CHAPTER LXXXIII.RECONSTRUCTION.
Condition of the Republican and Democratic Parties in Congress in December, 1866.—The District of Columbia Elective Franchise Bill passed: Its Provisions.—Mr. Johnson vetoes it, but it is passed over the Veto.—Territorial Franchise Bill passed.—Admission of Nebraska as a State, with the Elective Franchise Proviso.—Difficulties in Maturing satisfactorily the Reconstruction Act.—The Provisions of the House Bill.—It is materially changed in the Senate.—Further Modification in the House Provisions of the Bill as finally passed.—Necessity for the Tenure of Office Act: Its Provisions.—Effect of the Passage of the District of Columbia Franchise Bill on Tennessee.—Decision of the Supreme Court of Tennessee.—The First Supplementary Reconstruction Act of the Fortieth Congress.—It is vetoed, and re-passed: Its Provisions.—Arrangement for the Call of a Summer Session.—Mr. Stanbery’s Exposition of the Reconstruction Acts.—The Summer Session of 1867.—The Second Supplementary Reconstruction Act: Its Provisions.—Appropriations for Carrying out the Reconstruction Acts.—The President’s Communication.—The Resolution of the House in Reply.—Sharp Talk.—The Completion of Congressional Legislation on the Subject in 1867.—Condition of the Desolated States in 1867.
The elections of the Autumn of 1866 had greatly strengthened and encouraged the Republican majority in Congress, and when the members of the Thirty-ninth Congress met in their second session in December, 1866, they were resolved to complete their work of reconstruction, so far as it was possible to do so, and to pass the necessary bills over the President’s veto. The minority (Democrats) were weak in numbers in both houses, but they numbered several men of very considerable ability, and they had been reënforced by the defection from the Republicans of Messrs. Cowan, Doolittle, Dixon, and Norton in the Senate, and Mr. Raymond, and two or three others, on some questions, in the House. Their losses by death and by the unseating of several members whose seats were contested, however, gave them really very little more available strength than in the previous session,while the Republicans were united and thoroughly in earnest.
The first measure adopted during the session, having a bearing on the question of reconstruction, was the bill regulating the elective franchise in the District of Columbia. This was a measure of great importance, as, the District of Columbia being under the exclusive government of Congress, the action of that body in regard to conferring the suffrage and other privileges of citizenship upon the negro there, would indicate distinctly what Congress would require from the Rebel States as conditions precedent to their admission into the Union. Its provisions were as follows: Sec. 1 confers the elective franchise on male citizens of the United States, twenty-one years old and upward without distinction on account of race or color, who shall have resided in the District one year next preceding any election therein, excepting paupers, persons under guardianship, those convicted of any infamous crime or offense, and those who may have voluntarily given aid and comfort to the Rebels in the late Rebellion. Sec. 2 provides that any person whose duty it shall be to receive votes at any election within the District of Columbia, who shall reject the vote of any person entitled to vote under this act, shall be liable to an action of tort by the person injured, and on indictment and conviction, to a fine not exceeding $5,000, or to imprisonment not exceeding one year in the jail of the District, or both. Sec. 3 provides that any one willfully disturbing an elector in the exercise of such franchise shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $1,000, or an imprisonment not exceeding thirty days in the jail of the District, or both. Sec. 4 makes it the duty of criminal courts in the District to give this act in special charge to the grand jury at the common circuit of each term of the court. Secs. 5 and 6. The voting lists are to be prepared by the mayors and aldermen of the cities of Washington and Georgetown on and before the first day of March in eachyear, and are to be posted in public places ten days before the annual election. The remaining four sections give other prescriptions as to the manner in which the election shall be held.
This bill passed the Senate December 14, 1866, by a vote of 32 yeas to 13 nays; and the House by 128 yeas to 46 nays. Mr. Johnson vetoed it in a very elaborate message, on the 7th of January, 1867; and the same day the Senate passed it again over the veto, by yeas 29, nays 10; and the next day, the House followed their example by yeas 113, nays 38.
