ALABAMA. 



13 



Court, when that necessity is satisfactorily estab- 

 lished, the appointments will be made. 



5. An election for delegates to a convention of the 

 loyal citizens of Alabama, will be held in each county 

 in the State on Monday, the 31st day of August next, 

 in the manner provided by the laws of Alabama on 

 the llth day of January, 1861 ; but no person can 

 vote in said election, or be a candidate for election, 

 who is not a legal voter as the law was on that day; 

 and if he is excepted from the benefit of amnesty, 

 under the President's Proclamation of the 29th of 

 May, 1865, he must have obtained a pardon. 



6. Every person must vote in the county of his 

 residence, and before he is allowed to do so, must 

 take and subscribe the oath of amnesty prescribed 

 in the President's Proclamation of the 29th of May, 

 1865, before some one of the officers hereinafter ap- 

 pointed for that purpose in the county where he offers 

 to vote ; and any person offering to vote in violation 

 of these rules or the laws of Alabama on the llth of 

 January, 1861, will be punished. 



7. There will be elected in each county of the State, 

 on said day, as many delegates to said Convention as 

 said county was entitled to representatives in the 

 House of Representatives on the llth day of January, 

 1861 ; and the delegates so elected will receive a 

 certificate of election from the sheriff of the county, 

 and will assemble in Convention at the Capitol in 

 Montgomery, on the 10th day of September, 1865, at 

 12 si. 



8. From and after this day, the civil and criminal 

 laws of Alabama, as they stood on the llth day of 

 January, 1861, except that portion which relates to 

 slaves, are hereby declared to be in full force and 

 operation; and all proceedings for the punishment 

 of offences against them, will be turned over to the 

 proper civil officers, together with the custody of the 

 person charged, and the civil authorities will proceed 

 in all cases according to law. Suits in civil cases now 

 pending, whether an original measure, or final pro- 

 cess, before any officer acting under military author- 

 ity, will also be turned over to the proper civil officer, 

 and will be governed in all things by the laws of the 

 State aforesaid. 



9. All unlawful means to punish offenders are 

 hereby strictly prohibited. No "vigilance commit- 

 tee" or other organization, for the punishment of 

 supposed offenders, not authorized by the laws of 

 the State, will be permitted, and if any such are 

 attempted, the person or persons so offending, will 

 be promptly arrested and punished. The lovers of 

 law and order throughout the State are appealed to 

 and solemnly urged to aid, by all lawful means, in sus- 

 taining the cause of law and order. If the people of 

 the State will do this willingly and promptly, we 

 shall be able to restore peace and security to every 

 home in our beloved State ; but if offenders become 

 too strong, the military power of the United States 

 will aid us. Henceforth that power will act in aid of, 

 and in subordination to the civil authority of the State. 



10. The oath which is required to be taken by 

 those who desire to vote for Delegates to the Con- 

 vention, may be administered by the Judge of Pro- 

 bate of the county where the voter lives, or by any 

 Justice of the Peace in said county and by officers 

 specially thereunto appointed. Blanks will be fur- 

 nished these officers by the Judge of Probate, to 

 whom they will be sent on application, where they 

 cannot be printed. One copy of said oath will be 

 given to the voter and another will be kept by the 

 officer before whom it is taken, which must be filed 

 with the Judge of Probate and endorsed by the Judge 

 of Probate, with affiant's name, and numbered from 

 one up, and preserved by him as apart of the records 

 of his office. The Judge of Probate must make out a 

 certified list of names numbered to correspond with 

 the affidavit, and transmit it to this office by some 

 one of the Delegates to the Convention. It is im- 

 portant the lists should all be here on the 10th day 

 of September next, when the Convention meets. 



The several officers will also transmit their ac- 

 counts for these services at the same time, and if the 

 list of voters, made in a proper manner, accompanies 

 them, the accounts will be promptly laid before the 

 Convention for adjustment. 



11. There are no slaves now in Alabama. The 

 slave code is a dead letter. They who were once 

 slaves are now free, and must be governed by the 

 laws of Alabama as free men. It is the dictate of 

 wisdom, and we owe it to ourselves and them, to pro- 

 duce the best possible results for both races, from the 

 new order of things. 



12. All good citizens are respectfully and earnestly 

 urged to set the example of engaging cheerfully, 

 hopefully, and energetically, in the prosecution of in- 

 dustrial pursuits. In so doing, they will exert a 

 good influence upon those who are despondent and 

 cast down by the calamities which have befallen us. 



13. The idle, the evil-disposed, and the vicious, if 

 any such there be within the limits of our State, must 

 distinctly understand that all violations of law will 

 be promptly punished. The Sheriffs of the several 

 counties are hereby required to keep in readiness a 

 sufficient force of deputies or assistants to enable 

 them to execute all legal process and arrest all offend- 

 ers promptly, and they will be held strictly account- 

 able for any neglect of duty in this respect. Rights 

 of person and property must be respected law and 

 order must be preserved. If seriously impeded in 

 the execution of these orders, Sheriffs will immedi- 

 ately report to me, that prompt and effectual measures 

 may be taken to repress violence and assert the su- 

 premacy of the laws. 



Done at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 20th day of 

 July, A. D., 1865. LEWIS E. PARSONS, 



Provisional Governer of Alabama. 



This proclamation renewed the powers of 

 the persons holding the township offices in the 

 State ; called a State Constitutional Convention 

 to assemble on September 10th, and reordained 

 the civil and criminal laws, except those relat- 

 ing to slaves as they existed previous to the 

 adoption of the Secession Ordinance of 1861, 

 and prescribed other incidental regulations. 



These measures were well received by the 

 people of the State, and a disposition was 

 promptly and generally manifested to cooperate 

 with the Provisional Governor. Candidates for 

 raembers of the Convention were soon nomi- 

 nated, and in a quiet and orderly manner elected 

 on the appointed day. The vote given was 

 large, but many who were qualified electors did 

 not act. 



The Convention duly assembled at Mont- 

 gomery on September 10, and after the roll 

 was called Provisional Governor Parsons ad- 

 ministered 'the oath to support the Constitution 

 of the United States and the union thereof, and 

 to support all proclamations relative to the 

 emancipation of slaves. He then declared the 

 Convention authorized to make a permanent 

 organization. This was done by the election 

 of ex-Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick unani- 

 mously as chairman, and "W. H. Ogbourne as 

 secretary. A resolution was then adopted that 

 a committee of one member from each judicial 

 district should be appointed by the President 

 to report such amendments to the Constitution 

 as might restore the State to her proper rela- 

 tions with the Federal Government; and also a 

 similar committee to report relative to the act 

 of secession, and further relative to the manner 



