The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1867-06-26
gnlitieal.

5pA&A4kssss
Power Of Military Commanders.
The opinion. of Attorney General STAN
BERRY as to the power of the military
commanders under the Reconstruction
Acts is too elaborate, for our columns.
The following extracts embrace the con-
clusiens, and satisfactorily show the limit
of the powers conferred;
= find it impossible, under the provisions
of this Act, to comprehend such an official
asa Governor of one of these States. ap-
pointed to Office by one of these military
Commanders certainly he is not the Gov
ernor recognized by the laws of the State
and clothed as such with the chief execu-
tive power; nor is he appointed as mill
tary governor for a State which has no
lawful governor, under the pressure of an
existing necessity to exercise powers at
Iaree. The. intention, no doubt, was to
appoint him to- fill a vacancy occasioned
bysa military order, and toSput him In the
place of the removed governor to execute
The functions eff the office as provided by
:. law. The Law takes no cognizance of such
official, and he is clothed with no authori-
ty or color of authority. What is true as
to tke governor is equally true as to all the
other legislative, executive and Judicial
officers of the State If the military CON-
mander can oust one from his Office, he can
oust them all; if he can ELL one vacancy,
he can fill all vacancies; and thus usurp
ALI civil jurisdiction into his own hands, or
she hands of those who hold their appoint
.sments from him, and are subject to his
power of removal, and thus Illustrate the
very right secured to the people by this
Act Certainly this Act is rigorous
enough in the power which it gives, with
all its severity. The right of electing
their own officers is still left with the peo-
pie, and it must be preserved.
must not be understood as fixing Inn
its to the power>of the military command
Eers in case of insurrecvion or riot 1t may
happen that an insurrection in one of these
States may be SO general and formidable
,as to require the temporary suspension OF
all civil governments and the establish
ment of martial law in its place, and the
same things may be true as to local disor-
.deror riot,sin reference to the civil gov
ernment of the city or place where 1t
! breaks out. Whatever power is necessary
10 n,eetssuch emergency, the military com
-mandcr. may properly exercise. eontine
myself to the proper authority of the mill
,tary commander where peace and order do
prevail. Itisnot. allowable to:displace the
civil officers and appoint Others IN their
places under any idea that the military
commanders can better perform his duties
and carry ont the general purposes OF the
Act by the agency of civil officers OF his
choice, rather than by the lawful incum-
bents. The Act gives him no right to re-
sort to such agency, but does give him the
7right.to have sufficient military force to
enable him to perform his duties and en-
force his authority within the district to
which he is assigned, in the suppression of
insurrection and riot. TIE military COM
mander is wholly independent of the civil
authority
$50, too. in the trial and punishment of
criminals and offenders, he may supercede
the civil jurisdiction. His power is to be
exercised in-these special emergencies, and
: the;m means are put into his hands by which
ii is to be exercised; that is to say, a sufi-
cient military force to enable such officer
to perform his duties and enforce his au-
thority; and military tribunals of his own
appointment to try and punish offenders.
: these are strictly military powers to be
executed by military authority, not by the
civil authority or by civil officers appointed
by him to perform ordinary civil duties.
: If these emergencies do not happen-it
civil order5is preserved and criminals are
duly prosecuted by the regular criminal
courts, the military power, though present,
must remain passive. Its proper function
is to preserve the peacc-to act promptly
where the peace is broken and restore or
der. When that is done, and their authority
may again safely resume its function, the
military power becomes again passive, but
on guard and watchful. This, in my
Judgment, is the whole scope of the mill
itary power.conferred by this. Act. In ar
riving at this construction of the Act, have
not found it necessary to resort to the strict
construction which is allowable.
The annexed summary as to who arc
entitled to registration is appended to the
aforesaid opinion of the Attorney Gene
raj, and definitely states the points deter
mined by his former construction of the
law upon this subject. AS the rules laid
down in this summary are likely to gov
ern the action of those having charge of
registration, they must be considered of
the highest Importance:
Who ARE ENTITLED TO REGISTRATION.
-Inthe opinion heretofore given upon
other questions arising under these laws,
gave at large for your consideration the
grounds upon which my conclusions were
arrived at, intending thereafter to state
these conclusions in concise and coar