802 



UNITED STATES. 



that our liberty and rights will be fully pro- 

 tected and sustained " he replied : 



I need not state to you my past history. It is well 

 understood by you. 'in it you will find the guaranty 

 of my future conduct toward your people. Where 

 the colored people know me best, they have confi- 

 dence in me. No man can charge me with having 

 proved false to the promises I have made to any class 

 of the people in my public life. I fear that leading 

 colored men do not understand and appreciate the 

 fact that they have friends on the south side of the 

 line. They have, and they are as faithful and 

 staunch as any north of the line. It may be a very 

 easy thing, indeed popular, to be an emancipationist 

 north of the line, but a very different thing to be 

 such south of it. South of it, it costs a man effort, 

 property, and perhaps life. You may express these 

 sentiments, together with my thanks, to the people 

 whom you represent. 



These extracts present the general views ut- 

 tered at this time by the President in his re- 

 plies to the addresses of delegations. Still later, 

 on June 24th, to a delegation from South Car- 

 olina he said : 



From the Magna Charta we had derived our ideas 

 of freedom of speech, liberty of the press, and un- 

 reasonable searches, and that private property 

 should not be taken for public uses without just com- 

 pensation. He had these notions fixed in his mind, 

 and was therefore opposed to class legislation. Be- 

 ing providentially brought to his present position, 

 he intended to exert the power and influence of the 

 Government so as to place in power the popular 

 heart f this nation. He proceeded on the principle 

 that the great masses are not the mushroom npon a 

 stump which wet weather supplies. He believed 

 that this nation was sent on a great mission to afford 

 an example of freedom and substantial happiness to 

 all the powers of the earth. 



The Constitution of the United States, in sneaking 

 of persons to be chosen as representatives in Con- 

 gress, says, that the electors, in each State, shall 

 nave the qualifications requisite for electors of the 

 most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

 Here we find a resting-place. This was the point at 

 which the rebellion commenced. All the States were 

 in the Union, moving in harmony, but a portion of 

 them rebelled, and, to some extent, suspended and 

 paralyzed the operations of their Government. There 

 is a constitutional obligation resting upon the Uni- 

 ted States Government to put down rebellion, sup- 

 press insurrection, and repel invasion. 



The slaves went into the war as slaves, and came 

 out free men of color. The friction of the rebellion 

 has rubbed out the nature and character of slavery. 

 The loyal men who were compelled to bow and sub- 

 mit to the rebellion, should, now that the rebellion 

 is ended, stand equal to loyal men everywhere. 

 Hence the wish of reconstruction, and the trying to 

 get back the State, to the point at which they for- 

 merly moved in perfect harmony. 



He did not intend to serve any particular clique or 

 interests. He would say to the delegation that sla- 

 very is gone as an institution. There was no hope 

 that the people of South Carolina would be admitted 

 into the Senate or House of Representatives until 

 they had afforded evidence, by their conduct, of this 

 truth. The policy, now that the rebellion is sup- 

 pressed, is not to restore the State government 

 through military rule, but by the people. 



Meanwhile many steps were taken for the 

 adjustment of affairs. The orders relative to a 

 reduction of the army, will be found under 

 ARMY OPERATIONS. The orders opening the 

 Southern ports to trade, are stated under COM- 

 MERCIAL INTERCOURSE. By a proclamation of 



President Johnson, under date of April 

 the 1st of June was observed as a day of hu- 

 miliation on account of the death of President 

 Lincoln. The following is an extract : 



Therefore, In order to mitigate that grief on earth, 

 which can only be assuaged by communion with Our 

 Father in Heaven, and in compliance with the wishes 

 of Senators and Representatives in Congress commu- 

 nicated to me by resolution adopted at the National 

 Capitol : 



I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States^ 

 do hereby appoint Thursday, the 25th day of May 

 next,* to be observed wherever the United Statesflag 

 may be respected, as a day of humiliation and mourn- 

 ing, and recommend my fellow-citizens there to as- 

 semble in their respective places of worship, there to 

 unite in solemn services to Almighty God, in memory 

 of the good man who has been removed, so that all 

 shall be occupied at the same time in contemplation 

 of his virtues, and sorrow for his sudden and violent 

 end. 



On the 2d of May, President Johnson issued 

 another proclamation, offering a reward for cer- 

 tain persons, as follows : 



Whereas, it appears from evidence in the bureau of 

 Military Justice, that the atrocious murder of the 

 late President, Abraham Lincoln, and the attempted 

 assassination of the Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary 

 of State, were incited, concerted, and procured by 

 and between Jefferson Davis, late of Richmond, Va., 

 and Jacob Thompson, Clement C. Clay, Beverly 

 Tucker, George N. Saunders, W. C. Cleary, and other 

 rebels and traitors against the Government of the 

 United States, harbored in Canada : 



Now, therefore, to the end that justice may be done, 

 I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 

 do offer and promise for the arrest of said persons or 

 either of them, within the limits of the United States, 

 so that they can be brought to trial, the following 

 rewards: $100,000 for the arrest of Jefferson Davis, 

 $25,000 for the arrest of Jacob Thompson, late of 

 Mississippi, $25,000 for the arrest of George N. Saun- 

 ders, $25,000 for the arrest of Beverly Tucker, and 

 $10,000 for the arrest of William C. Cleary, late clerk 

 of Clement C. Clay. The Provost Marshal General 

 of the United States is directed to cause a description 

 of said persons with notice of the above rewards to 

 be published. 



On May 9th, another proclamation was issued, 

 declaring that the United States would refuse 

 hospitality to such nations as gave hospitality 

 to Confederate cruisers or their officers and 

 men, after a reasonable time shall have elapsed 

 for the proclamation to become known. 



On June 22d, the order requiring passports 

 from all travellers entering the United States, 

 was rescinded. 



On May 29th, the President issued his procla- 

 mation stating the terms by which the people 

 of the Southern States could be restored to their 

 civil rights as citizens of the United States, thus : 



Whereas, The President of the United States, on 

 the 8th day of December, A. D. eighteen hundred and 

 sixty -three, and on the 26th day of March, A. n. eigh- 

 teen hundred and sixty-four, d"id, with the object to 

 suppress the existing rebellion, to induce all persons 

 to return to their loyalty, and to restore the authority 

 of the United States, 'issue proclamations offering 

 amnesty and pardon to certain persons who had 

 directly or by implication participated in the said 

 rebellion; and 



* Subsequently changed to June 1st, because the 25th was 

 " sacred to a large number of Christiana as one of rejoicing for 

 the ascension of our Saviour." 