On the 14th of January, 1867, a bill was sent to the President, which had previously passed both houses of Congress by a large majority, which provided that from and after its passage there should be no denial of the elective franchise in any of the territories of the United States, now, or hereafter to be organized, to any citizen thereof, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; and all acts or parts of acts, either of Congress or the legislative assemblies of said territories, inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are declared null and void.
This bill, not being returned by the President within ten days, became a law on the 24th of January, 1867.
The next measure was the admission of Nebraska as a State, with the condition that the new State should by a solemn act assent to the provision that there should be no denial within the State of the elective franchise, or of any other right to any person, by reason of race or color, excepting Indians not taxed. This was vetoed by the President, but passed over his veto, February 9.
The question of reconstruction proper, as applied to the States lately in insurrection, was one of greater difficulty. Several bills were presented in both houses, and very considerable differences of opinion evidently existed among the Republican members. So serious were these at one time as to make it doubtful whether any measure which would be generally satisfactory could be passed during the session. Abill at length passed the House, for abrogating the existing provisional governments in the Rebel States, and establishing military rule there, dividing the whole Southern territory into five military districts, and conferring upon the General-in-chief the power of appointing the commanders of these districts. This bill was materially modified, or rather, another bill, combining with it reconstruction measures, and placing the appointing power in the hands of the President, was presented in the Senate, by Senator Sherman of Ohio, which passed that body. To this the House disagreed, and voted to adhere to its original bill. After some time, however, the House receded, and added some important amendments to Sherman’s bill, which was then passed by both houses; the vote in the House being 128 yeas to 46 nays, and that in the Senate, 35 yeas to 7 nays.
This measure was one of such importance that we deem it necessary to give the text of it in full. It is as follows:—
“An Actto provide efficient Government for the Insurrectionary States.
“Whereas, No legal State governments or adequate protection for life or property now exist in the Rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, 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 established; therefore,
“Be it enacted, etc., That said Rebel States shall be divided into military districts, and made subject to the military authority of the United States, as hereinafter mentioned; 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.
“Section 2.That it shall be the duty of the President to assign to the command of each of said districts an officer of the army not below the rank of Brigadier-General, and to detail a sufficient militaryforce to enable such officer to perform his duties and enforce his authority within the district to which he is assigned.
“Section 3.That it shall be the duty of each officer assigned as aforesaid to protect all persons in their rights of person and property; to suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence; and to punish or cause to be punished all disturbers 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 committees or tribunals for that purpose; and all interference under color of State authority with the exercise of military authority under this act shall be null and void.
“Section 4.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 inflicted; and no sentence of any military commission or tribunal hereby authorized affecting the life or liberty of any person shall be executed until it is approved by the officer in command 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 this act shall be carried into execution without the approval of the President.
“Section 5.When the people of any one of said Rebel States shall have formed a constitution and 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, 21 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 disfranchised for participation 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 electors of delegates, and when such constitution shall be ratified by a 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 a vote of its legislature elected under said constitutionshall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the United States proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known as Article 14, and when said article shall have become part of the Constitution of the United States, said State shall be declared entitled 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 preceding sections of this act shall be inoperative in said State.Provided, That no person excluded from the privilege of holding office by said proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall be eligible to election as a member of the convention to frame a constitution for any of said Rebel States, nor shall any such person vote for members of such convention.
“Section 6.Until the people of the said Rebel States shall by law be admitted to representation to the Congress of the United States, all civil governments that may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and shall be in all respects subject to the paramount authority of the United States, at any time to abolish, modify, control, and supersede the same, and in all elections to any office under such provisional governments all persons shall be entitled to vote under the provisions of the fifth section of this act. And no person shall be eligible to any office under such provisional governments who would be disqualified from holding office under the provisions of the third article of said Constitutional Amendment.”
