The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-08-14
TEN YEARS OF ALABAMA
1865-1874
John Pope, Commanding
1865-1874

, published terms and the face of soldiers
paroles.1 The law of nations then fixed
| their condition. [Again falsel They were
| subject to the controlling power of the
conqueror. No former laws, no former
compacts or treaties existed to bind the
belligerents. No sane man believed
that they had any organic or municipal
| laws which the United States were bound
| to respect. Whoever had then asserted
that those states remained unfractured
and entitled to all the rights and priv
| ileges which they enjoyed before the re-
| bellion and were on a level with their
| loyal conqueror, would have been deemed
| fool. .. II impartial suffrage is ex-
cluded in the rebel states, then every one
of them is sure to send a solid rebel rep
resentative delegation to Congress and
cast solid rebel electoral vote. They.
with their kindred copper heads of the
north. would always elect the President
and control Congress. am for ne
| gro suffrage in every rebel state. If the
measure be just, it should not be denied;
| If it be necessary 1t should be adopted If
| it be punishment to traitors, they de-
serve it."
The military authority advanced i'm
mediatey. Maj Gen. John Pope opened
headquarters at Atlanta, for district No.
g." Alabama included. Brevet Maj. Gen.
| Wager Swayne opened headquarters at
Montgomery as commander under Pope of
the sub-district. Alabama. Swayne was
also second in command of the freedman s
bureau, under Maj Gen. Oliver o. How
ard, whose headquarters were at WASH
| ington.
| The reconstruction acts provided COM
plete overthrow of civil government and
active revolution.
The commander of each district was
empowered by the law oreating it to re-
move all civil officers and place military
| officers in their places. II a civil Of
| ficer-Governor Patton. of Alabama. for
example--was permitted, at the discretion
of the general commanding. to remain
nominally in authority, he was considered
| merely as a superfluous adjunct at army
headquarters.
| The general commanding might dispos-
sess the civil judge, holding the commits
| sion of Alabama. not excepting the SUI
preme court, take the seat himself or
appoint, say, a captain from the line to
take it. Whatever decision on life. liberty
| or property the court as constituted might
| render could not be appealed to the SUI
preme court of the United States or to
any other tribunal except In case of the
death sentence The President must APP
| prove the finding before the prisoner
could be executed.
| Revolution ramified every paragraph and
every pTOVlbO OI tHS aus
| Not only had Alabama been recognised
as a state Of the union for two years last
past. by submitting to her legislature for
voluntary, constitutional determination,
| first the thirteenth article of amendment
and next the fourteenth article. but as
a state she was placed In the judicial ter
ritory of the United States ana federal
courts were unnterruptedly held within
her boundaries. When the state seeded.
no cause then pending on appeal before
the United States supreme court was dis
missed by reason of secession. Since the
was closed causes had been carried to
that tribunal as from the state of Ala
bama," and there they remained, unpreju-
diced by the whims of the fragment of
Congress. The entire federal taxing sys-
tenn was In operation In this state pre-
| cisely as In all the stAtes.
The President under the American sys-
tenn Is civilian and "commander-in-
chief OF the army and navy" The re-
construction supplementary act took this
| function OF office from him, placed it in
| the hands Of the district commanders re-
spectively. subject only to review by the
ranking general of the army The general
of the district was required by the act to
| usurp the place of the President, while
quired to displaee the constitutionally Gre
ated function of the Senate.
| The state of Alabama performed prodi.
| gies of heroism, lived up to marvellous
deeds Of wisdom amidst these trials. Her
| great men, and they were a thousand. will
understand that the overthrow OF STATE