306 



GEORGIA. 



the llth of March, when the completed con- 

 stitution was ratified by a very large majority 

 of the delegates. 



The general declaration of principles with 

 which the instrument is introduced contains 

 the following sections of special interest : 



SECTION 2. All persons born, or naturalized, in the 

 United States, and resident in this State, are hereby 

 declared citizens of this State, and no law shall be 

 made or enforced which shall abridge the privileges 

 or immunities of citizens of the United States, or of 

 this State, or deny to any person within its jurisdic- 

 tion the equal protection of its laws. And it shall be 

 the duty of the General Assembly, by appropriate 

 legislation, to protect every person in the due enjoy- 

 ment of the rights, privileges, and immunities guar- 

 anteed in this section. 



SEO. 4. There shall be within the State of Georgia 

 neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, save as a 

 punishment for crime after legal conviction thereof. 



SEC. 33. The State of Georgia shall ever remaain 

 member of the American Union ; the people thereof 

 are a part of the American nation ; every citizen 

 thereof owes paramount allegiance to the Constitu- 

 tion and Government of the United States, and no 

 law or ordinance of this State, in contravention or 

 subversion thereof, shall ever have any binding force. 



It is also declared that no lotteries shall he 

 authorized in the State, and that there shall be 

 no imprisonment for debt. The following mili- 

 tary order has reference to this last mentioned 

 declaration : 



General Orders, No. 27. 



HEADQUARTERS THIRD MILITARY DISTRICT, \ 



DEPARTMENT OF GEORGIA, FLORIDA, AND ALABAMA, V 



ATLANTA, GA., February 22, 1868. ) 



1. The Constitutional Convention of the State of 

 Georgia, now in session in the city of Atlanta, 

 adopted on the 19th day of February, 1868, the fol- 

 lowing preamble and resolutions : 



Whereas, The convention has determined that 

 there shall be no imprisonment for debt in the State 5 

 and 



Whereas, Creditors are oppressing debtors by the 

 use of what is known as " bail process " and writ of 

 ca. sa. : therefore, 



Resolved, That, in the opinion of this convention, 

 said proceedings are contrary to the wishes of the 

 people of this State. 



^Resolved, That the general commanding this dis- 

 trict is hereby requested to protect, by order, the 

 people of this State from the evil above set forth, and 

 that such order remain in force, until such time as 

 the people have expressed their will in regard to the 

 constitution. 



2. Therefore, by virtue of the plenary powers 

 vested by the reconstruction acts of Congress in the 

 commanding general of the Third Military District, 

 and for the purpose of giving effect to the wishes or 

 the people of Georgia, as expressed by their delegates 

 in convention 



It is ordered : That imprisonment for debt is pro- 

 hibited in the State of Georgia, and hereafter no bail 

 process in civil cases or writ of ca. sa. shall be issued 

 out of any of the courts of this State. 



3. Every person now in prison in this State, under 

 any such process or writ, will be immediately dis- 

 charged from prison. 



4. This order to remain in force until the people of 

 Georgia shall express their will in the manner pro- 

 vided by the acts of Congress in regard to the con- 

 stitution to be submitted to them by the said Con- 

 stitutional Convention, or until further orders from 

 these headquarters. 



By order of Major-General MEADE. 



B. C. DBUM, Assistant Adjutant-General. 



"When the provisions of the constitution re- 

 lating to the elective franchise were under 

 discussion, an attempt was made to introduce 

 an educational qualification, but it met with 

 little countenance. Earnest opposition was 

 made by Mr. Waddell to the indiscriminate 

 enfranchisement of the blacks, on the ground 

 that they were wholly unfit to exercise the 

 privilege. He even went so far as to propose 

 the following as one of the sections of the 

 franchise article : 



White men only shall be eligible to any office of 

 honor, trust, profit, or emolument, whether municipal, 

 judicial, or political, in this State ; and white men only 

 shall serve as jurors in the courts. 



The section finally adopted on the qualifica- 

 tions of voters was in these words: 



SECTION 2. Every male person, born in the United 

 States, and every male person who has ^ been ^natu- 

 ralized, 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 

 shall have resided thirty days in the county in which 

 he offers to vote, and shall have paid all taxes which 

 may have been required of him, and which he may 

 have had an opportunity of paying, agreeably to law, 

 for the year next preceding the election (except as 

 hereinafter provided), shall be deemed an elector; 

 and every male citizen of the United States, of the 

 age aforesaid (except as hereinafter provided), who 

 may be a resident of the State at the time of the 

 adoption of this constitution, shall be deemed an 

 elector, as aforesaid : Provided, That no soldier, sailor, 

 or marine in the military or naval service of the 

 United States, shall acquire the rights of an elector 

 by reason of being stationed on duty in this State ; 

 and no person shall vote who, if challenged, shall re- 

 fuse to take the following oath : "I do swear that I 

 have not given, or received, nor do I expect to give, 

 or receive, any money, treat, or other thing of value, 

 by which my vote, or any vote is affected, or expect- 

 ed to be affected, at this election, nor have I given or 

 promised any reward, or made any threat, by which to 

 prevent any person from voting at this election." 



Criminals, idiots, and duellists are excepted 

 from this provision ; and the sale of intoxicat- 

 ing liquors on election-days is prohibited. The 

 General Assembly is empowered to provide 

 for the registration of voters, and is required 

 to u enact laws giving adequate protection to 

 electors before, during, and subsequent to elec- 

 tions." 



The general- State election, after the year 

 1868, is to be on the Tuesday following the 

 first Monday of November, and the General 

 Assembly is to meet on the second Wednesday 

 in January, unless otherwise provided by law. 

 The Senators hold office four years, and the 

 Representatives two years. The Governor is k 

 to be chosen for a term of four years,, and the 

 powers and duties of the various officers of 

 Government are much the same as those dele- 

 gated to persons in similar positions in the 

 other States. The Secretary of State, Comp- 

 troller-General, Treasurer, and Surveyor-Gen- 

 eral are to be elected by the General Assembly. 



The judicial powers of the State are vested 

 in a Supreme Court, Superior Courts, Courts 

 of Ordinary, justices of the peace, commis- 



