Year: 1867




The President has sent the followin


message to the House of Representative


vetoing the Supplementary Reconstructio


Bill:


l have considered the bill entitled GA


act supplementary to an act to provide fo
the more efficient government of the reb(
. states, passed March 2, 1867 and to faci


itatc restoration" and now return il to tn
House Of Representatives with my object
ions.


This bill provides for the elections il
the ten states brought under the operation


of the original act to which it is supple


mentary. Its details are principally di
rected to the formation OF the state consti


tntions. But by the sixth section Of tn


bill all elections In these states occulrin!
while the original act remains in force ar


brought within its purview. Referring t.
the details, it will be found that, first of all
there is to be registration of The voters
No one whose name has not been admitted
on the list is to be allowed tc vote at any o
these elections. To ascertain who is en-.
titled to registration, reference is made
necessary by the express language of The
supplement to the original act and to the
pending bill The fifth section Of the
original act provides as to voters, thai
they shall be male citizens of the state
twenty-one years old and upward, of what
ever race, color, or previous condition, wkC
have been resident Of said state for one
year; this is the general qualification, fol
lowed, however, by many exceptions. Nc
one can be registered according to the
original act who may be disfranchised for
participation in the rebellion, provision
which left undetermined, the question as to
what amounted to disfranchisement, and
whether without a judicial sentence the
act itself produced the effect.


This supplemental bill superadds an
oath to be taken by every person, before
his name can be admitted upon the regis
tration, that he has not been disfranchised
for participation in any rebellion or civil
war against the United States. 1t thus
imposes upon every person the necessity
and responsibility of deciding for himself,
under Tic peril of punishment by militia
ry commission, if he makes a mistake, what
works disfranchisement by participation in
rebellion, and What amounts to such par
ticipation. Almost every man, the negro
as rel. as the white, above twenty-one
years ofage, who was resident in these ten
states during the rebellion, voluntarily or
inyoluntarily, at some time and in some
way. did participate in resistance to the
lawful authority Of the General Govern
ment The question With the citizen, to
whom this oatli is to be proposed, must be
a fearful one, for While the bill docs not
declare that perjury may be assigned for
such false swearing, nor fix any penalty for
any offense. we must not forget that mar
tial law prevails, that every person is an
swcrable to military commission, without
previous presentment by grand jury, for
any charge made against him, and that the
supreme authority ofthe military command
er determines the question as to what is an
offeuse, and what is to be the measure cf
the punishment.


The fourth section of the bill provides
that the commanding general of each dis
trict shall appoint as many boards of reg
istration as may be necessary, consisting of
three loyal officers or persons. The only
qualification stated for these officers is that
they must be loyal. They may be persons
in the military service or civilians, resi-
dents of the state or strangers, yet these
persons are to exercise most important du-
ties, and are vested with unlimited Giscre
ton. They are to decide what names shall
be placed upon the register, and from their
decision there is to be no appeal. They
are to superintend the elections, and to de-
eide all questions which may arise. They
are to have the custody of the ballots, and
to make return of the persons elected
Whatever frauds or errors they may COM
NIT must pass without redress. All that
is now left for the commanding general is
to receive the returns ofthe elections, open
the same, and ascertain who are chosen
according to the returns of the officers who
conducted such elections. BY such means
and with this sort Of agency, are the con-
ventions Of delegates to be constituted
AS the delegates are to speak for the peo-
pie, common justice would seem to require
that they should have authority from the
people themselves.


No convention so constituted will in any
sense represent the wishes of the inhabit-
ants of these states; for under the ALIEN
bracing exceptions of these laws, by con-
struction which the uncertainty OF the
clause as to Acknowledgement leaves open
to the board of officers, the great body of
the people may be excluded from the polls,
and from all opportunity of expressing
their own wishes. or voting for the dele
gates who will faithfully reflect their SEN
timents / do not deem it necessary fur
ther to investigate the details of this bill.
No consideration could induce me to give
my ;spproval to such an election law for
any purpose. and especially for the great
purpose of framing the constitution of a
state. If ever the American citizen should
be left 10 the free exercise of his own judg-
ment, it is when ho is engaged in the
work of forming the fundamental law un-
der which he is to live. That work is his
work, ana it can not properly be taken out
of his hands. All this Legislation proceeds
upon the contrary assumption that the
people of each of these states shall have
no constitution except such as may be ar
bitrarily dictated by Congress, and formed
under the restraint of military rule. A
plain statement Of the facts makes this ev
ident. Tn all these states there are exist
ing constitutions formed in the accustom-
ed way by the people. Congress, however,
decIares that these constitutions are not