GEORGIA. 



3C5 



;riit tit' liis views, ho says: "I never 



will approve, or con~.-nt to, or accept the 



poi-.oned ohalioe offered tit <nir li|i-. nor will I 



I'.-llow-riti/rns to do >.,i. IT |K rmitlcd 



to take in view :i turn of events 1 -lioiild regis- 



:.d I hope I\>T\ man in (J.-oriria who 



with the \ic\\ ot' defeating the 



16 lor our degradation and the overthrow 



, eminent." 



Wiih regard to influence exerted by official 

 pnldicaiions, (ieiieral I'o;ie k-ned the folio willg 

 order on the liMh of August: 



General Ordert, No. 49. 



Hi UIQCARTEBS THIKD MILITARY DISTRICT ) 

 (UKORUIA, ALABAMA, AND KI.I:II>\>. V 

 ATLAJITA, GA., Auyu*t 1-, M)7. j 

 The commanding general has become satisfied that 

 :!u'frs hi this military district are only observ- 

 r, prohibiting them from using any intlu- 

 r or dissuade people from recgnstructing 

 \ crnim-nts under the recent Acts of Con- 

 . so far as their own personal convcr.-ation is 

 concerned, und are at the same time by their official 

 iipportiiiir and encouraging newspapers 

 which arc almost without exception opposing recon- 

 struction and obstructing and embarrassing civil offi- 

 . tin- military district commanders 

 in tin- performance of their duties, by denunciation 

 and t! :nre penalties for their official acts. 



Such use of patronage of tlu-ir offices is simply an 

 evasion, perhaps unintentional, of tho provisions of 



iMi-h'mg military courts. Gencrnl 

 OBOM the former OOOTW, and on the lUth of 

 August ined tin- following order: 

 General Ordert, So. 68. 



IlKAIiyl'ABTEHB TlIIRO Mll.ITABT DISTRICT I 

 HOI \. Al.MllMV. AM' Kl.'.KIHAX V 



ATI. A ' .:', MM. I 



Grand and petit jurors, and all other jurora for the 

 trial of oases, c-ivil or criminal, or for the- iidmii 

 ti"M of law in tip ia, . \labama, and 



Florida, will hereafter ; -iy from the 



nination, registered by 

 ion under the Acts of Congress of 

 the United States, known as the Reconstruction 

 Acts. 



Sheriffs and other ofiV duty it is to sum- 



mon and empanel jurors, will require each ji. 1 

 take the oath that he is duly registered as above indi- 

 cated, specifying precinct and count/ in which lie- 

 was registered, which affidavit will be* placed on the 

 ollk-ial flies of the court. 



By command of Brevet Major-General POPE. 

 G. K. SANDERSON, Captain Thirty-third United States 



Infantry, A. A. A. (i. 



On the 5th of September Judge Reese, of the 

 Ocmulgee Judicial District, wrote to General 

 Pope, declaring that his convictions of duty, 

 under his oath to sustain the constitution and 

 laws of Georgia, would prevent him from con- 

 forming to the above order, which he regarded 

 as equivalent to requiring a test of the political 



VvUOiwll^ UVI lit* I/O UUUlVViUUlVJkUU* \Ji L11V H \J lOlVliQ VI * v*j_ . T* O i 



ral order above referred to, and is, in fact", an party of all persons permitted to sit on juries. 

 i the machinery of tho provisional State After discussing the_ effect of executing the 



he 



,mcnt to di-fi-at the execution or the Reconstruc- 

 tion Acts. It is therefore ordered : 



'. That all advertisements or other official pub- 

 lii-at ions, heretofore or to be hereafter provided for by 



ite, of municipal laws or ordinances t be given 

 l>y the proper civil officers whose duty it is to nave 

 Hii'-h jiublication made, to such newspapers, and such 

 only, as have not opposed and do not oppose recon- 



on under tho Acts of Congress, nor attempt to 



lot in any manner civil officers appointed by the 

 military authorities in this district in the discharge 



r duty by threats of violence or prosecution or 



I ienalty, as soon as military protection is with- 

 drawn, for acts performed in their official capacitv. 



order, he says: "No earthly consideration 

 would induce me to pass sentence upon a per- 

 son convicted of a capital offence by the verdict 

 of a jury organized as indicated by Order No. 

 53." General Pope replied with an attempt to 

 show that Judge Reese owed allegiance first 

 of all to the authority of the United States, as 

 represented by the military power in the State. 

 and that no political test was in reality re- 

 quired. The judge, however, could not alter 

 his convictions, and avowed his intention to 



D this military district, and all proceed in the discharge of his duty, as in for- 

 '. ireau. and all boards of mer times, until he received a notice of prohi- 

 rr:_ r ist ration or other persons in the employment of 

 under its military jurisdiction, are 

 directed to give prompt attention to the enforce- 

 ment of this order, and to make immediate report to 

 these headquarters of any civil officers who violate its 



provisions. 



By command of Brevet Major-General POPE. 



The commanding general received numerous 

 complaints of injustice done in the civil courts, 

 and in many cases exercised his paramount au- 

 thority in tiie district to redress (he wrong, 

 according to his view of tho justice of each 

 ca-c. Under tho existing jury system, colored 



:is were entirely excluded from serving as 

 jurors, and in the administration of civil jus- 

 tice under the provisional government, verd'icts 

 pronounced, in most instances, by the 



of persons who were deprived of the 

 right of suffrage under the laws which then 



ded. There were two ways of making 



hnini-tration of justice conform with the 

 spirit of tho jjovenimenr. exercised over the 

 people, viz., by requiring the same test in tho 

 case of jurors which was applied to voters, or 



bition from the commanding general. General 

 Pope then expressed his determination to en- 

 force his own opinion on the subject, but, being 

 unwilling to remove Judge Reese, requested 

 him to resign, or consider the letter which 

 carried that request as a positive prohibition 

 against the exercise of the duties of his office. 

 The judge acquiesced in the latter alternative. 

 In answer to a letter dated August 20th, 

 which gave utterance to an expectation preva- 

 lent in certain parts, that the commander of the 

 district would use his authority to give debtors 

 greater relief from creditors lhan they could 

 get either from the bankrupt law, or from any 

 legislation under the provisional government, 

 General Pope said : " I know of no conceivable 

 circumstance that would induce me to interfere, 

 by military orders, with the great busines- of 

 the Statv, or with the relation of debtor or 

 creditor uuder State laws, except, peri.a 

 individual cases, where very manifest injustice 

 had l>een done. The only military orders 

 which I have issued, or intend to I--;K', in this 



