ITIlLIO DOCUMENTS. 



809 



first became members of the 



I 



ress does not now demand that a single ; i-"- 



' such 



to tllf \\hile population. |l is il|>- 



lli:il these provisions do 1!' ' 



nlard dl' republicanism which <'on- 

 ililish. That there muy bo no mis- 

 'rence should bi; 

 inal act, uhich declares-.- 

 iitinii shall provide that, tin- eleeihv franchise 

 us as have the qualillca- 

 i delegates. 



What class of persons is here meant clearly ap- 

 111 the same section. Tbat is .to .- 



. twenty-one years oM and 



: uf \vhate\, i or previous condition, who 



i'lent In said State for one year prevloui to the 

 day of such election. 



Without those provisions, no constitution which 

 framed in anyone of the ten States will be 

 avail with Congress. This, then, is the test 

 uf what the constitution of a State of this Union 

 must contain to make it republican. Measured by 

 idard, how few of the States now com- 

 .-, the Union have republican constitutions! 

 If, in the exercise of the constitutional guarantee 

 tigress shall secure to every State a repub- 

 lican form of government, universal suffrage for 

 II as whites is a sine qua non, the work 

 of reconstruction may as well begin in Ohio as in 

 Virginia, in Pennsylvania as in North Carolina. 



When 1 contemplate the millions of our fellow- 

 :is of the South, with no alternative left but to 

 impose upon themselves this fearful and untried ex- 

 periment of complete negro enfranchisement and 

 white disfranchisement, it may be almost as com- 

 nr submit indefinitely to the rigor of martial 

 law, without a single attribute of freedmen, deprived 

 of all the sacred guarantees of our Federal Consti- 

 tutinn, and threatened with even worse wrongs, if 

 any worse are possible, it seems to me their con- 

 dition is the most deplorable to which any people 

 can be reduced. It is true that they have been en- 

 gaged in rebellion, and that, their object being a 

 separation of the States and a dissolution of the 

 Union, there was an Obligation resting upon every 

 loyal citizen to treat them as enemies, and to wa.Lre 

 -ainst their cause. 



Inflexibly opposed to any movement imperilling 

 the integrity of the Government, I did not hesitate 

 to urge the adoption of all measures necessary for 

 the suppression of the insurrection. After a long 

 and terrible struggle, the efforts of the Government 

 were triumphantly successful, and the people of the 

 South, submitting to the stern arbitrament, yielded 

 forever the issues of the contest. Hostilities ter- 

 minated soon after it became my duty to assume the 

 responsibilities of the chief Executive officer of the 

 Republic, and I at once endeavored to repress and 

 control the passions which our civil strife had en- 

 gendered, and, no longer regarding these erring 

 millions as enemies, again acknowledged them as 

 our friends and our countrymen. The war had ac- 

 complished its objects. The nation was saved, and 

 that seminal principle of mischief which, from the 

 birth of the Government, had gradually but inevita- 

 bly brought on the rebellion, was totally eradicated. 

 Then, it seemed to me, was the auspicious time to 

 commence the work of reconciliation ; then, when 

 the people sought once more our friendship and pro- 

 tection, I considered it our duty generously to meet 

 them in the spirit of charity and forgiveness, and to 

 conquer them even more effectually by the mag- 

 nanimitv of the nation than by the fo'rce of its arms. 

 I yet believe that if the policy of reconciliation then 

 inaugurated, and which contemplated an early res- 

 toration of ihe>e people to all tneir^ political rights, 

 had received the support of Congress, every one of 

 these ten States and all their people would at this 



moment be fast anchored in the Union, and the 

 great work which gave the war all iu (auction, and 



and holy, would hare been acconi- 

 !. Then over all the vast and fruitful regions 

 of the South peace and its hle--in;;s would hu\ 



while now millions are depru. 

 guaranteed by (lie Constitution to cver\ eiti/j 

 iil'ier n '-ars of leL'i-lation lirnlilni. 



placed under an absolute military despotism. "A 

 military republic, a government formed on mock 

 ipported daily by the sword," was 

 neailv .1 <|iiait'T of a century since pronounced by 

 Danii'l Weli-ter, when speaking of the South Ameri- 

 can State-*, as a " movement indeed, but a retrograde 

 and disastrous movement, from the regular and old- 

 fa.-hioned monarchical systems ; " and he added : 



If men would enjoy tho hlesslnirs of republican ; 

 mcnt they nin>t Koran themselves by reason, by mutual 

 e.mri-el and. consultation, by a sense and feeling of general 

 . and by '.In: acquiescence of the minority In the will 

 of tlui majority, properly expressed; and, above all, the 

 military must be kept, according to the language of our bill 

 of rights, In strict subordination to the civil authority. 

 .11 is not both learned nnd practised 

 there ean be no political freedom. Absurd, preposterous is 

 It, a scoff and a satire on free forms of constitutional liberty, 

 t'l-r forms of government to be prescribed by military lead- 

 ers, ami the ri^ht of suffrage to be exercised at the point of 



tile sword. 



I confidently believe that a time will come when 

 these States will again occupy their true positions in 

 the Union. The barriers which now seem so obsti- 

 nate must yield to the force of an enlightened and 

 just public opinion, and sooner or later unconsti- 

 tutional and oppressive legislation will be effaced 

 from our statute-books. When this shall hava been 

 consummated, I pray God that the errors of the past 

 may be forgotten, and that once more we shall be a 

 happy, united, and prosperous people, and that at 

 last, after the bitter and eventful experience through 

 which the nation has passed, we shall all come to 

 know that our onlv safety is in the preservation of 

 our Federal Constitution, and in according to everv 

 American citizen and to every State tho rights which 

 that Constitution secures. 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



WASHINGTON, March 23, 1867. 



For bill, see CONGRESS, UNITED STATES, p. 250. 



Official Opinion of the Attorney-General on 



Reconstruction. 



ATTOENZY-GEKEKAL'S OFFICE, June 12, 1867. 

 The President : 



Siu : On the 24th ultimo I had the honor to trans- 

 mit for your consideration my opinion upon some of 

 the questions arising under the reconstruction acts 

 therein referred to. I now_ proceed to give my opin- 

 ion on the remaining questions, upon which the mili- 

 tary commanders require instructions. 



Hrst, as to the powers and duties of these com- 

 manders. 



The original act recites in its preamble that "no 

 legal State governments or adequate protection for 

 lite or property exists" in those ten States, and that 

 "it is necessary that peace and good order should 

 be enforced " in those States " until loyal and repub- 

 lican State governments can be legally established." 



The first and second sections divide these States 

 into five military districts, subject to the military 

 authority of the United States as thereinafter pre- 

 scribed, and make it the duty of the President to 

 assign from the officers of the army a general oilieer 

 to the command of each district, and to furnish him 

 with a military force to perform his duties and en- 

 force his authority within nis district. 



The third section declares " that it shall be the 

 duty of each officer assigned as aforesaid to protect 

 all persons in their rights of person and property, to 

 suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence, and to 



