326 



FLORIDA. 



them ? Perish forever so base a thought ! If they 

 are to be disfranchised, let it be by no act of ours. 



The Committee, in the House of Representa- 

 tives, to whom the subject was referred, re- 

 ported against the ratification of the amend- 

 ment, and thus closed their report : 



As the representatives of the people of the State of 

 Florida, we protest that we are willing to make any 

 organic changes of a thoroughly general character, 

 and which do not totally destroy the nature of the 

 government. We are willing to do any thing which 

 a generous conqueror even should demand, much 

 less the Congress of our common government. On 

 the other hand, we will bear any ill before we will 

 pronounce our own dishonor. We will be taxed 

 without representation ; we will quietly endure the 

 government of the bayonet ; we will see and submit 

 to the threatened fire and sword and destruction, but 

 we will not bring, as a peace offering, the conclusive 

 evidence of our own self-created degradation. 



Our present relations with the general government 

 are certainly of a strange character. Beyond the 

 postal service, our people derive no benefit from our 

 existence as a State in the Union. We are denied 

 representation even when we elect a party who has 

 never in fact sympathized with armed resistance to 

 the United States, and who can, in good faith, take 

 the oath. We are at the same time subject to the 

 most onerous taxation ; the civil law of the State is 

 enforced and obeyed only when it meets the approval 

 of the local commander of the troops of the United 

 States ; the Congress of the United States enacts 

 laws making certain lands subject to entry at a 

 small cost by the colored portion of our population, 

 and denies the like privilege to the white man by 

 restrictions amounting to a prohibition. 



We are, in fact, recognized as a State for the 

 single and sole purpose of working out our own 

 destruction and dishonor. None of the benefits of 

 that relation exist. In other words, we are recog- 

 nized as a State for the highest purposes known to 

 the Constitution, namely, its amendment ; but we 

 are not recognized as a State for any of the benefits 

 resulting from that relation. 



Your committee, for these reasons among others, 

 recommend that the House of Representatives, do not 

 ratify the proposed amendment. 



Tliis report of the committee was unani- 

 mously adopted by the House. 



The bonded debt of the State is about $370,- 

 61V, on which there is interest due to the 

 amount of $100,485. The debt not bonded is 

 $167,759. This includes the indebtedness be- 

 fore and since the war, without including the 

 scrip issues during the first year of the war, 

 which are regarded as cancelled by the act of 

 the State Convention. This issue of scrip was 

 without value outside of the State, and was 

 chiefly made for the purpose of carrying on the 

 operations of the State, and for the relief of the 

 destitute inhabitants. It was received for home 

 products, even when the Confederate currency 

 was repudiated through reliance on the good 

 faith of the State. On the principle that all 

 acts or laws impairing contracts are unconstitu- 

 tional, it is intended yet to bring the subject 

 before the courts for adjudication. 



In a proclamation issued by President John- 

 son on April 2cl, it was declared that the in- 

 surrection which heretofore existed in the 

 State of " Florida is at an end, and henceforth 

 to be so regarded." Orders from the Secretary 



of War, with the approval of the President, 

 issued on April 9th, declared that, although the 

 President's proclamation did not remove martial 

 law, it was not expedient to resort to military 

 tribunals in any case where justice could be at- 

 tained through the medium of the civil authority. 

 The major-general (J. G. Foster) in command 

 of the department, issued his orders on April 

 27th, stating these facts, and also saying that, 

 whereas the Constitution had provided that the 

 inhabitants of Florida " are free, and shall enjoy 

 the rights of person and property without dis- 

 tinction of color," and " the courts being or- 

 ganized in the State, and the officers and peo- 

 ple in general ' well and loyally disposed,' so 

 that the Constitution and laws can be sustained, 

 and enforced therein by proper civil authority, 

 State or Federal," and the civil rights bill having 

 been passed by Congress, he therefore directed 

 that all persons under military arrest should be 

 turned over to civil authorities for trial, except 

 soldiers and those subject to military law, and 

 that commanders, when requested, should assist 

 the ministerial officers of the civil authorities in 

 making arrests. Governor Walker immediately 

 issued a proclamation announcing the facts to 

 the people, congratulating them upon the resto- 

 ration of judicial authority, and making the fol- 

 lowing statements: 



Let us constantly remember that every lawless act 

 any individual in o_ur State may commit, and every 

 indiscreet expression that may be uttered, is imme- 

 diately exaggerated and published broadcast over 

 the Northern States with the view of making it ap- 

 pear that the President is wrong and his enemies 

 are right. We are passing through a fearful 

 ordeal. The eyes of the world are upon us. Let 

 us, therefore, be wise as serpents, and harmless 

 as doves. In times like these, it is the duty of 

 every good citizen not only to obey the Constitution 

 and laws himself, but to see as far as possible that 

 every one else does so, for each now is held respon- 

 sible for all, and all are held responsible for each. 

 Therefore I charge not only every officer, but also 

 every man in the State, to be vigilant in the exercise 

 of all his duties as a loyal citizen of the United 

 States, to see that all crime is instantly punished, 

 and that all the laws, and particularly those for the 

 protection of the freedmen are duly executed. 



All the greater crimes, such as murder, arson, etc., 

 having since the surrender of General Johnston up 

 to this time been punishable alone by the military, 

 our magistrates and people have fallen into the 

 habit of looking alone to the military for the arrest 

 of offenders, but hereafter this will not be the case. 

 The military have ceased to arrest except upon the 

 warrant of the civil magistrates. I urge the magis- 

 trates and people themselves to be prompt to appre- 

 hend and punish all violators of the laws, of what- 

 ever grade. 



I know that our people are loyal, and I feel under 

 no necessity, therefore, of impressing the duty of loy- 

 alty upon them, but I wish to warn them particularly 

 against all expressions of impatience which can, by 

 any system of torturing, be construed into utter- 

 ances of disloyalty. Such expressions are all re- 

 ported to the North and magnified an.d made to play 

 an important part in the war upon the President. 

 Every intemperate paragraph in a newspaper is par- 

 ticularly adapted to this purpose and I here beg leave 

 to say that I think it is high time that the custom 

 which has so long prevailed among our people and 

 newspapers both South and North, and with such dis* 



