Year: 1867

the United states, returning 10 the
House of Representatives bill enti-
tied tan act to provide for the more ef-
ficient governmento of therebel States :"
To the House Of Representatives


| have examined tho bill "to pro-
vide for the more efficient government
of the rebel States" with the care and
anxiety which its transcendent i'm
portanee is calculated to awaken. |
am unable to give it my assent, for
reasons so grave that l hope state
ment of them may have some influence
on the minds of the patriotic and en-
lightcncd men with whom the decis.
ion must ultimately rest


The bill places all the people Of the
ten States therein named under the
absolute domination of military rulers,
and the preamble undertakes TO give
the reason upon which the measure is
based, and the ground upon which ii
is justified. 1t declares that there ex-
lists in those States no legal govern.
ments, and no adequate protection for
life or property, and asserts the neces-
sity of enforcing peace and good order
within their limits. Is this true as
matter of factY


1t is not denied that the States in
question have each of them an actual
government, with all the power, exc
cutive, judicial, and legislative, which
properly belong to free State They
are organized like the other States of
the Union, and like them, they make,
administer, and execute the laws which
concern their domestic affairs An
existing de fdcto government, exer-
csing such functions as these, is itself
the law Of the State upon all matters
within its jurisdiction. To pronounce
the supreme law-making power of an
established State illegal is to say that
law itself is unlawful.


The provisions which these govern
ments have made for the preservation
of order, the suppression of crime, and
the redress of private injuries, are in
substance and principle the same as
those which prevail in the Northern
States and in other civilized countries.
They certainly have not succeeded in
preventing the commission of all crime,
nor has this been accomplished any
where in the world. There, as well
as elsewhere, offenders sometimes cs-
cape for want of vigorous prosecution,
and occasionally, perhaps, by the in.
efficiency of courts, or the prejudice of
Jurors. 1t is undoubtedly true that
these evils have been much increased
and aggravated, North and South, by
the demoralizing influences of civil
war, and by the rancorous passions
which the contest has engendered.
But that these people are maintaining
local governments for themselves,
which habitually defeat the object of
all government, and render their own
lives and property insecure, is in itself
utterly improbable, and the avcrment
of the bill to that effect is not support
ed by any evidence which has come
to my knowledge. All the informa-
tion have on the subject convinces
me that the masses Of the Southern
people and those who control their
public acts, while they entertain di-
verse opinions on questions of Federal
policy, are completely united in the
effort TO reorganizc their society on
the basis of peace, and to restore their
mutual prosperity as rapidly and as
completely as their circumstances will
permit.


The bill, however, would seem to
show upon its face that the establish
ment Of peace and good order is not
its real object. The fifth section de-
clares that the preceding sections shall
cease TO operate in any State where
certain events shall have happened.
These events are:


First. The selection Of delegates to
State Convention by an election, at
which negroes shall be allowed to vote


Second. The formation Of State
Constitution by the convention so cho-
sen.


Third. The insertion into the State
Constitution of a provision which will
secure the right Of voting at all elec-
tions to negroes, and to such white
men as may not be disfranchised for
rebellion or felony.


Fourth. The submission Of the Con-
stitution for ratification to negroes
and vhite men not disfranchised, and
its actual ratification by their votes.


Fifth. The submission of the State
Constitution 10 Congress for examina-
ton and approval, and the actual APP
proval Of il by that body.


lSirth. The adoption Of certain
amendment to the Federal Constitu-
ton by a vote of the Legislature elect
cd under the new Constitution.


lSerenth. The adoption ofsaid amend
ment by a sufficient number of other
States to make il part of the Consti-
tuition Of the United States.


All these conditions must be fulfilled
before the people of any ofthese States
can be relieved from the bondage OF
military domination; but when they
are fulfilled, then Immediately the
pains and penalties of the bill are to
cease, no matter whether there be
peace and order or not, and without
any reference TO the security of life or
property. The excuse given for the
bill in the preamble is admitted by the
bill itself not to be real. The military
rule which it establishes is plainly to
be used. not for any purpose of order
or for the prevention of crime, but
solely as a means of coercing the poo
pie into the adoption Of principles and
measures to which il is known that