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CONSTITUTIONALIST
WEDNESDAY MORNING. JUNE 5,1867.
TO OUB SUBCBIBEES.
■ ■ •
Tub Weekly Constitutionalist Will here
' after be mailed on Tuesday instead of Wednes
day morning. We make this change to accom
modate many subscribers. -ft is om aim and
purpose to make the paper a tirst class news and
family journal, and we confidently hope that
the influence ot our subscribers will be exerted
to aid us in doing so by extending its circu
lation.
GENERAL* BUTLER’S LETTER.
Under date of May 21st, Gen. B. F. Butler
has written a characteristic letter to the editor
of the Boston Traveler. It seems that the
aforesaid, editor had ventilated some of the
weak points in Butler’s character, and that
illustrious chieftain, though, it a rule
never to answer newspaper slander unless it
concerns some public interest,'” to
silence the Traveler on several questions re
garding the pardon of deserters and the diary
of Booth. .
We pass over an ingenious defense of his
action in the desertion cases, as very few
persons in this region care two straws whether
the President pardoned deserters or not. The
mutilation of Booth’s diary, however, Js a
matter of general interest. Butler says :
Again: let me examine into the assertion
that —
‘•The story that eighteen pages had been
taken from Booth’s diary is also an invention.”
Booth’s diary has been before the committee
and eighteen pages are carefully cut out, being
the pages dowu to the very day of the assassi
natiou.
The only question I raised was: When and
by whom were these leaves cut out ?
Booth, while hunted for his .life through
swamps and byways, after the assassiuation,
would hardly have leisure for such amusement;
besides, on horseback, with one leg broken, it
might be difficult to get a ruler or straight edge
by which to trim the leaves as nicely as it is
dond.
Everything taken from Booth’s person was
put in evidence on the trial of Mrs. Surratt —
even to a bill of exchange taken out of this
•aiae diary—except this diary itself and the
valuable diamond pin which he wore.
These alone were kept back.
Why cannot eighteen leaves of the diary and
the pin nOw be found ? Until those haviug
had custody of the articles taken from the body
can account for all of them, I must be excused
from believing the testimony that the articles
are all now iu the same condition as when
found.
If the witness can be found who has got the
pin, perhaps he can tell us who has the miss
ing leaves.
Upon the whole, do you really think that the
missing leaves arc au invention ?
As my hand is in, perhaps it will be well to
look up the origin of the phrase which unin
wentivc persons have appropriated to them;
selves.
These are stroug arguments in favor of But
ler’s view. The probability of Booth nicely
trimming the edges of his diary and writing a
vast deal of fustian, while flying from the Fed
eral pursuit, Is just no probability at all.
Booth’s physical condition and desperate
flight were poor incentives to literary effort, no
matter how rhapsodical his intellect may have
been. It were as insane for a bunted wolf to
bark as he to halt and write. The publication
of this alleged diary has brought up serious
questions as to its validity, and grave charges
are already produced that it is little better than
a forgery of Detective Baker’s. It is a pretty
quarrel as it stands, and Butler, even as Joe
Brown, is evidently determined to fight like
an Indian, no matter how much he hurts his
partisans.
We agree with General Butler that the
absence of that “ valuable diamoud pin ” does
not speak well for the honesty of the loyal cap
tors, and he may seriously ask why it cannot
be fouud ? It seems never to have occulted to
the tyrant of New Orleans that similar ques
tions could be asked of him concerning dia
mond pius and other portable property ; and as
he confesses that “ his hand is in," (the normal
condition of that organ,) a wary antagonist
might suggest that Butler can best answer his
own question and rev Cal the hiding place not
only of that valuable pin but also of many pre
cious gems, uot quite as notorious but equally
worthy of consideration.
THE MASK OFF.
The Atlanta Daily Opinion having passed the
chrysalis of Brownism lias come forth a full
fledged butterfly of Radicalism. Reconstruc
tion Scruggs, the late editor, takes pleasure in
recommending his successors to the good will
and patronage of the people of Georgia. The
aforesaid successors thus orate :
“Our present civil and political chaos can
only be removed by returning to first principles
by accepting, as the corner stone of the new
political fabric, the sublime declaration that
All MEN ARE CREATED FREE AND EQUAL. To
advocate Action that is forced upon people,
only because it is politic, is cowardly ; to ad
vocate action as the sequence of the adoption
of a principle, is the true mission of an lio ( nest
journal^
Much as we object to the platform of the
present Radical conductors of the Opinion ,
* their caudid avowal deserves credit. There are
several papers in Georgia washing the dirty
linen of Wilson and Kelley, and yet ashamed
or afraid to come out boldly and honestly in
confession of faith. The extract quoted above
is a terrible sarcasm directed at them, and
although running their heads into the sand,
ostrich-like, the}' may deceive themselves,
nobody is deceived by their copious and depre
catory disclaimers. Already the the
rule or ruin party comes patly to them and to
allude to Southern men as “ rebels ” a nJatter
of daily occurrence. The mask has been
thrown off by the Opinion. If others do not
thus reject it, the people may easily understand
that policy is the cowardly pretext and princi
ple a lost attribute.
• THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OPINION.
The Opmiou of Attorney General Stanbery
relative to the Reconstruction Act is, to a great
extent, a labored effort at obscuring what it
proposed to simplify. We await the official
report, trusting that many passages now in
volyed and unintelligible will be made plain and
comprehensible. If the published opinion has
not been mutilated or garbled, it bears strong
resemblance to the rhapsodies of Coleridge—
“ Explaining metaphysics to the nation,
We wish he would explain his explanation.”
The President of the United States took a
walk through the streets of Washington on
Wednesday, unaccompanied by a guard, for the
first time since that practice was inaugurated
Uy President Lincoln.
NO FINALITY.
Journals favoring the Sherman bill discourse
with much unction concerning its being a final
ity. Their arguments in support of this pro
position are neither strong nor wise and gen
erally have nO more warrant than can be gath
ered from the Delphic utterances of certain
Radical leaders. Mr. Schuyler Colfax
makes a speech and contrives to say some
thing about the Sherman bill being a finality.
Whereupon, the patient and expectant public
are gravely informed that the Reconstruction
programme will be the last demand, if accept
ed. Senator Wilson alludes to the same meas
ure in a similar strain, and although he decides
nothing as certain and is proven a man of lin
gual obscurity and the possessor of a double
tongue, we are called upon to receive his dictum
as authoritative and divine.
It mast not be forgotten that Henry Ward
Beecher and other shining lights of the rule
or ruin party have prattled most beautifully on
oue side of political questions, and very soon
afterward eaten their words in phrases quite as
dulcet on the other side. Witness his rousing
letter in favor of President Johnson’s p#licy
and his subsequent letter of recantation. He
kept “an open rear” throughout and now is suf
ficiently vile to suggest that the negro ambition
be stimulated by “ baiting with white women.”
He did not blush to utter that detestable senti
ment recently, and in the preScnce of, so-called,
respectable females.
If the Radical parsons have no morality-or
honesty, no love of consistency or truth, how
shall we expect Spartan virtues in politicians
whose traiuing in diplomacy teaches the sinis
ter gospel of Talleyrand, that “ language was
invented to conceal ideas?”
For our part, we have no faith in the sin
cerity of Congress, and believe that those who
are so willing to swallow the last peek of dirt
will-be compelled to gulp down several bushels
more of fifth than they now imagine possible.
Let it be observed that just “as the South seems
•least averse to reconstruction under the odious
terms prescribed, fresh exactions arc more
than hinted at by men whose power and in
fluence greatly surpass in prestige the windy
oracles called Colfax aud Wilson. Mr. Thad
deus SteveNs a “ little hanging and
mild confiscation;” Wendell Phillips in
sists upon “/orty acres of land to every freed
man ;” Sumner proclaims “ compulsory edu
cation of the blacks.” It may be objected that
these men do not correctly represent the
dominant element at the Federal Capitol.
It cannot be denied by the opposition
that, however temporal ily thwarted, these
men force . their measures at last. But,
granting even th&t they do not mean what
they say, or have not the power to make good
their suggestions, it is worth while to remark
how cleverly their antagonism to any honorable
form of reconstruction tallies with the latest
manifesto of the “Union Congressional Repub
lican Committee.” This committee, pending
the recess of Congress, was organized as a grand
depository of party plans, schemes and princi
ples. Anything emanating from such a source
must take the form of authority, and be so re
ceived at the South. The New York World
says of it:
“This fnanitesto, which is commended by the
Tribune as ‘admirable,’declares, with insolent
frankness, that the requirements of the Sher
man law arc not the ultimatum ; that Congress
reserves the right to .make any additional de
mands it pleases ; and the address intimates, in
Language which is scarcely equivocal, that no
State will he restored until it has such a ma
jority on the Republican side as assures the
permanent ascendency of that party in its gov
ernment. ‘By the acts herewith presented,’
says the address, ‘ it will be. seen that Congress
reserves to itself the full and unrestricted right
of judgment whenever a State presents itself
for admission into the Union.’ After alluding
to the conditions laid down in the reconstruc
tion acts, and declaring that these must be met,
the address goes on to say: ‘But beyond
these conditions , Congress must tye satisfied also
that the people of the proposed States respect
ively are, and are likely to be, loyal to the
Union’(that is to say, adherents of the Re
publican party) “by decisive and trustworthy
majorities."
