The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1867-03-13
The Presidents Veto Message.
House of Representatives, :

| have examined the bill "to provide
fer the more. efficient government OF the
rebel States" with the care and anxiety
which its transcendcnt importance is cal
tulated to awaken. / am unable to give
it my assent for reasons so grave that l
hope statement of them may have some
influence on the minds of the patriotic
and enlightened men with whom the de-
cision must ultimately rest.
The bill places all the people OF the ten
States. therein named under the absolute
domination of military rulers; and the
preamble undertakes to give the reason
npon which the measure is based, and the
ground upon which it is justified. 1t de-
clares that there exists in those States no
legal governments, and no adequate pro-
lection for life or property, and asserts
the necessity Of enforcing peace and gooo
order within their limits. Is this true as
matter of fact 80
1t is not denied that the States in ques-
tion have each of them an actual Govern
ment, with all the powers, executive,
judicial and legislative, which properly
belono to free State. They are organ
ized like the other States OF the Union,
and, like them, they make, administer
and execute the laws which concern their
domestic affairs. An existing de facto
Government, exercising such functions as
these. is itself the law of che State upon
all matters within its Jurisdiction. 10
pronounce the supreme law-making pow
er Of an established State illegal, is to say
4bot 4ha 10 NJ itsalf ia unlawful
The provisions which these Govern.
ments have made for the preservation OF
order, the suppression of crime, and the
redress of private injuries, are, In sub
stance and principle, the same as those
which prevail in the Northern States, and
In other civilized countries. They GER
tainly have not succeeded in preventing
the commission of all crime, nor has this
been accomplished anywhere in the world
There, as we'll as elsewhere, offenders
sometimes escape for want of vigorous
prosecution, and occasionally, perhaps, by
the ineficiency of courts or the prejudice
of jurors. 1t is undoubtedly true that
these evils have been much increased and
aggravated, North and South, by the de-
1noralizing influences of civil war, and
the rancorous passions which the contest
has engendered. But that these people
are maintaining local Governments for
themselves, which habitually defeat the
object of all government, and render their
own lives and property insecure, is in 1T
self utterly improbable, and the ayerment
of the bill to that effect is not supported
by any evidence which has come to my
knowledge. All the information | have
on the subject convinces ME that the
masses of the Southern people, and those
who control their public acts, while they
entertain diverse opinions on questions of
Federal policy, are completely united in
the effort to reorganize their society on
the basis of peace, and to restore their
mutual prosperity as rapidly and as COM
pletely as their circumstances will per-
NIT.
The bill, however, would seem to show
upon it's face that the establishment of
peace and good order is notit real object.
The fifth section declares that the prcce-
ding sections shall cease to operate in any
State where certain events shall have
happened. These events are-frst, the
selection Of delegates to State Conven.
ton, by an election at which negroes shall
be allowed to vote. Second, the forma-
tion of State Constitution by tho con-
ventions so chosen. Third, the insertion
into the State Constitution of provision
which will secure the right of voting at
all elections to negroes, and to such white
men as may not be disfranchised for rebel
lion or felony. Fourth, the submission of
the Constitution for. ratification to nc
groes and white men not disfranchiscd,
and it's actual ratification by their vote.
Fifth, the submission of the State Consti-
tuition to Congress for examination and
approval, and the actual approval of it
by that body. Sixth, the adoption OF a
certaio amendment to tho Federal Con-
stitution by vote Of the Legislature
elected under the new Constitution.
Seventh, the adoption of said amendment
by q sufficient number of other States to
make it part of the Constitution of the
United States. All these conditions must
Be fulfilled before the people of any OF
these States can be relieved from the
bondage of military domination; but
when they are fulfilled, then Immediately
the pains and penalties of the bill arc to
cease, no matter whether there be peace
and order or not and without airy refer
cnce to the security Of life OF property.
The excuse given for the bill in the pre-
amble is admitted by the bill itself not
to be real. The military rule. which it
establishes is plainly to be used-not for
any purpose of order or for the proven
tion of crime-but solely as a means of
eoercing the people into the adoption of
principles and measures to which it is
known they arc opposed, and upon which
they have an undeniable right to exercise
their own Judgment
Z submit 40 Congress whether this
measure IS not, in its whole character,