ALABAMA. 



An oath of office was reported and adopted 

 yeas 72, nays 13 as follows: 



" I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am 

 not disfranchised by the constitution of Alabama, or 

 by the Constitution or laws of the United States ; 

 that I will honestly and faithfully support and defend 

 the Constitution and laws of the United States, the 

 Union of the States, and the constitution and laws 

 of the State of Alabama, so long as I remain a citizen 

 thereof; and that I will honestly and faithfully dis- 

 charge the duties of the office upon which I am about 

 to enter to the best of my ability. So help me God. 



Mr. Bingham said this amounted to nothing 

 at all. He asserted that it was a great back- 

 down on the part of some in this convention 

 who called themselves radicals. If it is adopt- 

 ed, continued he, the State will be in the hands 

 of " rebels " Avithin three years, and all that the 

 convention had done would be then undone. 

 He was in favor of the iron-clad oath prepared 

 by Congress, which excluded all "rebels" from 

 the various offices. 



Mr. Dustan did not think it Avas any back- 

 down on the part of any man in this conven- 

 tion to vote for this substitute. He wanted the 

 people to choose the officers and dictate who 

 shall hold office ; and he hoped the convention 

 would not suffer themselves to be whipped in. 



The following letter of General Pope to Ma- 

 jor-General Swayne expresses the views of the 

 former on the proceedings of the convention : 



HEADQUARTERS THIRD MILITARY DISTRICT 

 (GEORGIA, ALABAMA, AND FLORIDA), 



ATLANTA, GA., November 20, 1867. 

 MY DEAR GENERAL : I write you unofficially, as I 

 do not wish to reply to your telegrams relating to the 

 compensation of the members of the convention. 

 The reconstruction acts prescribe the manner in 

 which such compensation shall be made, and I do 

 not know that I have the authority to act at all in 

 the matter. 



I am willing, however, to sanction the payment of 

 the convention from funds now in the State Treasury 

 under the following conditions: 



1. That the convention provide for the levy and 

 collection of a special tax, in accordance with the 

 requirements of the reconstruction acts, to cover the 

 payment, which amount shall be paid into the State 

 Treasury before the end of the fiscal year. 



2. That the compensation of the members of the 

 convention shall be fixed at a reasonable sum. 



3. That the payments from the treasury be not 

 made until the convention has completed its' work. 



As I have said, I do not know that I have the 

 authority to order this payment, but I will do so on 

 the foregoing conditions. 



In this connection, I hope you will suggest to the 

 members of the convention, that if the newspaper 

 accounts are true, the amount of compensation they 

 propose seems to me (as indeed it does to everybody 

 I have heard speak of it) excessive, and if adopted, 

 a very bad effect will be produced upon the friends 

 of the convention. The convention should fix the 

 lowest possible compensation for its members, barely 

 enough to pay actual expenses. I cannot tell you 

 what an unpleasant impression has been created by 

 the newspaper reports on the subject. 



I hope on every account that the Convention will 

 finish its work and adjourn at an early day. If they 

 knew how their proceedings are watched alike by 

 friend and enemy, and how much of their future de- 

 pends upon their prompt and reasonable action, it 

 seems to me that useless discussions should be avoid- 

 ed, and a fair and satisfactory result reached in the 

 shortest possible time. Every day they remain in 



session after the 20th of this month will be used as a 

 reproach against them, and will tend to discourage 

 the friends of reconstruction everywhere. 



I hope you will do what you can to urge these or 

 similar views upon those who have influence. 



I hold it of the greatest importance, that the con- 

 stitution be made as soon as possible. I speak not 

 more for the interests of Alabama than for the in- 

 terests of the political party upon whose retention 

 of power for several years to come the success of 

 reconstruction depends. 



Truly your friend, JOHN POPE. 



An article exempting from seizure, for debt, 

 personal property to the amount of $1,000 was 

 also adopted. 



The article on the judiciary made the judges 

 elective by the people. 



Finally each article of the constitution was 

 read section by section and amended and 

 adopted. The vote was then taken on the 

 adoption of the constitution as a whole, and 

 resulted yeas 67, nays 3. Fifteen members 

 presented a protest against its adoption, on the 

 ground that " in their opinion the government 

 framed in accordance with its provisions will 

 entail upon the people of the State greater evils 

 than any which now threaten them." 



The article on the elective franchise, as 

 adopted, was as follows : 



Sec. 2. Every male person, born in the United 

 States, and every male person who has been natural- 

 ized, or who has legally declared his intention to 

 become a citizen of the United States, twenty-one 

 years old or upward, who shall have resided in this 

 State six months next preceding the election, and 

 three months in the county in which he offers to 

 vote, except as hereinafter provided, shall be deemed 

 an elector : Provided, That no soldier, or sailor, or 

 marine in the military or naval service of the United 

 States shall hereafter acquire a residence by reason 

 of being stationed on duty in this State. 



Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the General As- 

 sembly to provide from time to time for the regis- 

 tration of all electors, but the following classes of 

 persons shall not be permitted to register, vote, or 

 hold office: 1st. Those who, during the late re- 

 bellion, inflicted, or caused to be inflicted, any cruel 

 or unusual punishment upon any soldier, sailor, 

 marine, employe or citizen of the United States, or 

 who, in any other way, violated the rules of civil- 

 ized warfare. 2d. Those who may be disqualified 

 from holding office by the proposed amendment to 

 the Constitution of the United States, known as 

 ''Article XIV.," and those who have been disquali- 

 fied from registering to vote for delegates to the 

 convention to frame a constitution for the State of 

 Alabama, under the act of Congress, "to provide 

 for the more efficient government of the rebel 

 States," passed by Congress, March 2, 186T, and 

 the acts supplementary thereto, except such per- 

 sons as aided in the reconstruction proposed by 

 Congress, and accept the political equality of all 

 men before the law : Provided, That the General 

 Assembly shall have power to remove the disabili- 

 ties incurred under this clause. 3d. Those who 

 shall have been convicted of treason, embezzlement 

 of public funds, malfeasance in office, crime punish- 

 able by law with imprisonment in the penitentiary, 

 or bribery. 4th. Those who are idiots or insane. 



Sec. 4. All persons, before registering, must take 

 and subscribe the following oath : I, , do sol- 

 emnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and 

 maintain the Constitution and laws of the United 

 States, and the constitution and laws of the State 

 of Alabama ; that I am not excluded from register- 



