The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1867-06-05
acter, are to be classed with acts which 4;

acter, are to be classed with acts which :,
qualify. se'' winch dis.
The original act contains no prov;s;,.
to the manner and time for holdinc eloo.: as
OF delegates to the Convention. or tho o.ons
hcatlon of the Constitution framed hU Ati-
Convention, or for other purposes. Tbs t s
section of the supplemental act prov;doSiu st
registration of voters shall be made tnat
tne hrst Of September, 1867. The io S,ule
ana subsequent sections provide for OIL hl
means by which this registration is to ho VI. aN
fected. The commanding General is S Al e.'
tea to appoint as many boards of Reo; s,sc'
ton as may be necessary, consisting Of ,h.a
~ loyal officers OF persons, to make a"e
complete the registration, superintend Gnu ana
make return to him of the votes. the liza anu
voters and Of persons elected as deleoat hs' a
plurality of votes cast at said election 10y
upon receiving the returns, he shall Omen 'n m
same, ascertain the persons elected as l ds she
gates according to the returns of the oe se'e
who conducted said election, and make n.eD
lamation thereof; and if majority of p po.
given on that question shall be for Conrae
ton, the Commanding General. witb; r'e a.
days from the date of election. shall nn.: w
the delegates to assemble in Convention ats
time and place to be mentioned in the nros
lamation, and said Convention, when or roar
lied, shall proceed to form Constitnf,oun
and civil government according to the nro
visions OF this act and the act to which + !.
supplementary; and when the same shall
have been so framed, said Constitution sba,r
be submitted by the Convention for ratifca
ton to the persons registered under the nro
visions OF this act, at an election to be con-
Quoted by officers appointed or to be appoin.
ted by the commanding General as herein
before provided, and to be held after the er.
piration of thirty days from the date of M.
tice thereof, to be given by said ConyeptioD
and the returns thereof shall be made IN thn,
officer of the District" 0 ~ '"'
The sixth section provides that al, o,o,
lions in the States mentioned in the said 81.
to provide tor the more efficient government
OF the rebel States, shall, during the opera.
ton OF said act, be by ballot, and all Officers
making said registration of voters, and con-.
Quoting said elections, shall, before ENTERING
upon the discharge of their duties, take and
subscribe the oath prescribed by the act an.
proved July End, 1862, entitled an act 70
prescribe an oath of Office" provided that if
any person shall knowingly, and falsely take
any oath, In this act prescribed, such person,
SO offending, and being thereof duly conyic-
ted, shall be subject to the pains, penalties
and disabilities which by law are provided
for the punishment of wilful and corrupt
perjury.
The only oaths prescribed by this act are
the oaths to be taken by the person apply.
ing for registration and the oath to be taken
by the persons composing the board of regis
tration. The duties of the board are. first
to make and complete the registration and
to superintend the elections. The first uues
ton is as to the duties and powers of the
board in making and completing the regis
tration. The first section provides that the
commanding General shall cause registr-
ton to be made of the male citizens of the
United States twenty-One years of age and
upwards, resident in each county or parish
in the State or States included in his District,
which registration shall include only those
persons who are qualified to vote for dele
gates by the act aforesaid, and who shall
have taken and subscribed to the following
oath or affirmation. By this oath, the per-
sons applying for registration must swear
or affirm to every qualification provided tor
by the original act. The first question which
appears here is whether any other oath can
be required of the person applying for regis
tration. Nor can any other oath be admin
istered to any other person or persons, touch
ing the qualifications of the applicants, by
the board of Registration. The last clause
of this first section provides as follows:
(which oath or affirmation may be admin
istered by any registering officer" The oath
here referred to is the oath to be taken by
the person applying for registration. have
very carefully examined all the provisions
of this act, and l can find no authority for
any other oath to be taken by any one
touching the qualifications of the applicant
for registration, bit only this oath. am
clearly of opinion that any other oath,
touching the qualifications of the applicant
would be extra, judicial and without autbori-
ty, and that forswearing could not be argued
as pcrpetrated upon such unauthorized oath
especially as the proviso to the 9Th section
above quoted, which declares what fals
swearing shall amount to perjury, is express
ly limited to the oath in this act prescribed
In arriving at this conclusion have Civ
en- due weight to that part. of the first sec
ton of the act, which declares that the reg
istration "slfall include only those person:
who were qualified to vote for delegates by
the act afe resaid, and who shall have taker
and subscribed to the following oath or af
firmation." five read these words by them
selves, without regard to the above provis
ions of the act, the impression is made thai
two things must concur to authorize the reg
istration Of the applicant: First, that HI
actually possesses the qualifications required
by the original act, and, second, that be j!
required by this oath to swear to every ont
of these qualifications, and that no authority
is given to enter upon any other inquiry al
to his qualifications or to administer any
other oalh to him or any oath to any othe
person touching his qualifications and thai
this oath, and this oath alone, is coupled
with perjury. 1t is impossible to resist thu
construction that the oath itself is the sol'
and only test of the qualifications of the ap
plicant Where, therefore, person applies
to the board for registration, the power Of
the board is confined to the administration
of the prescribed oath, and if the applicant
takes that, his name must go upon the reg
istry. The board cannot enter upon the in
quiry who has sworn truly or falsely. Thai
inquiry must be reserved to the Court, which
may afterwards have jurisdiction to try min
on an Indictment for perjury. :,
Next to the duties of the board, after TIT
registration is completed, they are to super
intend the election and make return OF taf
votes, list of voters and Of the persons elect
ed, to the commanding General. 1t is very
clear, from these provisions, that, in super
intending these elections, the duty OF tnt
board is to receive the votes Of the person,
whose names are upon the registration anu
to reject all others. There is no provislo'a,
| anywhere to snrcharpe. or falsify, or to ado