456 



MISSISSIPPI. 



possess the qualifications prescribed by article 135, 

 page 499, of the Kevised Code of 1857, shall be com- 

 petent jurors. 



For the purpose of giving this order immediate 

 effect, the tax-assessors of the several counties in this 

 State are hereby directed to proceed immediately, in 

 the manner prescribed in article 135, page 499, of the 

 Kevised Code of 1857, to make out supplementary 

 lists of the names of all persons found in their respec- 



the clerks of the Circuit Courts of their respective 



la-fl 



good man resolve to aid the civil and military author- 

 ities by every fair means in his power. 



Second, let there be no factious or mere partisan 

 opposition to the Administration of President Grant. 

 But, as the President has shown himself kind to us, 

 let us be generous to him. We cannot afford to be 

 illiberal. 



Third, we must stand by the issue as our opponents 

 presented it at Washington. The convention, the 



tive counties, qualified to serve as jurors, whose names constitution, and Eggleston and Co., on the one side, 

 are not now on the jury-lists, and deliver the same to the people of Mississippi on the other. The President 



and Congress sat in judgment, and decided in our 

 favor. We will not allow the issue to be changed. 

 Fourth, we accept the fifteenth amendment. 

 Fifth, we pledge ourselves one to another, disre- 

 garding color and former political opinions, to deal 

 justly by all men, and to secure perfect equality of 



counties, on or before the time prescribed by law for 

 the meeting of the next Circuit Court of the county. 



The clerks of the Circuit Courts in the several ju- 

 dicial districts of the State are directed ?> immediately 

 upon the receipt of such supplementary lists, to record 

 and give effect to the same in the manner prescribed 

 by article 136. page 499, of the Kevised Code of 1857. 



The provisions of this order are not intended to 

 relieve the tax-assessors of the several counties from 

 the performance of the duties imposed on them to 

 make out, annually, the lists of persons qualified to 

 serve as jurors in accordance with the requirements 

 of article 135, page 499, of the Kevised Code of 1857. 

 Provided, however, that, in the preparation of such 

 lists, no distinction shall be made on account of race, 

 color, or previous condition of servitude. 



By command of Brevet Major-General AMES. 



WILLIAM ATWOOD, Aide-de-Camp, Acting Assistant 

 Adjutant-General. 



Official : JOHN EGAN, Aide-de-Camp. 



A vigorous political canvass of the State was 

 kept up throughout the summer and fall, com- 

 mencing soon after the act of Congress pro- 

 viding for the new election, and several weeks 

 before the time for that election had been pro- 

 claimed by the President. There were, vir- 

 tually, but two parties, hoth Eepuhlican, the 

 small minority opposed to these organizations, 

 and clinging to the name and traditions of the 

 Democracy, taking no active part in the strug- 

 gle. The formation of a Conservative Eepub- 

 lican party was the result of the opposition of 

 a large portion of the people of the State to 

 the course taken by Mr. B. B. Eggleston, the 

 radical candidate for Governor in 1868, and 

 his associates, who had attempted to have the 

 constitution declared adopted in the face of the 

 official report of the election. The action of 

 these men, forming the " Committee of Sixteen," 

 was, as we have already seen, vigorously op- 

 posed at Washington by ex-Governor Brown, 

 and other prominent representatives of the 

 conservative citizens of the State, and with 

 perfect success. On his return to Mississippi, 

 ex-Governor Brown was addressed by several 

 leading citizens, and urged to give his views on 

 the subject of the late act of Congress, and 

 the proper course of the people under existing 

 circumstances. He immediately complied with 

 the request in a letter addressed to the gentle- 

 men making it, dated April 22d, and published 

 in the Weekly Clarion at Jackson. After dis- 

 cussing the state of affairs at some length, he 

 sums up his conclusions in the following para- 

 graphs : 



First, then, let us have order and a rigid enforce- 

 ment of the laws to the full extent of meting out 

 equal and exact justice without stint to all men of all 

 opinions, races, and colors ; and to this end let every 



civil and political rights to every one before the law. 

 Sixth, that we set ourselves sternly against all men, 

 of all races, and of every creed and color, who come 

 among us to make mischief, and that we extend a 

 cordial greeting^and hearty good-will to all men, of 

 all parties, opinions, races, or color, who come with 

 the genuine purpose of living with us, and sharing in 

 good faith our fortunes, whether they be good or evil. 



This may be regarded as the starting-point 

 of the Conservative Eepublican party of Missis- 

 sippi. Ex-Governor Brown's suggestions were 

 taken up by several leading newspapers, and 

 conventions and mass-meetings were held in 

 the different counties, to effect a thorough or- 

 ganization of the new party. Early in May the 

 name of Judge Louis Bent, a brother-in-law of 

 President Grant, was brought forward in the 

 public prints as the person best fitted to lead 

 the Conservative movement, and stand as its 

 candidate for Governor. A circular was pre- 

 pared in the early part of June, and sent to 

 various prominent persons known to be in 

 sympathy with the movement for a new party, 

 inviting them to meet " in the city of Jackson 

 on the 23d inst., for the purpose of taking steps 

 necessary to promote the general interests of 

 the State." The persons signing this circular 

 formed no regularly-constituted committee, but 

 were men who had been prominent in the op- 

 position to the "Committee of Sixteen," and 

 styled themselves simply " members of the Na- 

 tional Union Eepublican party of Mississippi." 

 They said : 



Feeling as we do that the organization represented 

 in this State by the "Committee of Sixteen" and 

 the "Executive Committee" is not in sympathy and 

 accord with the Administration of President Grant 

 and the National Union Republican party, we ear- 

 nestly desire your cooperation, as a Republican, in 

 the contemplated movement. Believing that our State 

 should be reconstructed in accordance with the acts of 

 Congress and the principles enunciated by President 

 Grant, and that toleration, liberality, and forbearance, 

 will command respect, inspire confidence, restore har- 

 mony, and bring peace and prosperity, we ask the aid 

 of every patriotic citizen of the State, be he' white or 

 black, high or low. The time for proscription has 

 gone by, and, as we trust, forever. 



We believe that all discordant feelings, engendered 

 by the late war, should be eradicated ; that the on- 

 ward march of our great party should not be checked 

 in its victorious career by selfish devotion to personal 

 ends, or the display of an acrimonious asperity in the 

 administration of public affairs ; and that, "granting 

 to all equal rights and privileges," harmony and fra- 

 ternal feelings should l)e encouraged and cemented 

 between men of all sections, races, and colors, of our 