To quote the language of the World again,
the following points are made by this treacher
ous manifesto: “ Ist. That the Republicans
fear that, contrary to their expectation when
they passed the bill, the South will re-organize
under it; and, 2d, that they are determined
that the Union shall never be restored until
the Southern States give sure pledges that they
will act with the Republican party. The'recon
struction acts are a solemn farce to delude and
amuse the country with a false appearance of
progress while the whole business of restora
tion is kept stationary. Republican ‘ recon
struction’ merely marks time; it was never in
tended to march."
Let the people ponder these declarations
! well, and never forget that they emanate from
j the highest authority in the Radical party du
! ring the reeess of Congress.
i
I There is a further declaration in this mani
festo not mentioned by the World, viz: “That
| there is land enough at the South, and all who
! desire should be permitted to obtain lands.’’
! The meaning of that phrase is very plain to
! those who have read Wendell Phillips’ im
j perative letters, and foaud them potent for
j evil. Really, we feel the tenderest eoramisera
j tion for the “finality” dreamers, and recom
mend that the manifesto of the Congressional
1 Committee be pondered deeply, aud, if found
; favorable, reported in that loj’al journal which
tortures the unqualified brethren and grimly
I satirizes certain tricky journals when boasting
that it is “one of the very few outspoken Radi
cal papers ill the South.
Opinion of the Attorney General.—We
publish, this morning, the telegraphic report
of Mr. Stanbery’s Opinion relative to the Re
'constructiou Act. lie is silent upon the sub
ject of the powers of the district commanders.
The New ¥ork Times' special from Washing
ton, ou the 23d, says he (Stanbery) “holds
there is no power in the act authorizing the
military commanders to remove civil officers.”
As this subject is of vital importance to several
communities, we look with interest for the
promised opinion from the general officer of
the Government.
Sublime Candor. —The National Intelli
gencer says “ the negroes may be ignorant, but
there are many of them of sufficient intelli
gence to know, as General Garfield frankly ad
mitted m a speech made last February, that the
a icals have befriended the negro, not from
sympathy for him or from love of justice, but
from interest.”
Our New York Correspondence.
New York, May 23.
The liberation of Mr. Davis from Fortress
Monroe is in itself an event of no little ac
count, but in its developments promises to be
of surpassing rnomeut. I thpught I knew the
temper of the Northern people. 1 foresaw, in
1866, that Johnson’s defection from his party
would arouse it to a pitch of frenzy that pro-,
mised no good to any thing. I foresaw that
public temper had not sufficiently cooled to
permit any good to flow from the Philadelphia
movement. But I was not prepared for the
flood of gall and bitterness that has followed
the liberation of Mr. Davis. It is perfectly
astounding, and the ioad of obloquy which is
heaped upon Mr. Greeley threatens to drive
him from the editorial chair of the Tribune. —
As I*narrated last week, the conductors of lead
ing Conservative journals, who were foremost
in the Philadelphia Convention, have taken the
lead in the out-cry against Mr. Greeley. The
Democratic press at first feebly defended him,
but cow seem disposed to leave him naked to
his enemies. And now the Union League has
taken up the matter .and proposes to expel Mr.
Greeley for the part he has taken in vindication
of the principle that a person accused of viola
ting the law shall receive a speedy trial. Greeley
defies them, but we shall see.
