict shall appoint as many Boards of R'g-
istration as may be necessary, consisting of
three loyal officers or persons. The only
qualification stated for these persons is that
they must be loyal; they may be persons
in the military service, or civilian residents
of the State or strangers; ; yeti persons
are to exercise most important duties, and
are invested with unlimited discretion.
They are to decide what names shall be
placed upon the register, and from their
decision there is to be no appeal; they are
to superintend the elections and to decide
all questions which may arise. They are to
have the. custody of the ballots, and to
make returns Of the persons elected what
ever frauds or errors they commit must
pass without redress. All that Is left for
the commanding General is to receive the
returns, open the same, and ascertain who
are chosen, according to the returns of the
officers who conducted such elections. By
such means, and with this sort of agency,
are the conventions of delegates to be con-
stituted.
AS the delegates are to speak for the peo-
that they should have authority from the
people themselves. No convention so con-
stituted will, in any sense, represent the
wishes of the inhabitants of the States, for
under the all-embracing sections of these
laws by construction, which the uncer-
tainty of the clause, as to disfranrhise-
ment, leaves open to the Board of Officers,
the great body of the people may be eX-
cluded from the polls, and from all oppor-
tunity of expressing their own wishes, or
voting for delegates who will faithfully re-
fleet their sentiments.
[ do not deem it necessary further to in
Vestigate the details of this bill; no con-
sideration could induce me to give my ap-
proVal to such an election law for any
purpose, and especially for the great pur-
pose of framing the Constitution of State.
Ifever the American citizen should be left
to the free exercise of his own judgment, it
is when he is engaged in forming the fun
damental law under which he is to live.
That work is his work, and it cannot prop
erly be taken out of his hands. All this
legislation proceeds upon the contrary as
sumption that the people of each Of these
States shall have no Constitution except
such as may be arbitrarily dictated by Con-
gress, and formed under the restraint OF
military rule. A plain statement of facts
makes this evident. In all these States
there are existing Constitutions formed in
the accustomed way by the people; Con-
gress, moreover, says that the Constitu-
tions are not loyal and republican, and re-
quires the people to form them anew
What, them in the opinion of Congress, is
necessary to make the Constitution of a
State loyal and republican? The original
act answers the question it is universal
negro suffrage-a question which the Fed
eral Constitution leaves to the States them
selves. All this legislative machinery OF
martial law, military coercion, and political
disfranchisement is avowedly for that pur-
pose and none other. The existing Con-
stitutions of the ten States conform to the
acknowledged standards of loyalty and
republicanism. Indeed, if there are de-
grees in republican forms of government
their Constitutions are more republl-
can now than when these States-tour of
which were the original States-hrst
became members of the Union. Congress
does not now demand that single pro-
vision of their Constitutions be exchanged,
except such as confine suffrage to the white
population. 1t is apparent, therefore, that
these provisions do not conform to the
standard of republicanism which Congress
seeks to establish. That there may be no
mistake, it is only necessary that reference
should be made to the original act, which
declares such Constitutions should provide
that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed
by all such persons as have the qualitica-
tions herein stated for election of delegates.
Which class of persons is here meant clear
ly appears in the same section, that is to
say, the male citizen of said State, twenty
one years old and upward, of whatever race,
color, or previous condition, who has been