This act completes the reconstruction measures properly so called, of the Thirty-ninth Congress. One other bill, passed by that Congress, at its second session, demands notice in this connection, from its purpose, and its subsequent bearing on the question of impeachment. The due and active enforcement of the reconstruction measures passed by Congress over the President’s veto, depended in a great degree upon the Secretary of War. It was known that Mr. Johnson would not be remarkably zealous in compelling obedience to them, though it was not known, till some months later, that he would counsel their violation, on the ground of his belief or impression that they were unconstitutional. But of the fidelity and loyalty of Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, the Republicansin Congress had no question, and their only apprehension was that Mr. Johnson would discharge him from his cabinet, and place in the department some supple tool of his own, whose whole effort would be to nullify these measures which they regarded as so important. There were others, too, in administrative positions, especially in connection with the Freedmen’s Bureau, who were liable to removal for no other offense than that of an honest effort to administer the laws in letter and spirit.
To prevent the exercise of this arbitrary power by the President, the Tenure of Office Act was matured, and passed the Senate February 18, 1867, by yeas 22, nays 10; and the House, February 19, by yeas 112, nays 41. It was as follows:—
“An Actregulating the Tenure of certain Civil Offices.
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That every person holding any civil office to which he has been appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and every person who shall hereafter be appointed to any such office, and shall become duly qualified to act therein, is, and shall be, entitled to hold such office until a successor shall have been in like manner appointed and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise provided:Provided, That the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, of the Navy, and of the Interior, the Postmaster-General, and the Attorney-General shall hold their offices respectively for and during the term of the President by whom they may have been appointed, and for one month thereafter, subject to removal by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
“Section 2.That when any officer appointed as aforesaid, excepting judges of the United States courts, shall, during the recess of the Senate, be shown, by evidence satisfactory to the President, to be guilty of misconduct in office, or crime, or for any reason shall become incapable or legally disqualified to perform its duties, in such case, and in no other, the President may suspend such officer, and designate some suitable person to perform temporarily the duties of such office until the next meeting of the Senate, and until the case shallbe acted upon by the Senate; and such person, so designated, shall take the oaths and give the bonds required by law to be taken and given by the person duly appointed to fill such office; and in such case it shall be the duty of the President, within twenty days after the first day of such next meeting of the Senate, to report to the Senate such suspension, with the evidence and reasons for his action in the case, and the name of the person so designated to perform the duties of such office. And if the Senate shall concur in such suspension, and advise and consent to the removal of such officer, they shall so certify to the President, who may thereupon remove such officer, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint another person to such office. But if the Senate shall refuse to concur in such suspension, such officer so suspended shall forthwith resume the functions of his office, and the powers of the person so performing its duties in his stead shall cease, and the official salary and emoluments of such officer shall, during such suspension, belong to the person so performing the duties thereof, and not to the officer so suspended:Provided, however, That the President, in case he shall become satisfied that such suspension was made on insufficient grounds, shall be authorized, at any time before reporting such suspension to the Senate as above provided, to revoke such suspension, and reinstate such officer in the performance of the duties of his office.
“Section 3.That the President shall have power to fill all vacancies which may happen during the recess of the Senate, by reason of death or resignation, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session thereafter. And if no appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall be made to such office so vacant or temporarily filled as aforesaid during such next session of the Senate, such office shall remain in abeyance without any salary, fees, or emoluments attached thereto, until the same shall be filled by appointment thereto, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and during such time all the powers and duties belonging to such office shall be exercised by such other officer, as may by law exercise such powers and duties in case of a vacancy in such office.
“Section 4.That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to extend the term of any office the duration of which is limited by law.
“Section 5.That if any person shall, contrary to the provisions of this act, accept any appointment to or employment in any office, or shall hold or exercise, or attempt to hold or exercise, any such office or employment, he shall be deemed, and is hereby declared to be, guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon trial and conviction thereof, he shall be punished therefor by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.
“Section 6.That every removal, appointment, or employment made, had, or exercised, contrary to the provisions of this act, and the making, signing, sealing, countersigning, or issuing of any commission or letter of authority for or in respect to any such appointment or employment, shall be deemed, and are hereby declared to be, high misdemeanors, and, upon trial and conviction thereof, every person guilty thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court:Provided, That the President shall have power to make out and deliver, after the adjournment of the Senate, commissions for all officers whose appointment shall have been advised and consented to by the Senate.