The Herald, maintaining its old mendacity,
with none of the genius that secured it readers,
takes up’ the cry, following the lead of Weed,
Raymond & Cos., and attempts to produce the
impression that the whole Radical faction is in
the boat with Mr. Greeley. I am sorry to say
that there is no truth whatever in this assump
tion, except So lar and in the relation I narrat
ed last week. The Radicals thought that the
liberation of Mr. Davis would help them in
their political “regeneration” of the South.—
He was liberated for no other reason. This
was not Mr. Greeley’s motive*in signing his
bail bond, but it was the purpose of the clique
which managed Underwood. It is also said
that Mr. Davis’ liberation was promoted by th°
fact that his-counsel, MrAPConor, had come in
possession of letters written by fierce cham
pions of Southern rights in other days, (but
now equally vociferous Radicals,) addressed to
Southern leaders in 1860 and 1861, telling them
to go ahead with the secession movement, for
the whole Democracy of the North was with
them and would stand by them. Mr. O’Conor,
the story goes, notified the writers of these
precious missives, embodfrnents of all that is
Mae in politics, that in ease Mr. Davis was
brought to trial he should demand their ar
raignment as accessories before the fact! This
sounds a good deal like Bohemian gabble, but
there may be, nevertheless, something in it.—
That such letters exist there is not a shadow of
doubt; the ouly question is, what use could he,
as counsel for the defense, make of them ?
Mr. Davis has left this city and gone to
Montreal. It was deemed advisable that his
departure and journey should be conducted
privately. The bitterness of bate, which is
rampant in the countries further north, threat
ened his personal safety, if he proceeded with
no more publicity than a private gentleman.
The blood houuds of fanaticism were thrown
off the scent, and when they thought he was
in New- York he had arrived iu Montreal. This
course is admitted to have been simply pru
dent. That it should be so, is evidence of a
spirit desperately base, and which the South
will do well not to trust too far. Jhe Conifner
cial Advertiser, Thurlow Weed’s organ, which
has been foremost in fanning the flame of ex
citement against Mr. Greeley, deprecates the
prevalence of malign feeling towards the South.
Shall its hypocrisy longer deceive any one ?
whisky..
This article promises to supercede the negro
as the object of contention throughout the
pharasaical North. Who shall make it ? How
shall he make it? What shall he pay for the
privilege ? Who shall sell it ? How and when
shall he sell it ? These are questions which
involve vast sums of money, and a vaster ex
pense of self-righteousness. Corruption finds
a lower depth, and modern pharisees invent
more sonorous phrases of horror.
The Internal Revenue Department seems to
be making a determined effort to stop the
manufacture of contraband whisky. The ring
by which the collection of the whisky excise is
conducted, is “ loaded ” with whisky “in
bond,” and it now waits an advance in price.—
A “ metre ” has been invented, which, at a cost
of a thousand dollars apiece, it is determined
all distilleries shall buy. To put up the price
of whisky in bond, and to promote the sale of
this metre, the seizure and closing of whisky
distilleries are the order of the day; and the
work goes bravely on. 1 see Col. Sickles lends
a helping hand to the business. Perhaps some
of the brigadier generals may also see what
they can do in this line to help along the
“loved ones at home.” This matter of the
manufacture of whisky is a vast political en
gine. It is already seen that it is to be made
the most of in controlling the Republican
nomination for the Presidency. But “great
moral ideas ” will have yery little influence in
directing its action.
The question of the license for the sale of
whisky and other alcoholic beverages is one
that is stirring the political elements of most pf
New England, apd parts of this State, to their
very foundation. There is every promise of a
wide-spread revolt agaiust the tyranny of the
“elect,” who have ruled wherever they have
had power, with a rod of iron. The most cel
ebrated champions of total abstinence, and the
most influential temperance organizations have
proclaimed in favor of a well-regulated license
system ahd moral suasion as the most effective
checks upon the admitted evils of intemper
ance. The more pretentious saints declare more
loudly than ever in favor of total prohibition,
but it is absolutely certain that they are des
tiued to meet, at no distant daj T ANARUS, with an em
phatic defeat. The impatieqpe under restraint,
which is the growth of a state of war, thus
reacts against fanaticism in its very strong
bold.
BUSINESS MATTERS.
The annual reports of business and incomes
reveal the fact that the “dull times” of which
one hears is not so much a falling off of trans
actions as that business is making no mo-ey.
The sales of some of our leading houses were
never larger than during 1866, while their pro
fits have .seldom been smaller thau during the
same period. That is, our merchant princes
are only enabled to report incomes by the tens
and hundreds of thousands instead of half
millions and millions. The steady decline
w hich nearly all leading staples have experienced
accounts for the small profits. But that great
quantities of goods have beeu sold, our im
ports attest.
The failure of the house of Fraser, Trenholra
& Cos. has had a marked effect, which certifies
its wide connections. I learn that an old and
very wealthy Augusta house is the loser of a
large amount, through the endorsement of the
papers ot the bankrupt house. Messrs. F., T.
