Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-05-31

franchisement 1t must be ascertained by iudg-
ment of court or Legislative act, passed by compe-
mitted against the laws OF State or United States
CONSEQUENT on Il conviction in courts either of the
United States or of State or declared by the laws
J of either would be fatal under these acts. l am
| not aware of any law of the United States which
works disfrapchsemont as to the right OF suffrage
| by force of the act itself, nor does such
consequence follow from conviction for trea-
son conspiracy to commit treason, OF
| for any other act OF participation III re-
| bellion. The provision IN the Constitution cl
| the United States as to treason against the Uni
ted States does not declare what shall be the pun
ishment conviction of treason. That Is left for
Congress, with limitation,-that the corruption OF
blood shall not follow consequence or any
forfeiture, except during the life of the party
Congress, in the exercise of its power to declare
punishment has limited such punishment as con-
sequence of conviction to the penalty OF death or
| Imprisonment, and the mannmissiOn of slaves
owned by the party, and to disqualification from
holding any Office under the United states. L am
not advised of any statute now in force in either OF
these ten States, except perhaps Ill Virginia,
which declares Acknowledgement to the right OF
| suffrage by force OF the act itself.
4th and 5th The fourth and fifth sections may
| be considered together The party applying FOL
! registration must swear, ''Ihat | have never
! been d member Of any State Legislature, nor held
any executive or judicial office in any State, and
! afterwards engaged Ill insurrectlon or rebellion
! against the United States, given aid and COM
| tort to the enemies thereof; that have never
| taken oath, aa Il member Of Congress OF the
United States as officer of the United States,
| or as a member of any State Legislature,
on as an executive judicial officer of any State,
to support the Constitution of the United States ;
Or as member OF any State Legislature, or as exc
cU-ive, judicial officer Of any State, to support
| the Constitution OF the United States, and after
wards engaged il iusurrcctlOn rebellion against
| the United States; given aid or comfort to the
! enemies thereof. In these clauses of the oath,
| in effect, stand acknowledgements beyond prOvis-
ions of the original act and the prior clauses of the
oath itself III the important particular, that neither
! conviction Judgment Of court, nor an express
legislative enactment is required to establish the
fact Of Acknowledgement. 10 legal parlance dis
| Reimbursement undcr these clauses Of the oath
| results from matters 1T pals, but in one respect
these clauses limit the generality OF the original
act As to Acknowledgement. The original act con-
templates tlisiranchisement. Under these clauses
il does not arise from participation IN rebellion
| alone, but other clements must concur-that
| is 10 say, holding certain Offices taking official
oath by certain officers, and afterwards partIcl-
pating in rebellion against the United States
| The consideration OF these two clauses leads to
two distinct subject matters of inquiry. First,
! What offices or officers cOmprchended,? Sec
! Onl, What the sets amount to engaging in IN
eun'ectiOn or rebellion against the United States
or giving aid or comfort TO the enemies thereof :?
[ viii first consider what offices officers are
cOmprcheHded. AS 10 some officers, there is no
room for dOub. Members Of State Legislature,
and members of Congress clearly enough
designated. The question igAt, however, arise
whether Convention held in State for framing
| or amendment Of its Constitution would answer to
meaning Of this act. Such Convention, although
it is clothed with legislative power cannot pro-
perry be nominated State Legislature" And in
the acts now under consideration Convention
and Legislature are expressly distinguished from
each other, for they require the Constitution to be
framed By a Convention, and they require the
Legislature OF the same State to adopt the con-
8titutional amendment. When th0n, in the same
acts, they again such phrazG- legislature Of
the State-thGy must be understood to use it in
the same sense, and as distinguished from Con-
ST = n a
tive bodies which passed ordinances of secession,
by whatever name they may have been called,
Of opinion that their members properly
comprehended in this disqualifying clause for L
can imagine no ofciallegisative position in which
the duty OF allegiance more distinctly VIOLA
ted The next, and more difficult enquiry is, who
is to be considered an officer of the United States,
or Executive or Judicial officer of any State,
within the meaning Of these clauses? Various
classes Of officers here intended-State Off
GERS, Federal officers and Executive or Judicial
officers No legislative officer is mentioned except
member OF State Legislature, member of
Congress. The description used 10 other Off
to State officers, that they must be Judi
ciaOr Executive, and as to Federal officer, the
terms Executive Judicial are not expressed
He is described simply an officer Of the United
States. Ii has been shown that Federal officers
and State officers classified separately in the
clauses Of the act under consideration. deem it
profitable and conducive to clear order to follow
this classification. | shall accordingly first
slider what State officers are included Ill tho terms
executive or judicial. This phraZG is twice used
in these clauses with the supCradded description
in any State-in the first clause, and-Of any
State-in the second clause. | think the cOntrOll-
ing term Of doscrip ion, if there is any repugnan-
Gym the terms, must be the last, for that is used
In the first clause and refers to others. Besides,
1t is the term Of description used in the act
of Congress Of 1882 declaring what State officers
are required to take the oath to support the Con-
stltutlOn OF the United States, and the third sec
ton of the constitutional amendment. Both use
the same terms of OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES and jul
dicial officers of State. The terms ara Gener
foil
ticient certainty designation of the persons in
tended to be reached, 1t is to be regretted III d
matter OF SO much Importance, that the rule OF
designation adopted as to members Of Congress
and State Legislature has not been followed up;
or If that found impractica5ie that some
more definite general rules had not been declared
The uncertainty becomes manifest in the applica-
ton OF the law and this uncertainty necessitates
construction. The necessity for construction
which arises from the generality of the law
cannot be better stated than in the
general. they are to be reduced to q particularly
by exposition made according to the intent of the
act" Those statutes which comprehend ali things
IN the letter. the saSes OF the law have expounded
to extend but to some things. Those WI ich gen
orally prohibit AL persons from doing such an act,
they have interpreted to permit some persons to
do 1t, and those which include every person in
the letter, they have adjudged to reach some per-
sons Only-a.l founded upon the intGnt-collected
by considering the cause and necessity of the act
and comparing one part with another; and some
times by foreign circumstances. deem it proper
here to fix some clear ideas of the general intent
of the acts, and by what rule OF construction,
strict liberal, that the intent may best be ar
rived at. The intent as expressed is to enable the
people of each of these States to frame COnsti-
tuition for the State by the exercise Of The right Of
suffrage. There are clauses Of the act giving the
right by general terms of description to the peo-
pie generally and especially to those who have
never enjoyed the right before There are other
clauses OF the act which, by general terms, take
away this right Of suffrage from those who have
always enjOyed it. The rule Of construction as
to the clauses which give the right must be libe-
rail- and as to them the general terms are not 70
be restricted but as to those clauses which dero-
gate from the existing right :the rule of construc-
ton must be strict, that none should be excluded
who are not clearly within the letter and intent of
the act. begin, then, with the enquiry, whether
officers OF the military of State embraced with
in these terms Of description and have no doubt
that they are not Certainly COngresr, as to the
officers OF a State was not content to the term
at large, and without qualification, but we see,
intended to qualify the usual words to manifest
that intent, would have been adopted, and the
terms would have been the judicial and the exc
cutlve the civil or military officers Of the State
Accordingly we find, when that the purpose
see it was in the third section Of the consti-
tutiOnal amendment, known as article fourteen
Congress expressed that purpose very clearly,
that section provided that no person Shall be a
Sr1 tow In A4..