ALABAMA, 



19 



stituticn of the United States, as it now is or as it 

 would be by the proposed amendment, and the exer- 

 cise of such power is protested against by the State 

 of Alabama. 



Mr. Bethea introduced the following as a 

 substitute for the amendment offered by Mr. 

 "Williams, which was accepted : 



e it further Resolved, That this amendment to 

 the Constitution of the United States is adopted by 

 the Legislature of Alabama, with the understanding 

 that it does not confer upon Congress the power to 

 legislate upon the political status of freedmen in this 

 State. 



The propriety of adopting this amendment 

 was discussed by several members, and the 

 question being taken, by yeas and nays, it was 

 adopted yeas, 75 ; nays, 15. 



An act was passed to provide for the more 

 effectual distribution of food to the destitute 

 families in the State, and also the following 

 act to protect freedmen in their rights of person 

 and property : 



JSe it enacted, <&c., That all freedmen, free negroes 

 and mulattoes, shall have the right to sue and be 

 sued, plead and be impleaded, in all the different and 

 various courts of this State, to the same extent that 

 white persons now have by law ; and they shall be 

 competent to testify only in open court, and only in 

 cases in which freedmen, free negroes and mulattoes 

 are parties, either plaintiff or defendant, and in civil 

 and criminal cases for injuries in the persons and 

 property of freedmen, free negroes and mulattoes, 

 and in all cases, civil or criminal, in which under this 

 act a freedman, free negro or mulatto is a witness 

 against a white person, or a white person against a 

 freedman, free negro or mulatto, the parties shall be 

 competent witnesses, and neither interest in the 

 question in suit, nor marriage, shall disqualify any 

 witness from testifying in open court. 



An act concerning apprentices was adopted, 

 which authorizes the probate courts of each 

 county to apprentice all freedmen, free negroes 

 and mulattoes under the age of eighteen years, 

 who were orphans, or whose parent or parents 

 have not the means, or who refuse to provide 

 for and support such minors. The act contains 

 provisions for the protection of both master and 

 apprentice, and allows any freedman, free negro 

 or mulatto having a minor child or children to 

 apprentice the same. An act was also passed 

 to regulate contracts with freedmen, and to 

 enforce the same. It grants the right to con- 

 tract to all freedmen ; requires all contracts for 

 a longer period than one month to be in writ- 

 ing and subscribed in presence of two white 

 citizens. It prescribes penalties in damages for 

 the non-performance of the contract, and makes 

 every freedman who runs away or abandons 

 the service he agreed to perform, without good 

 cause, guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable on 

 conviction, to forfeit his wages and become 

 subject to the vagrant laws. A large number 

 of acts respecting local affairs were introduced 

 end considered or adopted, and about the 15th 

 of December the Legislature took a recess to 

 January 15th, 1866. 



On December 13th, the newly elected Gov- 

 ernor, Eobert Patton, was inaugurated. In his 

 address he traced the progress of Alabama from 



1819 to 1861, to show, " that as a peaceful- and 

 quiet member of the Federal Union, we had 

 grown from an infant State, to one of greatness, 

 wealth, and power. Our growth was gradual, 

 healthful, vigorous, and substantial." On the 

 llth of January, 1861, "we were brought to a 

 sudden and violent halt in our proud and rapid 

 march on the high road to prosperity and happi- 

 n'ess." " My judgment did not approve of either 

 the doctrine or act of secession." " But while 

 firmly entertaining this opinion, I deemed it a 

 duty as a citizen of Alabama, to yield a peaceful 

 obedience to what had been done." The act of 

 secession, he states, caused from 35,000 to 45,000 

 of her brave sons to perish in the service, and 

 the " loss in actual and substantial wealth of at 

 least $500,000,000 ! " "I think we may all 

 profit much by contrasting the prosperity and 

 happiness which our country enjoyed at the 

 beginning of the recent war, with its present 

 crippled and almost ruined condition." 



The Governor then reviews and commends 

 the President's policy, which has been unhesi- 

 tatingly accepted by the people of Alabama. He 

 says : u "We may rightfully claim, therefore, that 

 our State is fully entitled to be placed in that 

 position in the Union where she will stand as 

 the political equal of any other State under the 

 Federal Constitution." 



With reference to emancipation, he said: 

 " The extinction of slavery is one of the inevi- 

 table results of the war." " We will not only 

 extend to the freedman all his legitimate rights, 

 but will throw around him such effective safe- 

 guards as will secure him in their full and com- 

 plete enjoyment." " At the same time it must 

 be understood that, politically and socially, ours 

 is a white man's government. In the future, 

 as has been the case in the past, the State affairs 

 of Alabama must be guided and controlled by 

 the superior intelligence of the white man. The 

 negro must also be made to realize that freedom 

 does not mean idleness or vagrancy. Emanci- 

 pation has not left him where he can live with- 

 out work." 



On December 18th the Secretary of State, 

 at Washington, sent the following despatch to 

 the Provisional Governor, Parsons : 



SIR: The time has arrived, in the judgment of 

 the President of the United States, when the care and 

 conduct of the proper affairs of the State of Alabama 

 may be remitted to the constitutional authorities 

 chosen by the people thereof, without danger to the 

 peace and safety of the United States. 



By direction of the President of the United States, 

 therefore, you are relieved from the trust which was 

 heretofore reposed in you as Provisional Governor 

 of the State of Alabama, whenever the Governor 

 elect shall have accepted and become qualified to dis- 

 charge the duties of the executive office. You will 

 transfer the papers and property of the State now 

 in your custody to his Excellency the Governor 

 elect. 



It gives me especial pleasure to convey to you the 

 President's acknowledgment of the fidelity, the loy- 

 alty, and the discretion which have marked your ad- 

 ministration. 



You will please give me a reply, specifying the day 

 on which this communication is received. 



