AI.AIUMA. 



81 



should In- dcrl-.ii. ithin thirty days after 



I'hat u provisional Governor should be 



niip.iintrd IPV this convention, whose first duty 



should I" 1 t<> lill by appointment all ollirrs thus 



:,rt'rnl in.-ii wlio ran take and sub- 



iiir oath presrribed by Act of Congress ap- 



Yhat during the existence of said pro- 



i! iMivrrnmciit, mid alter the various offices are 



tilled as required by the preceding resolution, all 



iming in said offices shall be filled by 



election: /'/',>./'/,/, A0wr, That no person shall 



ihle to till any oilier whatever under said pro- 



l government who cannot take and subscribe 



1 oath. 



Tin- convention refused to lay the ordinance 

 on the talile yeas 2(5, nays 07, when it was 

 referred to the appropriate committee. A res- 

 olution was offered by a colored delegate from 

 Mobile and adopted, requiring tho sergeant-at- 

 arms to set apart a place in the galleries and 

 lol (hies for the ladies. A resolution declaring 

 that there shall be neither slavery nor involun- 

 tary servitude in the State except for crime, 

 etc., was referred ; also another, making re- 

 gistration a permanent law of the State. 



Mr. Dustan (late brigadier-general, United 

 States Army) offered the following resolution: 



Resolved, That the several committees to which 

 subjects relating to the formation of the constitution 

 shall be referred are hereby instructed, that it is the 

 of this convention that the new constitution 

 shall be, in no degree, prescriptive, but that the 

 convention intends, with chanty toward all and 

 malice toward none, to so conduct its deliberations 

 that its action may enure to the general welfare of 

 the people of Alabama and of the United States. 



The resolution was amended by striking out 

 tho words " that it is the sense " down to 

 'intends." A motion to lay on the table was 

 then lost, by yeas 30, nays 50. It was then 

 moved to insert a provision that tho new con- 

 stitution should leave tho question of disfran- 

 chi>cinciit where it had been left by the Mili- 

 tary Hill. If the convention went beyond the 

 requirements of the Military Bill, the new con- 

 stitution would not be ratified. The resolution 

 and amendment were finally defeated, by 63 to 

 22. A resolution was adopted, making it tho 

 duty of tho convention to provide a system of 

 free schools which should place in the reach of 

 all children of the State the means of acquiring 

 N 1 English education. 



A largo number of resolutions on various 

 other subjects were introduced by members, 

 and referred to appropriate committees. On 

 the sixth day of the session, November llth, 

 the Committee on the Elective Franchise made 

 a majority report. It required all persons, be- 

 fore registering, to take an oath to support the 

 lYdcr.il and State Constitutions; to abandon 

 all belief in the right of secession; to accept 

 the civil and political equality of all men, agree 

 not to attempt or to countenance any attempt 

 by others to deprive any person, on account of 

 race, color, or previous condition, of any polit- 

 ical or civil right, privilege or immunity on- 

 jyed by any other class of men; to promise 



not to injure in any way, or countenance other* 

 in the al'empt to injure, any p.-r-on fur present 

 or past support of tho Fed.-:;il ('institution 

 and the policy of Coniriv-s, or tin- principle of 

 the civil and political equality of all men, or of 

 affiliation with any political party. 



All persons were disfranchised who < 

 any cruel or unusual punishment upon soldiers 

 or others in the employment of the United 

 States during tho war; or violated the usages 

 of civilized warfare; or had been guilty of 

 treason, embezzlement of public funds, rr 

 etc. ; or registered persons who should refuse 

 to vote for or against this constitution, etc., 

 etc. A minority report made all persona 

 electors who were citizens over twenty-one 

 years of age, and had resided in the State a year, 

 and had not been guilty of certain crimes, nor 

 had violated the rules of civilized warfare, and 

 who should take an oath to support, obey, pro- 

 tect, and defend -the Federal and State Consti- 

 tutions. 



On the next day an amendment was pro- 

 posed to -the majority report that no person 

 should be deemed a qualified elector before 

 1875 who ever held a military office above the 

 rank of captain, or a seat in any Legislature, or 

 any office under any government opposed to 

 the United States, or acted in any way as civil 

 or military agent of such authority, or voted 

 for or against any ordinance of secession, or 

 aliused citizens of Alabama because they were 

 friends of the Union, or treated prisoners other 

 than as prisoners of war. 



The argument made by tho author of the 

 amendment was that " unless a sweeping clause 

 of disfranchisement as proposed by him was 

 adopted, the rebels would very soon gain entire 

 control of the State government, and the Union 

 men demanded that the leading rebels should 

 be deprived of the right of suffrage, at least 

 until 1875." 



A large number of amendments were now 

 offered and laid over until the next day, when 

 Mr. Lee (colored), of Perry, said : 



I advocate the adoption of the minority report, be- 

 cause this report grants equal civil and political 

 rights to all men, of every race and every color. This 

 is all that I, as a colored man, can ask for my race. 

 To ask for more would be wrong and unjust. I have 

 no desire to take away any of the rights of the white 

 man ; all I want is equal rights in the court-house 

 and equal rights when I go to vote. I think the 

 time has come when charity and moderation should 

 characterize the actions o"f us all. Besides, the 

 minority report is confined strictly to the reconstruc- 

 tion measures of Congress, which measures define 

 the powers and limit 'the action of this convention. 

 To go beyond these would be to endanger the ratili- 

 cation of the constitution formed by this conven- 

 tion, both by the people and by Congress, and I be- 

 lieve that, if the colored race do not get their rights 

 secured without delay, the probability is they will 

 never get them. I therefore hope the principles 

 contained in the majority report will not pass, but 

 that the minority report will DC adopted. 



Mr. Keffer contended that the majority re- 

 port did not disfranchise any one not already 

 disfranchised by the military bills. Jn reply to 



