Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1867-06-24
Executive Order to the Southern Cam
manders.


The following are the official Instructions >,
the military commanders in the Soutb. issuoa
through the War Department by order NJ ,ha
President:
WAR DEPARTMENT, Adjutant Generors
Office, Washington, June 20, IS67-Whereas
several commanders OF military districts Great.
ed by the acts of Congress known as the 70
construction acts have EXPIRE sed doubta es 70
the proper construction thereof, and in resnect
10 some OF their powers and duties upder said
AcIs, ana nave applied to the Executive for in.
formation IN relation thereto: And whereas
the SAID acts OF Congress have been referred 10
the Attorney General for his opinion tharc,a
ana ne said act, and the opinion OF the Attor
ney General nave been lully and carefnlJv
considered by the President ia conference viii
the neads 81 the re 5pective Departments the
President accepts the following as q practical
Interpretation of the aforesaid acts OF Coners7s
on the points therein presented. and directs the
same to be transmitted to the re- ,pective mi;
itaIy commanders for their information. in
ecution of said act.
The propo itIops of the Attorney General
here follow ertens0.
When those propositions were before tho
cabinet last week there were present Presidon,
Johnson. Secretaries Stanton Sewa>d No
Cullough and Wellec, Postmaster General
Ranoaii, Attorney General Stanbery and Judge
Otto, Acting Secretary OF the Inferior. The
nrsl instruction. making and taking of the o. n
sufhcIent proof for registration. was adon;ed
stanton alone voting againsL it. The second
from as King questions as te the LOYALTY or anal
lhcatlOn 10 register, was also Adopted nv the
same vote. The third clause of the insrrne
tlOns req ulrlng one years residence in an elac
ton district before voting, was concurred In
unanimously. The fourth instrnotion dn a.
clarlng that an unnaturalized person cannot
.aAe ane oa.n. out an alien who has been
hatnlallzed can take il, and no other proot
OF naturalization can be req uired OF him. was
objected TO by Secretary Stanten but aprasd
10 oy all Inc Diners. The firth section re-
N bl
al the me OF registration, was unapimonsIv
agreed 10. The sixth instruction. recitinS
among other things, that " the actual particini.
ton In rebellion, or the actual com ission q, q
felony does not admit Of OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES ;;
was also adopted, the Secretary OF war vot,n,
nay Inc seventh instru elton, disc ualifyins
held office under the United States Govsrnnan,
and taken an Official oath to support rha Uon
sttution OF the United States, and afterwsrds
ENGAGE ssd N rebellion, allowing all persons who
Ind did not afterwards engage in it, although
sney ma, nave sworn to .ur.rort the Consti-
tuition, 70 register, was agreed to-secretAry
stanton oblecting All agreed TO the eighth sec
ton, rsq ualify ing from It gistraton all persons
woo at any time prior 10 ensaglag Ia sne seDei'
United States, and ID taken the oath to sup
mort the Constitution Of the United States To
the ninth clause, declaring that military
officsrs of any State prior to the rebellion are
ton objected. The tenth section, declaring mu.
nicipal officers not disqualified, was unani-
mously concurred in. The eleventh, d, strer.
chising members of the Rebel Congress and
Rebel State Legislatures, but not members of
Constitutional Con ventions held prior to the
rebellion, was adopted without dissent; also,
the twelfth sectioR-disfranchis all execu.
tive and judicial officers Of any State who took
an oath TO support the Constitution Of the Unitsd
States. The thirteenth section, declaring that
persons who exercised mere employment under
Rebel State authorities are not DISC ualIfed, was
agreed to, Secretaries Stanton, McCullocn and
Seward expressing the opinion that LAWYERS
come among the class OF DISC ualifed officers if
they have participated in the rebellion Score.
tary Stanton objected to the clause REQ Turing
that an overt act in aid Of the rebellion wa,
necessary to exclude persons from registration,
but it was agreed to. The section declaring
that disloyal sentiments, opinions and sym.
pathies would not disqualify," was agreed to,
without the vote OF the ecresary of War. The
section prohibiting the reception OF the vote of
any person whose name does not appc n on the
registry, and providing against any name being
added thereto on the day Of election, was unani.
mously endorsed. The clause declaring that
the mode OF voting Should be by ballot was
agreed TO, as was also the section requiring
officers experimenting registration and cleo.
tions TO take the oath provided by the act Of
Congress OF July, 1862.