254 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



suspension or removal, such commander, subject to 

 the approval of the General aforesaid, shall have 

 poVer to provide from time to time for the perform- 

 ance of the said duties of such officer or person so 

 suspended or removed, by the detail of some compe- 

 tent officer or soldier of the Army, or by the appoint- 

 ment of some other person to perform the same. 



SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the General 

 of the Army of the'United States shall be invested 

 with all the powers of suspension, removal, and de- 

 tail granted in the preceding section to district com- 

 manders. 



SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the acts of 

 the officers of the Army already done in removing 

 in said districts persons exercising the functions of 

 civil officers and appointing others in their stead 

 are hereby confirmed : Provided, That any person 

 heretofore or hereafter appointed by any district 

 commander to exercise the functions of any civil 

 office may be removed either by the military officer 

 in command of the district, or by the General of the 

 Army. 



SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the boards 

 of registration provided for in the act entitled "An 

 act supplementary to an act entitled ' An act to pro- 

 vide for the more efficient government of the rebel 

 States,' passed March 2, 1867, and to facilitate res- 

 toration," passed March 23, 1867, shall have power, 

 and it shall be their duty before allowing the regis- 

 tration of any person, to ascertain, upon such facts 

 or information as they can obtain, whether such per- 

 son is entitled to be registered under said act, and 

 the oath required by said act shall not be conclusive 

 on such question ; and no person shall be registered 

 unless such board shall decide that he is entitled 

 thereto ; and such board shall also have power to ex- 

 amine under oath (to be administered by any member 

 of such board) any one touching the qualification of 

 any person claiming registration . But in every case 

 of refusal by the board to register an applicant, and 

 in every case of striking his name from the list as 

 hereinafter provided, the board shall make a note or 

 memorandum, which shall be returned with the re- 

 gistration list to the commanding general of the dis- 

 trict, setting forth the grounds of such refusal or 

 such striking from the list : Provided, That no person 

 shall be disqualified as member of any board of re- 

 gistration by reason of race or color. 



SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the true in- 

 tent and meaning of the oath prescribed in said sup- 

 plementary act is (among other things) that no per- 

 son who has been a member of the Legislature of 

 any State, or who has held any executive or judicial 

 office in any State, whether he has taken an oath to 

 support the Constitution of the United States or not, 

 and whether he was holding such office at the time 

 of the rebellion or had held it before, and who has 

 afterward engaged in insurrection or rebellion against 

 the United States, or given aid or comfort to the ene- 

 mies thereof, is entitled to be registered or to vote ; 

 and the word "executive or judicial officer in any 

 State" in said oath mentioned shall be construed to 

 include all civil officers created by law for the admin- 

 istration of the general laws of a State. 



SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the time for 

 completing the original registration provided for in 

 said act may, in the discretion of the commander of 

 any district, be extended to the first day of October, 

 1867 ; and the boards of registration shall have power 

 and it shall be their duty, commencing twenty days 

 prior to any election under said act, and upon rea- 

 sonable public notice of the time and place thereof, 

 to revise, for a period of five days, the registration 

 lists ; and upon being satisfied that any person not 

 entitled thereto has been registered, to strike the 

 name of such person from the list, and such person 

 shall not be allowed to vote. And such board shall 

 also, during the same period, add to such registry 

 the names of all persons who at that time possess 

 the qualifications required' by said act who have not 



been already registered ; and no person shall at any 

 time be entitled to be registered or to vote by reason 

 of any executive pardon or anmesty for any act or 

 thing which, without such pardon or amnesty, would 

 disqualify him from registration or voting. 



SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That section four 

 of said last-named act shall be construed to author- 

 ize the commanding general named therein, when- 

 ever he shall deem it needful, to remove any member 

 of a board of registration, and to appoint another in 

 his stead, and to fill any vacancy in such board. 



SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all provis- 

 ions of this act and of the acts to which this is supple- 

 mentary shall be construed liberally, to the end that 

 all the intents thereof may be fully and perfectly car- 

 ried out. 



In the House, the amendment of the Senate 

 was referred to the Reconstruction Committee, 

 who reported it back with a series of amend- 

 ments which were approved and sent to the 

 Senate. In the Senate, these amendments were 

 thus reported : 



The first amendment was to strike out the 

 first section of the Senate amendment, and in 

 lieu thereof to insert : 



That it is hereby declared to have been the true 

 intent and meaning of the act of the 2d day of March, 

 1867, entitled "An act to provide for the more effi- 

 cient government of the rebel States," and of the act 

 supplementary thereto, passed on the 23d day of 

 March, 1867, that the governments then existing in 

 the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South 

 Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, 

 Florida, Texas, and Arkansas were illegal ; and that 

 thereafter said governments, if continued, were to 

 be continued subject in "all respects to the military 

 commanders of the respective districts, and to the 

 authority of Congress. 



The next amendment was to strike out in 

 lines three and four of section two the words 

 " subject to the approval of the General of the 

 Army of the United States ; " and in lines sev- 

 enteen and eighteen to strike out the words 

 "subject to the approval of the General afore- 

 said " and to add to the section these words : 



And to fill vacancies occasioned by death or resig- 

 nation ; and the district commander, whenever he 

 shall deem it necessary, shall have power to set aside, 

 suspend, or affirm any act or proceeding of any State 

 government, or any municipal, or other division there- 

 of, or any act or thing done under or by virtue of 

 its authority. 



The next amendment was in section three, 

 after the word " appointment " in line three, to 

 insert " removal." 



The next amendment was to add to section four : 

 And it shall be the duty of such commander to 

 rpmove from office, as aforesaid, all persons who are 

 disloyal to the Government of the United States^or 

 who use their official influence in any manner to hin- 

 der, delay, or obstruct the due and proper adminis- 

 tration of this act and the acts to which it is supple- 

 mentary. 



The next amendment was in section five, to 

 strike out from the word " before " in line ten 

 to the word " act " in line fourteen, inclusive, 

 and to insert in lieu of the words stricken out 

 " to admit to registration only such persons as 

 they may deem entitled to be registered by the 

 acts aforeeaid." 



The next amendment was in section five, to 

 strike out all after the word "registration," in 



