Year: 1867

SOutn-Car0llna, georgia, AiaOama, LOUISIANA,
Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas, and
whereas it is necessary that peace and good order
should be enforced in said States until loyal and
republican State governments can be legally es,
tablshcd; therefore,


Be i enacted By the Senate and House Of Repre-
sentatiyes OF tie United States of america in Con-
gress assembled, That said rebel States shall
be divided into military districts, and made sub


ect to the military authority ofthe United States
as hereinafter prescribed, and for that purpose
Virginia shall constitute the first district; North
Carolina and South Carolina the second district;
Georgia, Alabama and Florida the third district;
Mississippi and Arkansas the fourth district, and
Louisiana and Texas the fifth district


Sec. Q. Andbe it further enacted, That It shall
be the duty of the President to assign to the COM
mand of each of said districts an officer OF the
army not below the rank OF brigadier general,
and to detail sufficient military force to enable
such officer to perform his duties and enforce
his authority within the district to which he Is
assigned.


. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That it
said to protect all persons in their rights of per-
son and property, to suppress insurrection, dis
order, and violence, and to punish or cause to he
punished all disturbcrs of the public peace and
criminals ; and to this end he may allow local
civil tribunals to take jurisdiction of and try
offenders, or when in his Judgment it may be
necessary for the trial OF Offenders he shall have
power to organize military commissions or tri-
bunals for that purpose and all interference
under color of State authority with the eXer-
else of military authority under this act shall be
null and void.


SEC. 4. And be 1t further enacted That all
persons put under military arrest by virtue OF
this act shall be tried without unnecessary delay,
and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be in
ficted; and no sentence of any military COM
mission or tribunal hereby authorized, affecting
the life or liberty of any person, shall be execu-
tod tod
of the district; and the laws and regulations for
the government OF the army shall not be affected
by this act, except in so far as they may conflict
with its provisions Provided, That no sentence
of death under the provisions of this act shall be
carried into effect without the approval of the
President.


SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That when
the people of any of the aforesaid rebel States
shall have formed constitution of government
in conformity with the Constitution of the
United States in all respects, framed by a
convention of delegates elected by the male
citizens of said State twenty-one years old and
upward, OF whatever race, color, or previous
condition, who have been resident in said State
for one year previous to the day of such election,
except such as may be DISTINGUISHED for partici-
patton in the rebellion or for felony at common
law; and when such constitution shall provide
that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by all
such persons as have the qualifications herein
stated for election OF delegates and when such
constitution shall be ratified by majority of the
persons voting on the question of ratification who
are qualified as electors for delegates, and when
such constitution shall have been submitted to
Congress for examination and approval, and
Congress shall have approved the same; and
when said State by vote Ofits Legislature elect
ed under said constitution shall have adopted the
amendment to the Constitution of the United
States proposed by the Thirty Ninth Congress,
and AnOwn as article IA, and when said article
shall have become part of the Constitution of
the United States said State shall be declared en-
titled to representation in Congress, and Senators
and Representatives shall be admitted therefrom
on their taking the oath prescribed by law, and
then and thereafter the proceeding sections OF
I'll is act shall be imperative in said State IOci-
ded, That no person excluded from the privilege
of holding Office by said proposed amendment 10
the Constitution of the United States shall be
eligible to election as a member Of the convention
to frame 2 constitution for any of said rebel
States, nor shall any such person vote for men-
bers of said convention.


Sec. 6. And belt further enacted, That until
the people of said rebel States shall be, by law, ad
mitted to representation in the Congress OF the
United States, any civil governments which may
exist therein shall be deemed provisional only,
and in all respects subject to the paramount au-
thority of the United States at any time to abol-
ISL modify, control OF supersede the same (; and
in all elections to any office under such prOvis-
ional governments all persons shall be entitled to
vote, and none other, who are entitled to vote
under the provisions of the fifth section of this
act and no person shall be eligible to any office
under any such provisional governments who
would be disqualified from holding office under
the provisions of the third article of said consti-
tutional amendment.


NOW the person Of the citizen may not be
safe his property is threatened scith conJSsca-
ton our l0ws may be administered By stran-
gers; and the poaoer over the question Of sut-
.trage is oirtuaUy taken from the State. 1t
will be observed that in the preamble to the
bill, it is declared that no legal State gov
ernment, or adequate protection for life or
property noso erists, in the rebel States of
Virginia, &c. In this declaration, Congress
reserves to itself the power to say sohen the
legal State government in Virginia ceased; ;
and for what acts In the sixth section of
the bill it is declared, "That until the peo
pie of the said rebel States shall be by law
admitted to representation in the Congress
of the United States, any civil governments
that may exist therein, shall be deemed pro-
vIsional only, and shall be in all respects
subject to the paramount authority OF the
United States, at any time, to abolish, modi-
fv, control or supersede the same" The
theory of this bill is, that for acts heretofore
done by the people of Virginia, they have
placed themselves in condition in which
the organization of the government may be
broken up. The State constitution may be
abrogated and its laws rendered nullity,
in which event the people may lose their
character as whole people united in one
body polite, and each stand alone in his
own individuality When this takes place
the commonwealth is dead. The tenure by
which the lands are held, dies with it. The
commonwealth grants the land and guaran-
tees the title and possession to the grantee.
The power of the State is welded for his
protection. But in this case the guarantor
may become helpless under superior pow
er. One of the ways in which State or
commonwealth may be destroyed, is by q
superior power in arms, or by the power of
war. When destroyed in this way, the pow
er of the conqueror annuls the organic and
statute laws of the State, and substitutes
new laws in their place, and with the de-
struction of the law, the title to the prop
ertv may die with it, and the conqueror may
divide the property therein among all his
followers, or give t to designated persons,
or he may sell it to the highest bidder, in
large or small parcels Then he becomes the
new guarantor of title SO granted, and the
title depends on his ability to defend it.


This is no new theory, nor the indication
of any new practice. The greater part of
England has been divided out in this way
several times The most of their present te-
nures were derived, and are held in this way.
The same is true of large part of the con-
tinent of Europe Nor is this theory new
one in Virginia. 1t formed the theme Of
most Of the public speeches made on this
side during the war; and elaborate newspa-
per articles were written to stimulate the
people to desperate action by the assurance