“Section 7.That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Senate, at the close of each session thereof, to deliver to the Secretary of the Treasury, and to each of his assistants, and to each of the Auditors, and to each of the Comptrollers in the Treasury, and to the Treasurer, and to the Register of the Treasury, a full and complete list, duly certified, of all persons who shall have been nominated to and rejected by the Senate during such session, and a like list of all the offices to which nominations shall have been made and not confirmed and filled at such session.
“Section 8.That whenever the President shall, without the advice and consent of the Senate, designate, authorize, or employ any person to perform the duties of any office, he shall forthwith notify the Secretary of the Treasury thereof, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury thereupon to communicate such notice to all the proper accounting and disbursing officers of his Department.
“Section 9.That no money shall be paid or received from theTreasury, or paid or received from or retained out of any public moneys or funds of the United States, whether in the Treasury or not, to or by or for the benefit of any person appointed to or authorized to act in or holding or exercising the duties or functions of any office contrary to the provisions of this act; nor shall any claim, account, voucher, order, certificate, warrant, or other instrument providing for or relating to such payment, receipt, or retention, be presented, passed, allowed, approved, certified, or paid by any officer of the United States, or by any person exercising the functions or performing the duties of any office or place of trust under the United States, for or in respect to such office, or the exercising or performing the functions or duties thereof; and every person who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and upon trial and conviction thereof, shall be punished therefor by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.”
The action of Congress in bestowing the franchise, without distinction of race or color, on the inhabitants of the District of Columbia, speedily exerted an influence in other sections. On the 6th of February, 1867, the lower branch of the Tennessee Legislature passed a bill striking the word “white” from the franchise law of the State, by yeas 38, nays 25. On the 18th of February the State Senate concurred, by yeas 14, nays 7. On the 21st of March, the Supreme Court of the State unanimously sustained the constitutionality of the franchise law as thus amended, and in August following, the negroes, for the first time, exercised the franchise, at the election for governor.
In the passage of the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867, the Republicans of the Thirty-ninth Congress had not fully come up to the positions which it was their duty to occupy.
The bill too was somewhat loosely drawn, and some supplementary legislation was necessary to give it force and efficacy. It was, perhaps, the best that could be done under the circumstances, for they were embarrassed by the diversityof opinions on many of the details of reconstruction, among the Republicans themselves, and by the fact, that any very stringent measure could not be passed over the veto which was sure to come. The Fortieth Congress, which was called together by the officers of its predecessor on the 4th of March, 1867, was fresh from the people, and stronger and more positive in its convictions. One of the measures taken up at its short session of March, 1867, was a supplementary Reconstruction Act, which passed both houses on the 19th of March. This was vetoed March 23, and the same day passed over the veto; in the House by 114 yeas to 25 nays, and in the Senate by 40 yeas to 7 nays.
