The weekly loyal Georgian., 1867-08-10
NUHEEH II.

tiiiA'''iolo tt4tu depetolohS, would Ut
exceedingly filled with contempt
NU-HEER H.
in Mr.. Hills Atlanta speech. he saws
as he had before said in substance il
his Notes, that all who vote for >
Convention and encourage others to dc
so, are "moraly and }ega1ly peijayea
traitors" This is very sweeping and
unjust denunciation of large majority
OF the people of Georgia who will vote.
Why are they peJ@red traitoys2 Be.
cause the Convention is called nndel
the Military Bills, which, he says, VIC.
lates the Constitution, which he and
all others who took the Amnesty Oath.
and all who take the voters oath have
sworn to support. In other words, no
man who has sworn to support the
Constitution can vote for Convention,
asllff as5dacs e}6 e 81 b udc6ns1itHi66na rs 1ii6 aw wlth5
being guilty of perjury.
And why is he peyred2 Certainly
not because he votes for Convention
to alter the State Constitution. This is
the right of the citizens OF the States at
any time, and has been repeatedly ex-
crciscd by the people Of the different
States. Not because he votes for q
Convention to change the basis of suf
frage. That has bccn done repeatedly
by State Conventions and Legislatures.
Then why is it perjury to Yote for the
Convention ? The substance Of Mr..
Hills reply to this is: The act of
Congress that provides for holding the
Convention is unconstitutional, aud any
one who has sworn to support the Con-
stitution commits perjury if he acts
under an unconstitutional act OF Con-
gress. All who rcgiStcy do certainly act
under this same unconstitutional law of
Congress. The first action (which the
Bill prOposes) that the citizen
takes is TO register.
The second is to vote for or against
The one is as much
unde, the military law as the other.
And strange as is the Inconsistency,
Mr.. Hill advises him to do the first act
required, and denounces HIM as per-
iurcd traitor if he does the second, and
votes for the Convention. Before fur
ther noticing this very extraordinary
position, let us apply Mr.. Hills rule to
Mr.. Hill himself When he was re-
leased from prison and took the AIM
nesty Oath, he swore to support the
Of the United States, and
in the same breath he swore to support
the Proclamations OF the President,
slavery in the States, in
Guiding Georgia. At that time, Geor
gia had not held a Convention aud
agreed to abolish slavery. The Consti-
tuition protected it. The Presidents
had declared it abolished,
and at the same time Mr.. Hill swore TO
both the Constitution and the
Procla
He came home and favored the
Of provision into the
Of the State forever abolish
ing slavery, which was protected by the
Constitution Of the United States and
when the Legislature met, he favored
the adoption, by them, OF an amend
ment of the Constitution of the United
States declaring it forever abolished.
The President required the first and
Congress had proposed the second to
Ihe States, which the President also
required the Southern States to adopt,
Mr.. Hill swore both tc support the
Constitution and to carry into effect
the Proclamation of the President,
which abolished or declared it abolished,
orcr or "outside' of the Constitution.
We were then acting under the require
ments of the President. Now, compare
that with the present requirement.
The President then required us to do
two things:
First, to amend our State Constitu-
lions SO as to destroy some three
hundred millions of dollars of our
which the Constitution of the
United States protected; and, second,
to ratity an amendment Of the Constltn-
ton of the United States putting 1t
forever out Of the power OF the State to
restore our property to us. The present
of Congress also exact
two things of US: One to alter the
of the State SO as to give
suffrage to the African race, and the
other to ratify an amendment of the
Constitution OF the United States dis
certain officers (Mr. Hill
among the number) who engaged in
the rebellion, as mr amnesty oath