The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-10-23
THE GOVERNORS MESSAGE.


80, IN on- Dolitical history. Since youl
adiournment on the 18th day of last April
the Election svstem established for this State
has heeu prominently before the people ano
boon Subjected to the closest scrutiny. tt
the fact that we have been called 10 enter
upon the first general election for state
District and County officers under the Con
stitution is attributable 20 the general m
terest which is being manifested by the
people. The financial crisis, prevailing cpl
demic, claims of rival candidates for office,
and other topics of general interest have
been held Ia allowance pending the diseus-
sion Of this subject, which must, OF neces-
sitv affect the interest of every man. woman
aud child in the State, not only for the pre-
sent but for the future.
In considering question of such import
ance fraught with consequences winch look
priDcfDallv TO the future, / trust you viii
free yourselves from partisan bias and mo-
tiyes of selishness. and forgetting lndiVid-
uai Interests and ambitions, You will use
YOUR brst efforts to maintain the supremacy
Of the Constitution.
That the election laws now upon our
statute books are ambiguous and conflict
ing aud that in several instances they ar"
NOT i'm accord with the Constitution, Is al
mitted oy all persons who have been called
closely 20 examine them That these lrrtg-
u!arities should exist is not remarkable,
when we consider the mass of legislation
which has been necessarily put torth since
reconstruction. in order to organize inc
State and place the wheels OF civil govern
meut in motion Where so much has been
done ia 80 short time, il were unreas"h-
able to expect all To be perfect
In order TO obtain correct understand
ing of the situation in which the state has
been placed by uncons ltu'lonAl legislation,
aud to define the course which should be
pursued TO extricate the government from
conSeauent eInbarra- smeut II VIII De neces-
sarv t. briefly review the history OF recon
structou.
1t Is generally conceded that Mississippi.
while not in the technical sense a territory
when reconstruction, commenced, was With
out a state government which could b.
recognized under the ConsilCutIoh ana
Laws OF the United states. mat she stood
before the national authority a. state
whose practical relations 10 the fedora
whole we're in state OF disruption, and
therefore subject 70 the paramount author
ity OF Congress, under that clause 81 The
Constitution which requires tine United
states 10 guarantee 10 every state repub
Iiran form of government" Congress took
this view OF the subject in 1861, and Legs
lated TOR the Southerh States as literally.
and with much exercise OF power, az IL
could Tor uHorgauiZed territories
The origiual reconstruction act passed
March 1857 declared that no legal State
government, or adequate pro lection of lite
and property, existed in the rebel States"
1t established military governments over
those States. aud clothed them with un-
limited authority. After doing this, Con
gress defined the plan of reconstruction as
follows:
~ SIC > That when the people of any of
said rebel states shall have formed Con-
etitntion Of government in conformity with
the Constitution of the United States in all
respects. and when such Constitution shall
be ratified by majority of persons voting
on the question OF ratification, and when
such Constitution shall have been submit
ted to Congress for examination aid APP
proVal, and Congress shall have approved
the same. said State shall be declared en-
titled 10 representation in Congress, and
Senators and Representatives shall be adj
miUted therefrom."
''SEc g. That until the people of said
States shan be by law admitted To repreSen-
CatiOn in the Congress OF the United States.
any civil government which may exist
therein, shall be deemed provisional, only,
and in all respects subject to the paramount
authority of the United States, at any time
TO abolish, modify, control, or supercede
the same"
The second supplemental act, passed July
18th, 1867, declares as follows:
'tThat IL is hereby declared to have been
the true intent ami meaning of the act OF
the second day of March, and of the act
supplementary thereto, that the govern
ments then existing in the rebel States,
we've not legal state governments, and that
hereafter said governments, 1t continued,
were to be continued subject in all respects
to the military commanders OF the respec-
gress.
These enactments, as interpreted by Con-
gress and its aEthoriZed agents, and by the
courts Of the country, establish the follow
ing propositions:
First That civil government III Missis
sippi was made subordinate TO military
governments subject TO be modified or abol
ished at any time, and so continued until
military governments ceased.
Second. That the framing of :" a ConSt til
nd al al tn he
Union" was u compliance with the first
condition Prescribed by the reconstruction
acts.
Third. That the ratification of the Consti-
tuition by the people was a compliance with
the second condition, and, as one of the
links in the process of reconstruction. was
complete only as 70 that particular act
Fourth. That the submission OF the Con-
stitution 50 ratified for the examination
and approval" OF Congress, was a compli-
ance With the third condition, and, carry
ing with it the evidence that all the prece-
dent conditions had been fulfilled, trans
ferred the work OF reconstruction from the
State of Mississippi to the halls of Congress.
where as the law expressly provides. thar
work was to be completed and approved
Fifth That uutil this approval by Con-
gress was oubtained, the Constitution was
incomplete and imperative, and could have
no binding force effect whatever
Sixth. That as Congress declared, in the
act of re-submission, April 10, 1850 That
the proceedings OF any OF said States shall
not be final or operative as complete res
toratfou thereof until their action respe,-
lively shall be approved by Congress -
military government necessarily and ALSO
lutelv continued until it was superseded nv
complete constitutional government. Con
ureSs approved the Con, titution, and admit
fed the State To representation. on the 23l
of February, 1870, and, until that time
Mississippi remained subject only TO the
provision of the reconstruction acts and the
tt,a r,,fl fVart -
that day {" Republican form OF Govern.
mpnt" was :. guaranteed " to the State ant
we were, thesceforth, independent and
sovereign under our new Constitution.
This view of the subject is held by the
Supreme Court of this state, as will be seer
by referring to the ease of Ieachman vs.
Musgrove. Is Miss. Reports, 536. In th,
opinion delivered by Judge Simral, and re-
ferring specially to the provisional civil
government. existing in the State, under
military government the Court said:
This State government would retire CO.
temporaneouSly with the Withdrawalof the
military authority; and that time woulc
arrive As soon as the new government wa,
inaugurated. 1t is absolutely necessary
when one government succeeds another
that there should be no Yacuum-nO inter
Fegnum-otherwiSe for a time, there migh
be an absence of authority, resolving soei
ETY. into condition of chaos and anarchy
The military government, and the provi
sional governments as an adjunct to il. eX
pired the 23i of February, 1870.
would follow that the title OF every ap
pointee of The military commandant, [
office. would expire, unless competent an
thority had made provision for their con
tfnuance until the complete installment G
the new officers
This decision of the supreme Court a
now constituted, so clearly and pointedl
stated, may be accepted as conclusive i
settling the question As To the exact ia
when military government ceased, and tn
new Constitution became the organic la,
of the State. This conclusion is abundant
sustained by the courts ofthe country where