The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1867-03-09

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it
shall be the duty of each officer assigned as aore
said to protect all persons in their rights of per-
son and property to suppress instruction, dis
order, and violence, and to punish or cause to be
punished all disturbers of the public peace and
criminals and to this end he may allow local
civil tribunals to take jurisdiction of and try
offenders, or when in hi Judgment it may be
necessary for the trial of offenders, he shall have
DoWer to organize military commissions or tri-
bunals for that purpose and all interference
under color of State authority with the eXer-
else of military authority under this act shall be
| null and void. .
persons put under military arrest by virtue OF
This act shall be tried without unnecessary delay,
and no cruel or unusual punishment Shall be in
ficted and no sentence OF any military COM
mission or tribunal hereby authorized, affecting
the life or liberty of any person, shall be cxecu
ted until it is approved by the officer in command
of the district and the laws and regulations for
| the government of the army shall not be a1fectcd
| by this act except in so far as they may conflict
with its provisions Provided, That no sentence
of death under the provisions of this act shall be
carried into effect without the approval OF the
President.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That when
the people of any of the aforesaid rebel States
shall have formed constitution OF government
in conformity with the Constitution of the
United States in all respects, framed by a
convention of delegates elected by the male
citizens of said State twenty-one years old and
upward, of whatever race, color, or previous
condition, who have been resident in said State
for one year previous to the day of such election
except such as may be DISTINGUISHED Tor partlcl-
patton in the rebellion or for felony at common
law; and when such constitution shall provide
that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by all
such persons as have the qualifications herein
stated for election of delegates and when such
constitution shall be ratified by majority OF the
persons voting on the question of ratlhcation VINO
are qualified as electors for delegates, ana when
such constitution shall have been submitted to
Congress for examination and approval, ana
Congress shall have approved the same; ana
when said State by vote ofits Legislature elect
ed under said constitution shall have adopted the
amendment to the Constitution OF the United
States proposed by the Thirty Ninth Congress,
and hnown as article IA, and when said article
shall have become part of the Constitution OF
the United States, said State shall be declared en-
titled to representation in Congress and Senators
and Representatives shall be admitted thcrefronl
on their taking the oath prescribed by law, ana
then and thereafter the preceding sections OF
tits act shall be imperative III said State oVt-
dtd That no person excluded from the privilege
of holding Office by said proposed amendment 10
the Constitution of the United States shall be
eligible to election as member OF the convention
to frame a constitution for any of said rebel
States, shall any such person vote Tor nlcm-
berS of said convention.
SEC. &. And be it further enacted, That until
the people of said rebel States shall be, by law, adj
mittcd to representation il the Congress OF the
United States any civil governments which may
exist therein shall be deemed provisional only,
and in all respects subject to the paramount au-
thority of the United States ut any time to aboi-
ish modify control OF supersedc the same and
in all elections to any Office under such provls-
ional governments all persons shall be entitled to
: vote and none other, who are entitled to vote
under the provisions of the fifth section OF this
act and no person shall be eligible TO any office
under any such provisional governments who
would be disqualified from holding office under
the provisions of the third article OF said consti-
tutional amendment
NOW tile person Of tie citizen may not be
saJe;; his property is threatened 'citb coEttsca
ton orr lars mag be administered dy @t"n-
gers: and tie p01etr 0rer the question Of s'J-
.Tfage is rict"a!Iy taken from tie Suite. 1t
will be observed that in the preamble to the
bill, it is declared that no legal State gov
; ernment, or adequate protection for life or
property noe crisis, in the rebel States of
5 Virginia, &c. In this declaration, Congress
reserves to itself the power to say allen the
: legal State government in Virginia ceased:
: and for what acts In the sixth section of
; the bill it is declared. THAT until the poo
pie of the said rebel States shall be by law
admitted to representation in the Congress
; of the United States, any civil governments
that may exist therein, shall be deemed pro-
vlsional only, and shall be in all respects
) subject to the paramount authority of the
United States, at any time to- abolish, modi-
fv, control or supersede the same" The
theory of this bill is, that for acts heretofore
: done by the people of Virginia, they have
| placed themselves in condition in which
the organization of the government may be
broken up The State constitution may be
abrogated and its laws rendered nullity,
in which event the people may lose their
character as a whole people united in one
body polite, and each stand alone in his
own individuality When this takes place
which The lands are held, dies with it. The
commonwealth grants the land and guaran-
tees the title and possession to the grantee.
The power of the State is welded for his
protection. But in this case the guarantor
may become helpless under superior pow
er. One of the ways in which a State or
commonwealth may be destroyed, is by
superior power in arms, or by the power of
war. When destroyed in this way, the pow
er of the conqueror annuls the organic and
statute laws Of the State, and substitutes
> new laws in their place, and with the de-
struction of the law, the title to the prop
erty may die with it, and the conqueror may
divide the property therein among all his
followers, or give It to desi gnated persons,
or he may sell it to the highest bidder in
large or small parcels. Then he becomes the
new guarantor of a title so granted. and the
title depends on his ability to defend it.
This is no new theory. nor the Indication
of any new practice The greater part of
England has been divided out in this way
several times. The most of their present te-
nures were derived and are held III this way.
The same is true of large part of the con-
tinent of Europe. Nor is this theory new
one in Virginia. 1t formed the theme of
most If the public speeches made on this
side during the war; and elaborate newspa-
per articles were written to stimulate the
people to desperate action by the assurance
that if the Confederate cause failed, the
owners would lose all their slaves; their
property would be confiscated and divided
among the federal soldiers and colnrcd peo-
pie; and even embracing the other idea in
the bill, that the negroes would be clothed
with all the civil and political rights of the
white man. 1t was on this theory that the
torch was applied to this beautiful city, and
millions of treasure given to the devouring
flames. 1t is on this theory that the very
air is rife with the rumor that most strin-
gent contiscaton bill is now pending in
Washington, to be put into operation.
think the people may be saved from this
threatened danger.
Gentlemen, am deeply in earnest on this
subject. have been panied, in the last fif
teen months, to see the irritating causes
which have produced this legislation at
Washington. l have tried to discourage
them. My efforts have been turned into rid