12 



ALABAMA. 



ercncc shall be given to qualified oyal persons res d- 

 ing within the districts where their respective duties 

 are to be performed. But if suitable residents ot 

 districts shall not be found, then persons residing in 

 other States or districts shall be appointed. 



Fmirth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to 

 establish post-offices and post-routes and put ml 

 elocution the postal laws of the Un ted States within 

 said State, giving to loyal residents the preference 

 of appointment f but, if suitable residents are not 

 found then to appoint agents etc., from other Sates. 



fifth. That the district judge for the judicial dis- 

 trict in which Alabama is included, proceed to hold 

 courts within said State, in accordance with the pro- 

 visions of the act of Congress, and the Attorney-Gen- 

 eral will instruct the proper officers to libel and 

 brine to judgment, confiscation, and sale property 

 subicct to confiscation, and enforce the administra- 

 tion of justice within said State in all matters with- 

 in the cognizance and jurisdiction of the federal 



e Sijct'h That the Secretary of the Navy take pos- 

 session of all public property belonging to the Navy 

 Department within said geographical limits, and put 

 in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval 

 affairs having application to said State. 



Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in 

 force the laws relating to the Interior Department 

 applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid. 

 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand 

 and caused the Seal of the United States to be 

 affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 

 21st day of June, in the year of our Lord one 

 thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of the 

 independence of the United States the eighty- 

 ninth. ANDREW JOHNSON. 

 By the President : 



WILLIAM H. SEWAED, Secretary of State* 



The Governor thus appointed immediately 

 entered upon his duties. After an investigation 

 of the condition and views of the people, he 

 issued a proclamation stating the plan of pro- 

 ceedings for the reorganization of the State. 

 lie described the condition of the State before 

 the war, its population, wealth, and improve- 

 ments, and said : 



" In the prosecution of the war, for the last 

 four years, into which Alabama was precipi- 

 tated, about 122,000 of her sons have been car- 

 ried to the field of battle, 35,000 of whom will 

 never return; and it is probable an equal or 

 larger number are permanently injured by 

 wounds or disease while in the service. A 

 very large proportion of our material wealth 

 has been exhausted. Our fields are laid waste, 

 our towns and cities, our railroads and bridges, 

 our schools and colleges, many of our private 

 dwellings and public edifices are in ruins. 

 Silence and desolation reign where once stood 

 the comfortable home which resounded with 

 the joyous laugh of childhood and innocence. 



" The State lins contracted a large war debt 

 daring this period, and has on hand as near as 

 can now be ascertained about $ in Confed- 

 erate Treasury notes, which are utterly worth- 

 leas, and about $ in good funds. 



" Untold sufferings have been, and are still 

 endured by thousands of our women and chil- 

 dren, and the ngcd and helpless of our land. 



" There is no longer a slave in Alabama. It 

 is thus made manifest to the world that the 

 right of secession for the purpose of establishing 



a separate Confederacy, based on the idea of 

 African slavery, has been fully and effectually 

 tried, and is a failure. 



" Yet, amid all the ruin, suffering, and death 

 which have resulted from it, every political 

 right which the State possessed under the Fed 

 eral Constitution is hers to-day, with the singlo 

 exception relating to slavery." 



He then urged the importance of sustaining 

 the measures proposed by President Johnson, 

 and ordained the following regulations for that 

 purpose : 



Now, for the purpose of carrying into execution 

 the commands of the President, and to enable the 

 loyal people of Alabama to secure to themselves the 

 benefits of civil government, I do hereby declare and 

 ordain : 



1. That the Justices of the Peace and Constables 

 in each county of this State, the members of the 

 Commissioners Court (except the Judges of Probate), 

 the County Treasurer, the Tax Collector and Assessor, 

 the Coroner and the several municipal officers of each 

 incorporated city or town in this State, who were 

 respectively in office and ready to discharge the duties 

 thereof, on the 22d of May, 1865, are hereby appointed 

 to fill those offices during the continuance of this 

 provisional government. And as it is necessary that 

 the persons who fill these several offices should be 

 loyal to the United States, the power is hereby re- 

 served to remove any person for disloyalty or for 

 improper conduct in office, or neglect of its duties ; 

 and I earnestly request all loyal citizens to give me 

 prompt information in regard to any officer who is 

 objectionable on any of these grounds. 



The Judges of Probate and Sheriffs, who were in 

 office on the 22d of May, 1865, will take the oath as 

 herein required of other officers, and continue to dis- 

 charge the duties of their respective offices until 

 others are appointed. 



2. Each of these persons thus appointed to office 

 must take and subscribe the oath of Amnesty, as 

 prescribed by the President's proclamation, of the 

 29th day of May, 1865, and immediately transmit the 

 same to this office. At the end of said oath, and after 

 the word "slave," he must add these words, "and I 

 will faithfully discharge the duties of my office to the 

 best of my ability." Each of these officers must also 

 give bond and security payable to the State of Ala- 

 bama, as required by the laws of Alabama on the 

 llth day of January, 1861. If any person acts in the 

 discharge of the duties of any of the aforesaid offices 

 without having complied with the foregoing regula- 

 tions on his part, he will be punished. This oath of 

 amnesty and of office may be taken before any com- 

 missioned officer in the civil, military, or naval service 

 of the United States : and the Judge of Probate in 

 each county in this State, on the 22d of May, 1865, 

 may also administer it, unless another Judge of Pro- 

 bate shall have been appointed by me in the mean 

 time, and approve and tile the bond which is hereby 

 required to be given. But no one can hold any of 

 these offices who is exempted by the proclamation 

 of the President from the benefit of amnesty, unless 

 he has been specially pardoned. 



3. The appointment of Judge of Probate and Sheriff 

 in each county will be made specially, as soon as suit- 

 able persons are properly recommended, and when 

 appointed they will take the oath of amnesty pre- 

 scribed in the foregoing section, and give bond and 

 security as required by the law of Alabama on the 

 llth of January, 1861. And vacancies in any of the 

 county offices will be promptly filled when it is made 

 known and a proper person recommended. 



4. If the loyal citizens of the State find it necessary 

 to have other officers appointed, viz. : Clerks of the 

 Circuit Courts, Solicitors, Judges of the Circuit 

 Courts, Chancellors and Judges of the Supreme 