The following are the main provisions of this act:—
“Before September 1, 1867, the commanding general in each district, defined by an act entitled ‘An Act to provide for the more Efficient Government of the Rebel States,’ passed March 2, 1867, shall cause a registration to be made of the male citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age and upwards, resident in each county or parish in the State or States included in his district, which registration shall include only those persons who are qualified to vote for delegates by the act aforesaid, and who shall have taken and subscribed the following oath or affirmation: ‘I, ——, do solemnly swear (or affirm), in the presence of Almighty God, that I am a citizen of the State of ——; that I have resided in said State for —— months next preceding this day, and now reside in the county of ——, or the parish of ——, in said State (as the case may be); that I am twenty-one years old; that I have not been disfranchised for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the United States, nor for felony committed against the laws of any State or of the United States; that I have never been a member of any State legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office in any State and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress of the United States, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection orrebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, encourage others so to do, so help me God;’ which oath or affirmation may be administered by any registering officer.Sec. 2.After the completion of the registration hereby provided for in any State, at such time and places therein as the commanding general shall appoint and direct, of which at least thirty days’ public notice shall be given, an election shall be held of delegates to a convention for the purpose of establishing a constitution and civil government for such State loyal to the Union, said convention in each State, except Virginia, to consist of the same number of members as the most numerous branch of the State legislature of such State in the year 1860, to be apportioned among the several districts, counties, or parishes of such State by the commanding general, giving to each representation in the ratio of voters registered as aforesaid, as nearly as may be. The convention in Virginia shall consist of the same number of members as represented the territory now constituting Virginia in the most numerous branch of the legislature of said State in the year 1860, to be apportioned as aforesaid.Sec. 3.At said election the registered voters of each State shall vote for or against a convention to form a constitution therefor under this act. The person appointed to superintend said election, and to make return of the votes given thereat, as herein provided, shall count and make return of the votes given for and against a convention; and the commanding general to whom the same shall have been returned shall ascertain and declare the total vote in each State for and against a convention. If a majority of the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, then such convention shall be held as hereinafter provided; but if a majority of said votes shall be against a convention, then no such convention shall be held under this act:Provided, that such convention shall not be held unless a majority of all such registered voters shall have voted on the question of holding such convention.Sec. 4.The commanding general of each district shall appoint as many boards of registration as may be necessary, consisting of three loyal officers or persons, to make and complete the registration, superintend the election, and make return to him of the votes, lists of voters, and of the persons elected as delegatesby a plurality of the votes cast at said election; and upon receiving said returns he shall open the same, ascertain the persons elected as delegates according to the returns of the officers who conducted said election, and make proclamation thereof; and if a majority of the votes given on that question shall be for a convention, the commanding general, within sixty days from the date of election, shall notify the delegates to assemble in convention, at a time and place to be mentioned in the notification, and said convention, when organized, shall proceed to frame a constitution and civil government according to the provisions of this act and the act to which it is supplementary; and when the same shall have been so framed, said constitution shall be submitted by the convention for ratification to the persons registered under the provisions of this act, at an election to be conducted by the officers or persons appointed or to be appointed by the commanding general, as hereinbefore provided, and to be held after the expiration of thirty days from the date of notice thereof, to be given by said convention; and the returns thereof shall be made to the commanding general of the district.Sec. 5.That if, according to said returns, the constitution shall be ratified by a majority of the votes of the registered electors qualified as herein specified, cast at said election (at least one half of all the registered voters voting upon the question of such ratification), the president of the convention shall transmit a copy of the same, duly certified, to the President of the United States, who shall forthwith transmit the same to Congress, if then in session, and if not in session, then immediately upon its next assembling; and if it shall, moreover, appear to Congress, that the election was one at which all the registered and qualified electors in the State had an opportunity to vote freely and without restraint, fear, or the influence of fraud, and if the Congress shall be satisfied that such constitution meets the approval of a majority of all the qualified electors in the State, and if the said constitution shall be declared by Congress to be in conformity with the provisions of the act to which this is supplementary, and the other provisions of said act shall have been complied with, and the said constitution shall be approved by Congress, the State shall be declared entitled to representation, and Senators and Representatives shall be admitted therefrom as therein provided.Sec. 6.All elections in the States mentioned in the said ‘Act to provide for themore efficient Government of the Rebel States,’ shall, during the operation of said act, be by ballot; and all officers making the said registration of voters and conducting said elections shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, take and subscribe the oath prescribed by the Act approved July 2, 1862, entitled ‘An Act to prescribe an Oath of Office:’Provided, That if any person shall knowingly and falsely take and subscribe any oath in this act prescribed, such person so offending and being thereof duly convicted, shall be subject to the pains, penalties, and disabilities which by law are provided for the punishment of the crime of wilful and corrupt perjury.”
Mr. Johnson promised to carry out this act faithfully, but the Republican leaders had seen so often how little dependence was to be placed upon his pledges, that they did not think it prudent to adjourn without making provision for the calling of a Summer Session, should it prove to be necessary.
