18 



ALABAMA. 



numbered 100, in regard to organizing the General 

 Assembly of this State. A duly verified < copy of _ the 

 order is herewith communicated for your information. 

 W. H. SMITH, Prov'l Gov'r of Alabama. 



General Orders, No. 100. 

 HEADQUARTERS THIRD MILITARY DISTRICT, 

 DEPARTMENT OF GEORGIA, FLORIDA, AND ALABAMA, 

 ATLANTA, GA., July 9, 1868. f 



Whereas, by virtue of the Act of Congress, which 

 became a law June 25, 1868, and of the proclama- 

 tion of the Governor-elect of the State of Alabama, 

 issued in conformity therewith, the two Houses ot 

 the Legislature are directed to assemble at Montgom- 

 ery on the 13th instant ; and 



Whereas, in view of the fact that until the State of 

 Alabama has complied with the requirements of the 

 acts of Congress entitling it to representation, all 

 governmental officers in said State are provisional 

 and subject to the direct authority of the district 

 commander; and 



Whereas, The usual hope of organizing legislative 

 bodies is in this instance impracticable : 



It is ordered 1. That the Hon. William H. Smith, 

 Provisional Governor of the State of Alabama, pro- 

 ceed at 12 M., on the 13th instant, to effect such pre- 

 liminary organization of both Houses of the Legisla- 

 ture as will enable the same to enter on the discharge 

 4 of the duties assigned them by law. 2. That before 

 each House shall be considered legally organized, the 

 Provisional Governor will require that, in conformity 

 with the reconstruction acts and act which became 

 a law June 25, 1868, each House, before proceeding to 

 any business beyond organization, shall take meas- 

 ures to purge itself of all members who may be dis- 

 qualified from holding office under the provisions of 

 Section 3, an amendment to the Constitution known 

 as Article 14. 



By order of Major-General MEADE. 



E. C. DRUM, Assistant Adjutant-General. 



The president then informed the Senate that 

 they, having complied with the requirements 

 of Congress, were vested with full authority 

 to transact the civil business. 



In the House and Senate a resolution was 

 adopted ratifying the 14th Article of Amend- 

 ments to the Constitution of the United States, 

 and also another, ratifying the resolutions of 

 the Thirty-eighth Congress abolishing slavery. 



The Governor, "W". H. Smith, in his message 

 strongly recommended the removal of all disa- 

 bilities from the people of Alabama, and op- 

 posed any disfranchisement except for crime. 

 He urged the necessity of a sound and thor- 

 ough common-school system of education, stat- 

 ing that 37,600 of the adult white population 

 of Alabama, in 1860, could neither read nor 

 write, and that the colored people were still 

 more deficient. He recommended the devel- 

 opment of the agricultural and industrial in- 

 terests of Alabama. Not having reports from 

 the institutions of the State, he could not 

 state their condition, or the details of the 

 financial affairs of the Treasury. " In conclu- 

 sion, gentlemen," he said, "you will pardon 

 me for again reminding you that you have as- 

 sembled to legislate in the interest of the whole 

 people. Knowing you as I do, and judging of 

 your motives by what I know of my own, I 

 am assured that you will perform your duty in 

 no bitter or partisan spirit, and that your acts 

 will one and all promote the prosperity and 

 welfare of every citizen." 



The direction of affairs in the State was 

 now turned over to the new civil authorities 

 by General Meade, in the following order, issued 

 on July 14th : 



Whereas, Official information has been received at 

 these headquarters from the Governor-elect of the 

 State of Alabama, that the Legislature of said State, 

 elected under the provisions of General Order No. 101, 

 series of 1867, from these headquarters, has assem- 

 bled and complied with the requisitions of the Act of 

 Congress, which became a law June 25, 1868, entitled 

 an Act to admit the States of North Carolina, 

 South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and 

 Florida to representation in Congress ; " and whereas, 

 said act states that, on compliance with the conditions 

 therein set forth by any State, the officers of said 

 State, duly elected and qualified under the constitu- 

 tion thereof, shall be inaugurated without delay, it is 

 therefore ordered : 



1. That all civil officers holding office in the State, 

 whether by military appointment or by failure to 

 have successors qualified, shall promptly yield their 

 offices and turn over to their properly elected and 

 qualified successors all public property, archives, 

 books, records, etc., belonging to the same. 



2. Whenever the military commander of the sub- 

 District of Alabama, is officially notified of the in- 

 auguration of the State government elect, military 

 authority under the Acts of Congress, known as the 

 Reconstruction Laws, will be at an end in said State ; 

 and it is the duty of the sub-District commander to 

 transfer every thing appertaining to the government 

 of said State to the proper civil officers, and to ab- 

 stain in future, upon any pretext whatever, from any 

 interference with or control over the civil authorities 

 of the State, or the persons and property of the citi- 

 zens thereof. 



3. On the inauguration of the civil government, 

 all prisoners held in custody or by bonds for offences 

 against the civil law will be turned over to the proper 

 civil authority^. In the mean tune writs oi' habeas cor- 

 pus from United States Courts will be respectfully 

 obeyed and the decisions conformed to. Writs 

 from State courts will have respectful returns made, 

 stating prisoners are held by authority of the United 

 States, and can only be released by writs issued by 

 United States Courts. 



By order of Major-General MEADE. 

 E. C. DRUM, Assistant Adjutant-General. 



The following is an extract from an order of 

 General Meade's defining the military jurisdic- 

 tion: 



The several States comprising this military dis- 

 trict, having by solemn acts of their Assemblies con- 

 formed to tne requisitions of the acts of Congress 

 which became a law June 25, 1868, and civil govern- 

 ment having been inaugurated in each, the military 

 power vested in the district commander by the Ee- 

 construction Laws, by the provisions of these laws 

 ceases to exist ; and hereafter all orders issued from 

 these headquarters, and bearing upon the rights of 

 persons and property, will have in the several States 

 of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, only such force as 

 may be given to them by the courts and Legislatures 

 of the respective States. 



The late Secretary of State, Micah Taul, and 

 the Attorney-General, John W. A. Sandford, 

 protested against this order on the ground 

 that, if Alabama was entitled to representation 

 in Congress, it was because she was a member 

 of the Union. Among the reserved rights of 

 States was the power in each State to ordain 

 and establish a constitution for itself and laws 

 for its domestic government. The people of 

 the State of Alabama rejected the constitution 



