514 



MISSISSIPPI. 



to be in every way able to serve. Deputies, ap- 

 pointed in accordance with the foregoing, will be paid 

 five dollars for the day's service, on accounts approved 

 by the registrar, out of the reconstruction fund. 



9. As an additional measure for securing the purity 

 of the election, each registrar, judge, and clerk, is 

 hereby clothed with all the functions of a deputy- 

 sheriff, or constable, and is empowered to make ar- 

 rests, and authorized to perform all duties appertain- 

 ing to such officers under the laws of the State, during 

 the days of election. 



10. At every precinct on the days of election, all 

 public bar-rooms, saloons, or other places at which 

 intoxicating or malt liquor is sold at retail, will be 

 closed. Should any infraction in this respect come 

 to the knowledge of the commissioners of election, or 

 the deputy sheriff in attendance, they will immedi- 

 ately cause the arrest of ^the offending party, or par- 

 ties, and the closing of his. or their, place of business. 

 All parties so arrested will be placed under bonds, 

 of not less than one hundred dollars^ to appear for 

 trial when required by proper authority, or, in case 

 of failure to give the required bond, will be held in ar- 

 rest to await the action of the general commanding. 



11. The carrying of fire-arms or other deadly weap- 

 ons at or in the vicinity of the polls is positively 

 prohibited under penalty of forfeiture of the weapons, 

 and of being punished as prescribed by the statutes 

 of the State forbidding the exhibition of deadly weap- 

 ons in a threatening manner. All arms seized under 

 this order will be turned in to the nearest post com- 

 mander, for shipment to the chief ordinance officer 

 of the district. 



12. Should violence or fraud be perpetrated at the 

 election in any precinct, the general commanding 

 will exercise to the fullest extent the powers vested 

 in him, for the purpose of allowing to all registered 

 electors an opportunity to vote freely and fearlessly, 

 and any provision in any contract tending to abridge 

 the right to vote is hereby declared utterly null and 

 void. 



13. No registrar, judge, or clerk, will be permitted 

 to become a candidate for any office in this State 

 at this election, nor will they be permitted to exercise 

 the functions of any office, or authority, connected 

 with the election, other than that received from these 

 headquarters. 



14. The evident intention of the law under which 

 this election is held being to obtain an expression of 

 the will of the qualified electors, it is ordered, that all 

 officers of the army and agents of the Bureau of Kefu- 

 gees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, shall entirely 

 abstain from public speaking, electioneering, or en- 

 deavoring to influence voters ; but this order is not 

 intended to restrict either class of the above-named 

 officials their duty of instructing freedmen as to their 

 rights as electors. 



On the 4th of June, General Irwin McDow- 

 ell, who had been appointed to the command 

 of the Fourth Military District on the 28th of 

 December, 1867, assumed the duties of that 

 position. The first order issued by the new 

 commander, after that by which he assumed 

 command, was the following, making an im- 

 portant change in the executive administration 

 of the State:. 



General Orders, No. 23. 



HEADQUARTERS, FOURTH MILITARY DISTRICT, ) 



DEPARTMENT OF MISSISSIPPI AND ARKANSAS, V 



VIOKSBURG, Miss., June 15, 1868. ) 



1. Major-General Adelbert Ames is appointed, tem- 

 porarily, Provisional Governor of the State of Missis- 

 sippi, vice Benjamin G. Humphreys, hereby removed. 



2. Captain Jasper Meyers is appointed, tempo- 

 rarily, Attorney-General of the State of Mississippi, 

 vice C. E. Hooker, hereby removed. 



3. The officers appointed, as above, will repair 

 without delay to Jackson, and enter immediately 



upon the duties of their respective offices. They 

 will receive no other compensation than their pay 

 and allowances as officers of the army. 



By command of Brevet Maj.-Gen. McDOWELL. 

 JOHN TYLER, First Lieutenant, 43d Infantry, 

 Brevet-Major, U. S. A., A. A. A. G. 

 NATHANIEL WOLFE, Second Lieut. 34th Infantry, 



A. A. A. G. 



On the 16th General Ames notified Governor 

 Humphreys of his appointment to succeed the 

 latter, and wished to he informed when it 

 would be convenient to receive him " for the 

 purpose of making such arrangements as may 

 be necessary to carry into effect the order." 

 Mr. Humphreys delayed his reply until the 

 22d, and then informed General Ames that 

 he regarded the attempt to remove him from 

 the office of Governor as a " usurpation of the 

 civil government of Mississippi unwarranted 

 by and in violation of the Constitution of the 

 United States." He also stated that he had 

 telegraphed to the President of the United 

 States, and was authorized to say that he dis- 

 approved the order making the removal. "I 

 must therefore," says Mr. Humphreys, "in 

 view of my duty to the constitutional rights of 

 the people of Mississippi, and this disapproval 

 of the President of the United States, refuse to 

 vacate the office of Governor, or surrender the 

 archives and public property of the State, until 

 a legally qualified successor under the constitu- 

 tion of the State of Mississippi is appointed." 

 On the next day General Biddle, commander 

 of the post of Jackson, demanded the surren- 

 der of the Governor's office. This being re- 

 fused, a squadron of soldiers marched in and 

 took possession. Mr. Humphreys fitted up 

 another room in the building for an office, and 

 still claimed to be Governor of the State, and 

 his family was allowed for some days to occupy 

 a part of the Mansion House. Meantime the 

 election took place and resulted adversely to the 

 new constitution. After this event, the fol- 

 lowing correspondence took place in relation 

 to the possession of the Governor's mansion. 

 It contains its own explanation : 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, ) 

 JACKSON, Miss., July 6, 1868. f 

 Hon. B. G. Humphreys : 



SIR : Soon after my arrival here as Provisional 

 Governor, I notified you that you might continue 

 to occupy the Governor's mansion. Since then I have 

 had cause to change my mind in the matter. 



You will oblige me by vacating the mansion at as 

 early a day as convenient. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



A. AMES, Provisional Governor. 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, > 

 JACKSON, Miss., July T, 1868. ) 

 Gen. A. Ame-s : 



SIR : Your letter of the 6th inst., informing me that 

 I would oblige you by vacating the "mansion" at as 

 early a day as convenient, was duly received through 

 the post-office of this city. 



The Governor's mansion was built by the tax- 

 payers of Mississippi only for the use and^ occupancy 

 of their constitutional Governors and their families. 

 They elected me to that office in 1865 : and I, with 

 my family, have been in peaceable, quiet, and legal 

 possession ever since. At the recent election, the 

 qualified voters of the State, both white and colored, 