The event proved that this was a wise and needful precaution. In direct contradiction to his promises, Congress had hardly adjourned before Mr. Johnson procured from his Attorney-General, Mr. Stanbery, a series of opinions in regard to the Reconstruction Acts, in which, with a lawyer’s ingenuity, they were wrested from their plain and obvious meaning, and explained to be merely measures of military police, of no particular importance. The first of these opinions, bearing date May 24, the President had forwarded to the various military commanders, accompanied with a note calling their attention to it. It was his obvious intention, though he was too disingenuous to say so distinctly, that it should be regarded as mandatory; and by this device he hoped to annul the Reconstruction Acts.
This artful trick rendered it necessary to summon Congress to meet on the 4th of July, 1867, and they promptly passed another supplementary Reconstruction Act, in terms so plain and unmistakable that even the Attorney-General could not subvert its meaning, and the execution of the act was conferred on the General-in-chief and the commanders of the military districts, instead of the President. This act waspassed July 13, in the Senate by a vote of 31 to 6; in the House by 111 to 23. Mr. Johnson vetoed it (of course) on the 19th of July, and it was at once passed over the veto; in the Senate by a vote of 30 to 6, in the House by 100 to 22. The bill was as follows:—
“Sec. 1.That it is hereby declared to have been the true intent and meaning of the Act of the 2d day of March, 1867, entitled ‘An Act to provide for the more efficient Government of the Rebel States,’ and the act supplementary thereto, passed the 23d of March, 1867, that the governments then existing in the Rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas, were not legal State governments; and that thereafter said governments, if continued, were to be continued subject in all respects to the military commanders of the respective districts, and to the paramount authority of Congress.
“Sec. 2.That the commander of any district named in said act shall have power, subject to the disapproval of the General of the army of the United States, and to have effect until disapproved, whenever, in the opinion of such commander, the proper administration of said act shall require it, to suspend or remove from office, or from the performance of official duties, and the exercise of official powers, any officer or person holding or exercising, or professing to hold or exercise, any civil or military office or duty in such district, under any power, election, appointment, or authority derived from, or granted by, or claimed under, any so-called State, or the government thereof, or any municipal or other division thereof; and upon such suspension or removal such commander, subject to the approval of the General as aforesaid, shall have power to provide from time to time for the performance of the said duties of such officer or person so suspended or removed, by the detail of some competent officer or soldier of the army, or by the appointment of some other person to perform the same, and to fill vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise.
“Sec. 3.That the General of the army of the United States shall be invested with all the powers of suspension, removal, appointment, and detaching, granted in the preceding section to district commanders.
“Sec. 4.That the acts of the officers of the army, already done in removing in said districts persons exercising the functions of civil officers, and appointing others in their stead, are hereby confirmed; provided that any persons heretofore or hereafter appointed by any district commander to exercise the functions of any civil office may be removed either by the military officer in command of the district, or by the general of the army, and it shall be the duty of such commander to remove from office, as aforesaid, all persons who are disloyal to the government of the United States, or who use their official influence in any manner to hinder, delay, prevent or obstruct the due and proper administration of this act and the acts to which it is supplementary.
“Sec. 5.That the boards of registration provided for in the act entitled ‘An Act supplementary to an Act entitled “An Act to provide for the more efficient Government of the Rebel States,” passed March 2, 1867, and to facilitate Restoration,” passed March 23, 1867, shall have power, and it shall be their duty, before allowing the registration of any person, to ascertain, upon such facts or information as they can obtain, whether such person is entitled to be registered under said act, and the oath required by said act shall not be conclusive on such question; and no person shall be registered unless such board shall decide that he is entitled thereto; and such board shall also have power to examine under oath, to be administered by any member of such board, any one touching the qualification of any person claiming registration; but in every case of refusal by the board to register an applicant, and in every case of striking his name from the list, as hereinafter provided, the board shall make a note or memorandum, which shall be returned with the registration list to the commanding general of the district, setting forth the ground of such refusal or such striking from the list:Provided, that no person shall be disqualified as a member of any board of registration by reason of race or color.
