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SOUTH CAROLINA. 



Secretary of State and myself on this subject. You 

 will remember that the construction to which this 

 proposed amendment of the Federal Constitution was 

 liable, and which made it objectionable to South 

 Carolina, was entirely repudiated by the Secretary 

 of State. I stated, too, in that message that the 

 President and the Attorney-General of the United 

 States were understood as concurring in the con- 

 struction given to the second section of the amend- 

 ment by the Secretary of State. I know that it will 

 give you the greatest pleasure imaginable to do all 

 that you can consistent with your honor and duty to 

 the State to restore her once mo're to self-govern- 

 ment and civil liberty, to peace and harmony, and 

 to happiness and prosperity in the Union of States. 



There can hardly be a doubt that this amendment 

 will be adopted by three-fourths of the States, al- 

 though you should refuse to accept it, and will be- 

 come a part of the Federal Constitution. This con- 

 sideration alone should lessen very much your re- 

 sponsibility in acceding to it, on the part of South 

 Carolina, whilst it increases very much the evil and 

 danger in rejecting it to the State. 



In respect to what I have said in my last message 

 to you, the destiny of the State is in your hands for 

 woe or for weal, and I have an abiding confidence 

 in your judgment and wisdom, and in your honor 

 and patriotism. 



I would remind you also of all that President 

 Johnson has so nobly done for the Southern States, 

 and that it is he who appeals to South Carolina in 

 the name of God " not to throw away all that has so 

 far been well done and defeat the restoration of the 

 Union," but to be " guided by love and wisdom from 

 on high, and Union and peace will once more reign 

 through the land." B. F. PERRY. 



The resolutions by \vhich the constitutional 

 amendment was adopted were as follows : 



Resolved, therefore, by the Senate and House of 

 Representatives of the General Assembly of the State 

 of South Carolina, in General Assembly met, and by 

 the authority of the same, That the aforesaid pro- 

 posed amendment of the Constitution of the United 

 States be and the same is hereby accepted, adopted, 

 and ratified by this State. 



Resolved, That a certified copy of the foregoing 

 preamble and resolution be forwarded by his Ex- 

 cellency, the Provisional Governor, to the President 

 of the United States, and also to the Secretary of 

 State of the United States. 



Resolved, That any attempt by Congress toward 

 legislating upon the political status of tormer slaves 

 or their civil relations, would be contrary to the 

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

 it would be altered by the proposed amendment ; in 

 conflict with the policy of the President declared in 

 his Amnesty Proclamation, and with the restoration 

 of that harmony upon which depends the vital inter- 

 ests of the American Union. 



These were passed in the Senate by a vote 

 nearly unanimous, and in the House by yeas 

 74, nays 28. 



The Legislature appointed a day for the elec- 

 tion of members of Congress, made some prog- 

 ress in the adoption of the measures reported 

 by the commissioners, and adjourned from the 

 13th to the 2oth of November. The following 

 despatch was sent by the President relative to 

 the presence of the members of Congress at 

 Washington : 



WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 1865. 

 To B. F. Perry, Provisional Governor : 



1 do not think it necessary for the members elect 

 for South Carolina to be present at the organization 

 of Congress. On the contrary, it will be better pol- 

 icy to present their certificates of election after the 



two Houses have organized, which will then be a 

 simple question, under the Constitution, of the mem- 

 bers taking their seats. Each House must judge for 

 itself the election returns and qualifications of its 

 own members. As to what the two Houses will do 

 in reference to the oath, now required to be taken 

 before the members can take their seats, is unknown 

 to me ; and I do not like to predict. But, upon the 

 whole, I am of opinion it would be better for the 

 question'to come up. and be disposed of after the 

 two Houses have been organized. I hope that your 

 Legislature will adopt a code in reference to free 

 persons of color that will be acceptable to the couc 

 try, at the same time doing justice to the white and 

 colored population. 



ANDREW JOHNSON, President. 



The Legislature, after a short recess, reassem- 

 bled on November 25th. Soon after meeting, 

 the Provisional Governor sent a message to 

 both Houses. He stated that he had been 

 ordered to remain in authority until otherwise 

 directed from Washington, but he should recog- 

 nize the Governor elect and make his communi- 

 cations through him. The English bondholders 

 had proposed " that the whole of the arrears 

 and the dividends to January, 1867, inclusive, 

 should be funded into a bonded debt, carrying 

 the same rate of interest as the bonds or stocks 

 on which the arrears have accrued ; that a 

 sinking fund shall be established (accumula- 

 tive) of two per cent, per annum, which on a 

 five per cent, stock will pay off the debt in 

 twenty-five and three-quarter years, and on a 

 six per cent, stock in twenty-four years. 



He further stated that the bonds of the South 

 Carolina Railroad, amounting to $2,000,000, 

 endorsed by the State, would fall due in Jan- 

 uary, and no provision had been made for their 

 payment. The early inauguration of the new 

 Governor was urged, that he might sign the 

 commissions of members of Congress elect. 

 On the 29th, the Provisional Governor, in a 

 farewell address, took leave of the Legislature, 

 and Governor Orr was inaugurated. In his 

 address, the newly-elected Governor said : 



The war has decided, first : That one or more of 

 the States of the Federal Union have not the right, 

 at will, to secede therefrom. The doctrine of seces- 

 sion, which was held to be orthodox in the State 

 Rights school of politics, is now exploded for any 

 practical purpose. The theory of absolute sov- 

 ereignty of a State of the Federal Union (from 

 whence was derived the right to secede), which was 

 believed almost universally to be a sound constitu- 

 tional construction, must also be materiallv modified 

 to conform to this imposing decision. In all the 

 powers granted in the Constitution to the Federal 

 Government, it is supreme and sovereign, and must 

 be obeyed and respected accordingly. Where the 

 rights of a State are disregarded, or unconstitutional 

 acts done by any department of the Federal Govern- 

 ment, redress can no longer be sought by interpos- 

 ing the sovereignty of the State, either for nullifica- 

 tion or secession; but the remedy is by petition or 

 remonstrance ; by reason, which sooner or later will 

 overtake justice ; by an appeal to the supreme judi- 

 cial power of the Union ; or by revolution, which, if 

 unsuccessful, is treason. 



The decision was far more imposing and obligatory 

 than ff it had been pronounced bv the Supreme Court 

 of the United States. Had it been tried there, an 

 effort to reverse it might have been made, because 

 its members and opinions ojten change. .But tha 



