The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1870-10-08
NUMBER 28.

thereOf, a1asteGG OF the oath pre-
scribed By the act Of July 2, 1862,
take and subscribe the following
oath or affirmation:
81, A. b., do solemnly swear Tor
affirm that I will support and de.
fend the Constitution of the Unit
ed States, against all enemies, for
eign and domestic; that I viii bear
faith and allegiance to the same;
that I take this obligation freely,
without any mental reservation or
purpose of evasion, and that / will
well and faithfully discharge the
duties of the Office on which I am
about to enter, so help me God"
Again, on the 14th day Of De.
csmber, 1869, Congress passed Q
law re-afirming that the above
oath shall be taken, by all persons
elected to Office, 'tfrom whom le-
| gal disabilities shall have beenre-
moved, ? instead of the iron.clad
oath, as follows:
"Sec. 2. And be it further en-
| acted, That all persons from whom
the disabilities imposed by the
14th amendment to the Constitu-
tion of the United States have
been or shall be removed, and
who have been or shall be elected
or appointed to any place of trust
in or under the government of the
United States, or of either of the
States, or Territories, shall, before
entering upon the duties thereof,
take and subscribe the oath pre-
scribed in the act approved July
Ill, 1868, entitled an act prescrib-
ing an oath of Office to be taken
by persons from whom legal disa-
bilities shah be removed, instead
Of the oath prescribed in the act
approved July 2, 1862, entitled an
act to prescribe an oath of office
and other purposes ANY thing in
any other act to the contrary not
| WlLnSbanQlng.11ae-
It appears from the above, that
the iron-clad oath cannot be re-
quired of any person elected to of.
flee whose disabilities may hare
been removed by Congress. But
Mr.. Randall, Chairman of the
Congressional Executive Commit
tee, is urging that if a person
whose disabilities have been re.
moved, is elected to Congress,
Hon. Edward McP Pherson, clerk Of
the House of Representatives,
would not put his name upon tlfe
roll of members, and that thus we
might lose his influence in the or
ganization Of the House. 10 is
clear, from the law of July, 1868,
and re-afirmed by the act of De.
cember la, 1869, that he would
have no right to exercise such ar
4 bitary power. The latter laws are
as binding on him as that of 1862.
t But.this bugbear is Fdispelled by
a letter from Mr.. McP Pherson him.
| self. In q letter to Gen. T. B. Smith,
Of Williamson county, Tennessee
who is a candidate for Congress
in that district, and whose disa-
bilities hsNe been removed by
Congress, Mr.. Mcpherson the
clerk aforesaid, writes us follows,
under date of August 26th: s1
ssIf the House believed you to
) be the person relieved, and that
the constitutional provision On
/, !, the subject was actually carried
out in your case, you would not
be required, if elected, to take the
i test oath, as a special oath il all
ministered to persons relieved of
their disabilities by act of Con
I | gress.p I4satAs' tt' sftHn
t Here, then, as well BY two acts
of Congress, as by the declaration
of the very person from whom a
different course was apprehended,
!. We see that the same authority
which enacted the iron-clad oath
distinctly substituted another in
], its stead for persons whose disa.
bilities have been removed by
u. Congress, and We also learn from
|, DIR. cPherson, who is invested