“Sec. 6.That the true intent and meaning of the oath presented in said supplementary act is (among other things), that no person who has been a member of the legislature of any State, or who has held any executive or judicial office in any State, whether he has taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States or not, and whether he was holding such office at the commencementof the rebellion or had held it before, and who has afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof, is entitled to be registered or vote; and the words ‘executive or judicial’ office in any State, in said oath mentioned, shall be construed to include all civil offices created by law for the administration of any general law of a State, or for the administration of justice.
“Sec. 7.That the time for completing the original registration provided for in any act may, in the discretion of the commander of any district, be extended to the 1st day of October, 1867; and the board of registration shall have power, and it shall be their duty, commencing fourteen days prior to any election under said act, and upon reasonable public notice of the time and place thereof, to revise for a period of five days the registration lists, and upon being satisfied that any person not entitled thereto has been registered, to strike the name of such person from the list, and such person shall not be allowed to vote. And such board shall also, during the same period, add to each registry the names of all persons who at that time possess the qualifications required by said act, who have not been already registered, and no person shall at any time be entitled to be registered or to vote by reason of any executive pardon or amnesty, for any act or thing which, without such pardon or amnesty, would disqualify him from registration or voting.
“Sec. 8.That all members of said boards of registration, and all persons hereafter elected or appointed to office in said military districts under any so-called State or municipal authority, or by detail or appointment of the district commander, shall be required to take and subscribe to the oath of office prescribed by law for the officers of the United States.
“Sec. 9.That no district commander or member of the board of registration, or any officer or appointee acting under them, shall be bound in his action by any opinion of any civil officer of the United States.
“Sec. 10.That section four of said last-named act shall be construed to authorize the commanding general named therein, whenever he shall deem it needful, to remove any member of a board of registration, and to appoint another in his stead, and to fill any vacancy in such board.
“Sec. 11.That all the provisions of this act, and of the acts to which this is supplementary, shall be construed liberally, to the end that all the intents thereof may be fully and perfectly carried out.”
A bill was also passed appropriating $1,675,000 to carry out the Reconstruction Acts, which was vetoed, and passed over the veto; in the Senate by 32 to 4, and in the House by 100 to 24. The Senate passed a bill, 25 to 5, providing that in the District of Columbia no person should be disqualified for holding office on account of race or color. The President sent in a communication, stating that the annual cost of maintaining State Governments in the ten States was $14,000,000, and if the General Government undertook to manage them it would be greater; also that if it abolished the present State Governments, it would be liable for their debts, amounting to at least $100,000,000. The House passed a resolution, 100 to 18, declaring this communication “at war with the principles of international law, a deliberate stab at the national credit, abhorrent to every sentiment of loyalty, and well pleasing only to the vanquished traitors by whose agency alone the governments of said States were overthrown and destroyed.”
Such was the legislation on the subject of reconstruction during the year 1867. We shall see in our next chapter what was done by the military authorities and the people of the desolated States, during the year, to carry out these measures.
With a glance at the condition of these States early in the year, we close our present chapter. The winter of 1866–67 was one of great and widely extended suffering. The crops had been short, and of inferior quality, and for want of help many of them had not been fully gathered. In some sections there was actual starvation. Over $500,000 had been raised in the Northern States and distributed mostly in breadstuffs to those who were most in need. Congress, in March, authorized the distribution of aid to a limited extent through the Freedmen’s Bureau. In April, 65,000 persons received rationsdaily through the Freedmen’s Bureau, in Alabama alone, and 20,000 more were on the verge of distress. There was also prevalent a deplorable state of lawlessness. Bands of armed men, ruffians, mostly bushwhackers, formerly connected with the Rebel army, roamed through many districts, plundering and burning property, and destroying the lives of loyal men, white and black, often under circumstances of peculiar atrocity. Some parts of the South, and especially Kentucky, Middle and Western Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas, seemed given over to anarchy.