SOUTH CAROLINA. 



761 



the assumption of the debt created to aid In the rebellion 

 agafnst the Government of the United States. If the action 

 of the Convention were In good faith, why hesitate in mak- 

 ing it a part of the Constitution of the United States ? I 

 trust in God that the restoration of the Union will not be 

 defeated, and all that has been BO far well done thrown away. 

 I still have faith that all will come out right yet. This op- 

 portunity ought to be understood and appreciated by the 

 people of the Southern States. If I know my own heart and 

 every passion which enters it, it Is my desire to restore the 

 blessings of the Union, and tie up and heal evry bleeding 

 wound which has been caused by this fratricidal war. Let 

 us be guided by love and wisdom from on high, and Union 

 and peace will once more reign throughout the land. 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



To these telegraphic despatches I replied that the 

 war debt of South Carolina was very inconsiderable ; 

 that 'our whole State debt, at this time, was only 

 about six million dollars. That this debt was mostly 

 incurred anterior to the war, in constructing railroads 

 and building a new State House, with an old debt of 

 long standing. That we had assumed no portion of 

 the Confederate debt, and were responsible in no way 

 for it. The expenditures which the State had in- 

 curred up to a certain period had all been settled 

 and refunded by the Confederate States. 



I stated that South Carolina had abolished slavery 

 in good faith, and never intended or wished to re- 

 store it ; that the Legislature was then considering a 

 wise, just, and humane system of laws for the gov- 

 ernment and protection of the freedmen in all their 

 rights of person and property, and that there was no 

 objection to the adoption of the proposed amend- 

 ment to the Federal Constitution, except an appre- 

 hension that Congress might, under the second sec- 

 tion of that amendment, claim the right to legislate 

 for the negro after slavery was abolished. I likewise 

 stated that no official notice had ever been received 

 by the Legislature of the proposed amendment to tho 

 Constitution of the United States. 



In reply to this despatch I received yesterday the 

 following telegram from the Secretary of State, 

 dated 



"WASHINGTON, November 5, 1865. 

 To his Excellency B. F. Perry, Provisional Governor: 



Your despatch to the President, of November 4th, has 

 been received. He is not entirely satisfied with the explana- 

 tion it contains. He deems necessary the passage of ade- 

 quate ordinances declaring all insurrectionary proceedings 

 in the State unlawful and void ab initio. 



Neither the Constitution nor laws direct official informa- 

 tion to the States of amendments to the Constitution sub- 

 mitted by Congress. Notice of the amendment by Congress 

 abolishing slavery was, nevertheless, sent by the Secretary 

 of State at the time to the States which were then in com- 

 munication with this Government. Formal notice will im- 

 mediately be given to those States which were then In insur- 

 rection. 



The objection which you mention to the last clause of the 

 constitutional amendment is regarded as querulous and un- 

 reasonable, because that clause is really restraining in its 

 effects, instead of enlarging the power of Congress. 



The President considers the acceptance of the amendment 

 by South Carolina as indispensable to a restoration of her re- 

 lations with the other States of the Union. 



(Signed) WM. H. 8EWAKD. 



This formal notice of the proposed amendment to 

 the Constitution of the United States has not yet 

 been received. When it is, I will communicate the 

 same to you. The amendment may be seen in the 

 Acts of the last Congress, and is in these words : 



" Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 

 as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall 

 have been duly convicted, shall exist within the 

 United States or any place subject to their jurisdic- 

 tion. 



" SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce 

 this Article by appropriate legislation." (Approved, 

 February 1, 1365.) 



A few days since I addressed a communication to 

 Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, by mail, in which I 

 repeated and enlarged on the views previously ex- 

 pressed to the President in reference to the objec- 

 tions which were entertained in South Carolina to 



the proposed constitutional amendment. I am happy 

 to find that the Secretary of State does not regard 

 those objections as well-founded, but considers them 

 " querulous and unreasonable." It is true that a 

 plain, honest construction of the language of the 

 amendment would be that slavery was abolished in 

 the United States, and that Congress should simply 

 enforce it. When this was done their legislation 

 would be ended. They could not attempt under the 

 authority given by this amendment to pass laws for 

 the government of the freedmen in their free state. 

 The Attorney-Gejieral of the United States and the 

 President have both been understood as concurring 

 in this opinion. It would, therefore, be well, in 

 adopting the proposed amendment, to place on rec- 

 ord the construction which had been given it by the 

 Executive Department of the Federal Government. 



It is manifest from the earnest, eloquent, and pa- 

 triotic terms in which the President has urged the 

 adoption of this amendment, that he regards, as he 

 says, "all that South Carolina has done, and so well 

 done, as thrown away, unless the amendment is ac- 

 cepted by the Legislature." 



The Secretary of State is still more explicit in his 

 language. He says: "The President considers the 

 acceptance of the amendment by South Carolina as 

 indispensable to a restoration of her relations with 

 the other States of the Union." The reason why 

 this exaction is made of the Southern States, after 

 they have abolished slavery, is, that thev might, 

 otherwise, at some future day, change their Consti- 

 tution and restore slavery in defiance of the Federal 

 Government. You, gentlemen, have, at this time, 

 the destiny of the State in your hands, and I feel as- 

 sured that you will act calmly and dispassionately 

 with a view to the peace, happiness, and well-being 

 of South Carolina. 



I addressed a communication to the Secretary of 

 the Treasury at Washington a few days since, urg- 

 ing that in case the Legislature should assume the 

 payment of that portion of the direct tax for which 

 South Carolina is liable, that the Federal Govern- 

 ment should receive her bonds for the same, or sus- 

 pend the collection of the tax for the present year. 

 I would advise the immediate assumption by the 

 State of her portion of the direct tax, which is about 

 three 'hundred and sixty-six thousand dollars. This 

 will relieve the people from the immediate payment 

 of it to the Federal tax collectors, and enable the 

 State to make some arrangement in reference to it 

 with the Treasury Department or Congress. 



In my communication to the Secretary of State I 

 urged the propriety of withdrawing the colored 

 troops from the interior of the State to the forts on 

 the sea-coast, and requested that white troops might 

 for the present be retained in Charleston, George- 

 town, and Beaufort. 



I have forwarded the resolution you sent me the 

 other day, in reference to the school-houses in 

 Charleston, to Gen. Howard, and asked that they 

 might be restored to the proper authorities. I made 

 the same request in regard to the Military Hall in 

 Charleston. 



(Signed) B. F. PERRY. 



Again, on the 13th, the Provisional Gov- 

 ernor sent a message to the Legislature, with a 

 copy of the amendment of the Federal Consti- 

 tution. Tho message was as follows : 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, SOUTH CAuotrNA, I 

 Nov. 18, 1S65, ) 

 To the Honorable the Senate and Ifonse 



of Representatives : 



GENTLEMEN: I have the honor of communicating 

 to you the promised notice of the Secretary of State 

 of the United States of the proposed amendment to 

 the Federal Constitution abolishing slavery. 



In the last message which I had the honor of send- 

 ing you, I gave copies of the several communications 

 which had passed between the President and the 



