The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1867-08-20
From the Raleigh Standard.
REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.

! The work of registering the voters in this
State begun on the 18th instant. 1t must
be finished by the first of October; after which
the lists Of voters must be returned to the Com
manding General at Charleston, to be revised
oy him. This will require some two weeks,
| alter which We may expect an order for an e!ec-
tion of delegates to constitutional Convention.
| The number Of delegates will be l20 The
election will probably be ordered about the first
Of December, and may expect the Conven-
ton to meet about the first Of January. 4
Constitution can be framed by the first of Feb.
rualy and by the middle of March it can be
submitted to the people for approval or rejec-
ton. The Convention can provide that the
people may vote on the same day for Governor,
members of the Legislature, and seven members
of Congress. If the Constitution is ratified by
the people, it will then be laid before Congress.
That body can approve it by the middle of
April, and the members of Congress, being in
Washington, can be admitted to their seats;
and then the State Government, under an
ordinance of the Convention previously passed,
can be put at once in operation.
AS Congress has made rules, probably with
as much clearness as possible, prescribing the
qualifications Of voters, and as much discretion
is given by the law to the Registrars, the Com
manding General did-not deem it his duty to
give any specific Instructions on the subject
The oath required would seem to be plain No
person who held any cioil office before the re-
bellion, said office having been "created by law
for the administration Of justice" and who after
wards engaged in insurrection or rebellion or
gave aid or comfort to the Confederate cause,
can register his name as voter. It makes no
difference whether he took an oath or not, if he
held the Office. Persons who held military
offices before the rebellion are not excluded -
Persons who held no civil Office before the re-
bellion, as above described, are entitled to reg
lister and vote, though they may have fought
the United States throughout the war, and
though they may now be as hostile to it in feel
ing as they we're while fighting it.
The civil Office referred to must have been
"created by law" 1t must have been exercised
"for the administration Of the general law of the
State, or for the administration Of justice"
under that law The ''genera law of the State
is the common and statute law, operating alike
upon the whole State. Consequently Judges,
Governors, heads Of departments, Justices Of the
Peace, Sheritfs, Clerks of Courts Constables,
aud Other persons who held similar civil Offices
before the rebellion, or who held office under
the government. Of the United States, and after
wards engaged in the rebellion, are excluded
from registering. What must person have
uOne 10 BdFe eNSaSeu III TIE TeDclliOD
AYE, there's the rub" This depends largely
on the intent Of the person, as well as or the
acts performed. AS the oath itself is declared
by the law not to be conclusive, so no mere act
can be conclusive.
1t seems to US, therefore, that man who was
forced into the army against his WILL or who
accepted some office to avoid fighting against
the United States-whO can prove that, during
the rebellion he assailed aud embarrassed the
Confederate government, expressed affection for
the Union and the flag, and desired the triumph
Of the national government in the confict, and
is now we'll affected towards the government,
can not be said to have engaged in the rebellion,
and ought not to be excluded. So also Of those
who ministered in charity to Confederate sol
dicrs or their families. In word, the question
of intent runs more or less through the whole
matter