804 



UNITED STATES. 



the States of Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, 

 and Louisiana, no Provisional Governors were 

 appointed. The measures taken for their reor- 

 ganization, during President Lincoln's adminis- 

 tration, were regarded by his successor as having 

 placed those States rectus in curia. Under 

 these measures, together with numerous par- 

 dons hy the President, the social and com- 

 mercial relations between the people of the 

 Northern and Southern States were brought to 

 great harmony in a few months. In a word, 

 the President approved of the restoration of the 

 Southern States into their former position in 

 the Union without any surrender of their con- 

 stitutional rights of local self-government, and 

 without requiring them, with respect to the 

 blacks, to do any thing more than to acknowl- 

 edge and respect the freedom which has result- 

 ed from the exercise of force during a condition 

 of civil war. At the same time the civil au 

 thority was required to be in the hands of men 

 who could take and would observe the am- 

 nesty oath, or who had been steadfast Unionists. 

 But it was soon apparent that a portion of 

 the people were not satisfied with the course 

 of affairs. The first objections were raised 

 against the terms given by Gen. Grant to Lee's 

 army, as being too lenient. The Secretary of 

 "War, Stanton, therefore required of Attorney- 

 General Speed an opinion whether the officers 

 of the Confederate army who once resided in 

 "Washington and went South and took service, 

 could return under the stipulations of the capitu- 

 lation and reside at "Washington as their home ; 

 .or other persons who went from "Washington 

 to the South and gave support, comfort, and aid 

 to the cause of the enemy; and whether the 

 wearing of Confederate uniforms in public in 

 the Northern States since the capitulation was 

 hot a fresh act of hostility. In reply, the At- 

 torney-General considered that the President 

 performed two functions, one civil and the 

 other military. As civil head, he possessed the 

 pardoning power ; as Commander-in-chief of the 

 armies, he is the head of its belligerent power. 

 His power to pardon as a civil magistrate can- 

 not be delegated. As commander he can dele- 

 gate power. Gen. Grant is to be regarded 

 purely as a military officer; he spoke as one 

 possessing no power except belligerent, which 

 was well known to the belligerents with whom 

 lie was making the stipulation. The question is if 

 permissions thus to reside have been granted. In 

 the prize cases in 2d Black, the Confederates 

 were decided to be belligerents ; and persons in 

 their territory must be treated as enemies, in- 

 cluding those who went or remained there 

 after hostilities commenced. " It follows as a 

 matter of course, that residents of the terri- 

 tory in rebellion cannot be regarded as having 

 homes in the loyal States. A man's homo and 

 his residence cannot be distinct the one from 

 the other. The rebels were dealt with by Gen. 

 Grant as belligerents. As belligerents, their 

 homes were of necessity in the territory belli- 

 gerent to the Government of the United States. 



The officers and soldiers of Gen. Lee's army ; 

 then, who had homes, prior to the rebellion, in 

 the Northern States, took up their residences 

 within the rebel States, and abandoned their 

 homes in the loyal States; and when Gen. 

 Grant gave permission to them, by the stipula- 

 tion, to return to their homes, it cannot be un- 

 derstood as a permission to return to any part 

 of the loyal States." 



Only the officers and soldiers of Lee's army 

 were included in the stipulation, and not civil- 

 ians. As to the third point, the Attorney-Gen- 

 eral said it was answered in the first, and add- 

 ed, "It seems to me that such officers, having 

 done wrong in coming into the loyal States, are 

 but adding insult to injury in wearing their 

 uniforms. They have as much right to bear 

 the traitors' flag through the streets of a loyal 

 city as to wear a traitor's garb." 



Notwithstanding this opinion of the Attorney- 

 General, the sentiment of the people required 

 that the solemn agreement, which was sup- 

 posed by all the parties assenting to it, to be 

 binding upon the civil as well as military au- 

 thorities, should not be repudiated, and it was 

 observed by the President. 



It was still further thought that the oppor- 

 tunity should be improved to secure to the 

 emancipated negroes an equality of civil and 

 political rights with the whites. At a public 

 meeting held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, in June, 

 a committee was appointed to consider the 

 proper course to be pursued with regard to the 

 Southern States, and prepare an address to the 

 public. This committee say : 



Let us now, fellow-citizens, turn our attention to 

 our rights and duties. Having succeeded in this war, 

 and holding the rebel States in our military occupa- 

 tion, it is our right and duty to secure whatever the 

 public safety ana the public faith require. 



1. The principle must be put beyond all question, 

 that the Republic has a direct claim upon the alle- 

 giance of every citizen, from which no State can ab- 

 solve him, and to his obedience to the laws of the 

 Republic", any thing in the Constitution or laws of 

 any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 



2. The public faith is pledged to every person of 

 color in the rebel States, to secure to them and their 

 posterity forever a complete and veritable freedom. 

 Having promised them this freedom, received their 

 aid on the faith of this promise, and, by a successful 

 war and actual military occupation of the country, 

 having obtained the power to secure the result, we 

 are dishonored if we fail to make it good to them. 



3. The system of slavery must be abolished and 

 prohibited by a paramount and irreversible law. 

 Throughout the rebel States there must be, in the 

 words of Webster, " impressed upon the soil itself an 

 inability to bear up any but free men." 



4. The systems of the States must be truly " repub- 

 lican." 



Unless these points are secured, the public faith 

 will be no safety for the public peace or the preser- 

 vation of our institutions. 



The objects to be secured were more pre- 

 cisely stated by the President of the New Eng- 

 land Anti-slavery Society, Mr. Phillips, at the 

 annual convention on May 31st. He said : 



The real topic for discussion was immediate suf- 

 frage for the negro. There was no time to agitate this 



