Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-03-08
The Military Act.

rebel States" over the veto of the President
makes it tho law of the land However
much every true patriot may view with awe
the subvcrsion Of the political rights and
State governments of ten millions Of peo-
pie, we, whose rights and governments are
taken from ue have something more TO do
than stand in aullen silence or regale in
idle speculation IS Ia tn" fate OF constitlI-
tional liberty and republican, government.
The terriIle facts Of our situation stare us
in the face. and it hehouves every man in
the South to give them the thought their
pressing Importance dcmanda
There seem, ~ be more ur less uncer.
tainty III the minds Of many as to the real
features o[ the act. and III order to familiar
ize our readers with this meayure, and the
Constitutional amendment. t. which refer
ence l. made III the fifth section Of the act.
We republ1si, both. tn which prefix such
explanations a. suggest themselves to us,
or which have been gathered from sources
entitled to respect
It viii be seen b. the most hasty perusal
Of the act that It's military rule IS the lead
ing AMI principal feature. and the civil e1-
lstence Of the present State governments Is
ONLY provisional III its character and Ell
tireIy dependent upon the will of Congress-
and its authority and powers limited by the
will of tho Department Commander. The
third feature Of the act is the mode by
which The people Of tile Military Districts
can rid themselves Of both the Military and
Provisional governments and form per
manent one, Us States Of the Union.
The third and fourth sections contain the
authority granted to the Brigadlcr, or Ma
ior General who may be appointed to COM
mand the Military District. This COM
mandcr is empowered to organize military
commissions and tribunals to take jurisdlc-
ton of and to try offenders, and he may
also altar local civil tribunals for the same
purpose So far, then, as the rights of per-
son, life and liberty are concerned, the
Commander, when he thinks necessary, can
debar the citizen of his right of trial by
Jury. and as the act distinctly says g that it
shall be the duty of each officer assigned as
aforesaid to protect all persons in their
rights of person and I'r0perty," we are
not certain that it will not give such officer
the same power in rega d to property,
though evidently the primary object aimed
at was the trial of offenders against the
criminal laws. We suppose, therefore, the
Commander will allow all the local civil
tribunals to exercise their present powers,
but in all matters of n criminal nature, if
not those of a civil, their jurisdiction will
be subject to the review of such officer or
the subordinates he may select for that
purpose.
It would seem from the sixth section that
the provisional governments were to last
until the people of these States shall be by
law admitted to representation, subject,
however, to be modified, abolished, or sup
perseded by the United States, which we
suppose at present is Congress. But an eX-
animation of the fifth section will show
that the provisional governments do not
remain the same us the present State govern
ments. 1t appears to be matter OF doubt
whether the act intcrfcres with the rights OF
those at present in office or not, or whether
it refers to municipal governments at all.
While III act prescribing pains and penal
ties should he most literally construed to-
wards those affected hy it, still, from the
positions taken by its leading friends in
the debates pending its passage, and the
spirit manifested by its enactment, we have
but little 10 expect on this score. We arc
therefore prepared to- see that it is con
str,1ed to apply TO The municipal govern
mcnis rs well rs to those now i'll Office UNI
der authority of elections by the people.
IT is clear, however, that Ill all future
elections under the Provisional Govern
ment the voters are. tho male citizens of
the State, twenty-onc years old aud up
wards, Of whatever race, color, or previous
condition. who have been resident i'll the
State for one year previous to the day of
election, except such as may be dlsfran-
chised for participation IN the rebellion, or
for felony 1T the common law. It is clear
~ evident that SO long rs the government
concerned. as the same is true with MI the
excluded States, except Tennessee, there
will be uusDersaJ suffrage, for there is no law
with ug disfranchising any one for partlci
patton in the late war, But under the pro
viso Of this section this universal suffrage
does not extend to any elections looking to
d reconstruction Of the State under the act,
for III the election Of delegates to the Con
vention. the first step laid down i'll the re-
construction, programme, those who are
ineligible to office are also disqualified from
voting
Under the Provisional Government, al
though the suffrage is limited only by age,
sex and crime, there is a restriction us to
office, rs those who are eligible, and none
others, under the provisions of the third
article of the Constitutional Amendment,
arc eligible under the Provisional Govern
mcnt. Persons disqualified under that ar
ticle are those who held the following Off