758 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



This was followed, on July 31st, by a proc- 

 lamation from Gov. Perry, which may be sum- 

 marily stated as follows : 



He proclaims that all civil officers in South Caro- 

 lina, who were in office when the civil government 

 of the State was suspended, in May last (except those 

 arrested or under prosecution for treason), shall, on 

 takinw the oath of allegiance prescribed in the Pres- 

 ident's amnesty proclamation of the 29th day of 

 May, 1865, resume the duties of their offices, and 

 continue to discharge them under the Provisional 

 Government till further appointments are made. 



And further, that it is the duty of all loyal citizens 

 to go promptly forward and take the oath of alle- 

 giance oefore some magistrate or military officer of 

 the Federal Government, who may be qualified for 

 administering oaths, and such are authorized to give 

 certified copies thereof to the persons respectively 

 by whom they were made. And such magistrates or 

 officers are hereby required to transmit the originals 

 of such oaths as early as possible to Washington. 



And that the managers of elections throughout the 

 State will bold an election for members of a State 

 Convention at their respective precincts, on the first 

 Monday in September next, according to the laws 

 of South Carolina in force before secession, and that 

 each election district in the State shall elect as many 

 members of the Convention as the said district has 

 members of the House of Representatives the basis 

 of representation being population and taxation. 

 This will give one hundred and twenty-four members 

 to the Convention a number sufficiently large to 

 represent every portion of the State most fully. 



Every loyal citizen who has taken the amnesty 

 oath, and not within the cxcepted classes in the Pres- 

 ident's proclamation, will be entitled to vote, pro- 

 vided he was a legal voter under the Constitution as 

 it stood prior to the secession of South Carolina. 

 And all who are within the excepted classes must 

 take the oath and apply for a pardon, in order to en- 

 title them to vote or become members of the Con- 

 vention. 



The members of the Convention thus elected on 

 the first Monday in September next, are hereby re- 

 quired to convene in the city of Columbia on Wednes- 

 day, the 13th day of September, 1865, for the pur- 

 pose of altering and amending the present Constitu- 

 tion of South Carolina, or remodelling and making a 

 new. one, which will conform to the great changes 

 which have taken place in the State, and be more in 

 accordance with republican principles and equality 

 of representation. 



And 'that the Constitution and all laws of force in 

 South Carolina prior to the secession of the State, 

 are made offeree under the Provisional Government, 

 except wherein they may conflict with the provisions 

 of this proclamation. And the Judges and Chancel- 

 lors of the State are required to exercise all the 

 powers and perform all the duties which appertain 

 to their respective offices, and especially in criminal 

 cases. It will be expected of the Federal military 

 authorities now in South Carolina, to lend their au- 

 thority to the civil officers of the Provisional Gov- 

 ernment, for the purpose of enforcing the laws and 

 preserving the peace and good order of the State. 



And further, he calls upon the good and lawful 

 citizens to unite in bringing to justice all disorderly 

 persons who are wandering about without employ- 

 ment or any visible means of supporting themselves. 



This was also followed by a proclamation by 

 Gen. Gillmore, announcing the appointment and 

 proclamation of Gov. Perry, and ordering all 

 persons in the military service of the United 

 States to assist the Governor in carrying out 

 the objects of his proclamation, and to abstain 

 from hindering or impeding in any way the 

 Union people of the State from the organization 



of a State Government. Provost marshals and 

 their assistants were designated as the only 

 military persons entitled to administer the am- 

 nesty oath. 



The election for members of the Convention 

 was held on the first Monday of September, and 

 characterized by great propriety and order. 

 The vote in the city of Charleston was about 

 one-third of that usually cast before the war. 

 Citizens well known, and who had been in office 

 before, were elected by an overwhelming ma- 

 jority over those on the " Union " ticket. Of 

 the twenty members elected in the city, only 

 one had been a secessionist before the war ; the 

 others had been Unionists or cooperationists. 



A conflict between the civil and military au- 

 thorities had existed from the first appointment 

 of the Provisional Governor. It was finally ended 

 by an understanding between the Governor and 

 the commanding general by an agreement 

 that in all cases relative to frecdmen and persons 

 of color the courts of provost marshals should 

 have exclusive jurisdiction, and that the civil 

 courts should be opened under the provisional 

 Government, and all civil and municipal officers 

 be allowed to resume their official duties with- 

 out interruption from the military authorities. 



On September 13th the Convention assem- 

 bled in the Baptist church at Columbia, and or- 

 ganized by the election of D. L. "Wardlaw as 

 President. Several measures, as preparatory to 

 business, were adopted. Ex-Governor F. Pick- 

 ens offered the following an an ordinance, which 

 was ordered to lie on the table : 



We, the Delegates of the People of the State of 

 South Carolina, in General Convention met, do ordain, 

 That the ordinance passed in convention, 20th of 

 December, 1860, withdrawing this State from the 

 Federal Union, be and the same is hereby repealed. 



The fortunes of war, together with the proclama- 

 tions of the President of the United States and the 

 generals in the field commanding, having decided 

 that domestic slavery is abolished ; therefore, under 

 the circumstances, we acquiesce in said proclama- 

 tions, and do hereby ordain implicit obedience to the 

 Constitution of the United States, and all laws made 

 in pursuance thereof. ' 



On the next day Governor Perry sent an ad- 

 dress to the Convention. In it he acknowledged 

 the death of slavery, and advised the wise, just, 

 and humane treatment of the freedmen, by 

 which they may become as strongly attached to 

 the whites as while they were slaves. Legisla- 

 tion was required to regulate the relative duties 

 of employer and employ6. The Governor sug- 

 gested changes in the State Constitution, mak- 

 ing it more popular and republican in form. It 

 had been the reproach of South Carolina that it 

 was less so than any other State in the Union. 

 He was opposed to extending suffrage to the 

 frecdmen in their present ignorant and degraded 

 condition, considering it as little less than folly 

 and madness. He contended that this is a whito 

 man's Government and the white man's only; 

 that the Supreme Court had decided that ne- 

 grops were not citizens, and that each State had 

 the unquestionable right to decide for herself 

 who shall vote. 



