The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-05-19
CHAR EST N.
-
TUESDAY MORNING. MAY 10, 1868.
The Iron-clad and tho Municipal Elec-
tfons.

| According to General CANBY's letter al
ready published in The News, until 'the
State of South Carolina is declared entitled
to representation in the Congress Of the
United States, the oath prescribed by the
act of Congress of July ., 1862, must be
taken by all persons appointeu or elected
to office" The oath of July 2, 1862, COM
monty called the iron-clad oath, is as fol-
lows:
"I, "A B, do solemnly swear (or afirm) that
| 7 have never voluntarily borne arms against
thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid,
countenance, counsel, or announcement to
| persons engaged in armed hostility thereto
that have never sought nor accepted nor at
tempted to exercise tho functions Of any Office
whateve., under any authority or pretended
authority, In hostility to the United States ;
that have not yielded voluntary support to
any pretended government, authority, power,
| or constitution within the United States, hos
| tile or inimical thereto and do further swear
Tor afirm) that, to the best of my knowledge
and ability, will support and defend the Con-
stitution Of the United States, against all enc
mics, foreign and domestic; that will bear
true faith and allegiance to the same; that I
take this obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose Of evasion, and that I
will well and faithfully discharge the duties of
the Office on which am about to enter; 80
help me God"
This oath must be taken by the Mayor
and Aldermen to be elected on June I'd and
Sd, unless the State is then, or before that
| time. declared to be entitled to representa-
tion in Congress.
The omnibus bill does admit South Caro-
lima to representation; but it is upon
certain conditions, and it is evident enough
that those conditions cannot be complied
with before the days designated for the
elections. If the omnibus bill is presented
to the President to-day, it will remain in
the hands Of the President nearly ten days,
if it is to be vetoed, or quite ten days if it
become law on account Of, tho failure Of
the President to sign the bill, or to return
it with his objections. The bill, therefore,
canaot well become law before the end Of
May, just two days before the city elections;
and when the bill has become law the
State must do her part. The third section
provides that the first section of the act
(the section which declares that the State
shall be entitled and admitted to represen-
tation) shall take effect when the President
Of the United States shall proclaim the rat
ifcation by the State Legislature Of the
fourteenth constitutional amendment, the
proclamation being ordered to be made
within ten days after the receipt by the
President of official information Of said
ratification. Here'i is room for more delay.
The Legislature cannot be called together
ina moment, it:csnnot meet earlier than the
beginning Of June, it cannot present to the
President any ,ofacial information of the
ratification Of the constitutional amend
ment for several days, and, finally, the Pres
.ident has ten days within which to make
proclamation.
It, therefore, seems certain that South
Carolina cannot, under the most favorable
circumstances, be declared entitled to rep
resentation in Congress before the middle
or end of June, so that whoever is nomina-
ted for any municipal Office to be filed on
June I'd and Sd, must, if he is in earnest in
being candidate, be prepared to take the
iron-clad oath.