<fe Cos. have beeu subjected to a ceaseless perse
cution by the Federal Government, for their
enterprise in running the blockade during the
war. They bought large quantities of bacon of
intensely loyal people in this city, and rnn it
through the blockade at Wilmington via Nas
sau. This bacon, it appears, was served out to
Confederates around Richmond, and the Fed
eral, which Mr. Stanton compelled the Con
federates to retain at Salisbury and Anderson
ville. Hideous as was the mortality among the
latter, the enterprise of Messrs. Fraser & Tren
holm served to check it. Perhaps Mr. Seward
and Mr. Stanton are not satisfied with this
phase of the business. Who knows ?
Cotton has declined iu consequence of this
failure, aßd is dull. The decline in breadstuff's
continues, but the supply is still limited, and
some reaction is looked for early in June.—
There is increased speculation in regard to the
quantity and time of the first arrivals from the
South. Large quantities of wheat are now due
from Liverpool and California, but there is an
unaccountable deficiency in the supplies of
oats and corn." Maryland and Virginia are fur
nishing nearly one-half the corn that comes to
this market. Provisions are without essential
change. Sugars have advanced a half cent per
lb. on reports of a short crqp in Cuba.
YANKEE SPORTS.
The sporting season has opened at the North
with the usual display of fraud and vulgarity.
Even at Jerome Park, where it is claimed the
elite of our city attend, the committee of ar
rangements think proper to announce that the
racing shall be honestly conducted. The next
thing, probably, they will assure the people
whom they may invite to their entertainments
that it is not proposed to pick their pockets.
Willoughby.
[Fiom our Special Correspondent.
Letter from Albany.
Albany, May 24, 1867.
At. the county site of formerly one of ihq
wealthiest and most productive counties in the
State, and the centre of a trade based upon re
ceipts of cotton, before the war, of upwards of
forty thousand bales, this place has been one of
considerable importance, and deserves more
than a pss9ing notice ; and it must continue to
be of importance, too, for uo amount of tyran
nical legislation, nor embarrassing political
and financial complications can wholly reverse
nature’s decrees. A great deal of mouey has
been, and will be made here, although just now,
like every point'in our “ District,” tliertys an
appalling stagnation in trade ; aggravated, too,
it is painful to see, by the bliuduess ot the
owners of the soil. They seem bent on fur
thering the unholy schemes of those who seek
their ruin. The same sickening story of
“ cotton on the brain,” is repeated here Corn,
this day, readily sells for two dollars per
bushel, and it really appears as if one-third, at
least, of the plough stock is out of the crop
and engaged iu hauling it. Like the biscuits j
on the" sideboard to the little boy, it seems j
“ nothing to them,” however, tor if they get
any of it, they don’t know it. This is paying i
for last year’s folly. What is the prospect for
the present ? Two acres in cotton to one in
corn. History may repeat itself occasionally,
but it certainly does not in this ease, for there
is no mention in all its ample pages of any
such stupendous folly. As General Pope can
now do pretty much as he pleases, he might
put a stop to it, but nothing short of positive
orders, and their prompt enforcement by the j
bayonet, would.
LABOR, CROPS, AC.
The blacks are working very satisfactorily iu J
this region—much better than last year, I am
advised. Monthly wages seem to be the system
generally adopted, it having been found to
work much better than part of the crop com
pensation. Corn and cotton both promise
well, and with at all favorable seasons, very
gratifying results as to both may be confident
ly expected. An Euglisli company, with head
quarters at Manchester, is running six planta
tions in this and one or two adjoining counties,
and calcinate upon a yield of 1,200 bales this
year. They are “ strong ”iu the pockets, hav
ing $250,000 in hand and as much more behind
as they wish to make the experiment a success.
* WOOLEN FACTORY.
Col. Nelson Tift, a well known and roost en
ergetic citizen of this section, in connection
with his brother, Mr. A. F. Tift, has in opera
tion near here a woolen laciory, numbering ten
looms and two hundred spindles. They are
making a very excellent article of cloth, that
both looks and wears well. They also have a
grist and flour mill, with four runs of stones ;
two comply setts of variety works machinery,
and a machine shop for the manufacture and
repair of all kiuds of iron machinery—all ope
rated by steam. In a month or two they will
also have an iron foundery established in con
nection with the machine shop. In a country
where the cotton mania rages so violently, any
exemption from its ravages deserves mention,
and I am pleased to make it.
RELIGIOUS.
An extensive revival of religion has been in
progress here for more than three weeks, and
so far about seventy persons have been convert
ed. The work still goes on, however, and the
iron tongue of. the Methodist Church bell
nightly proclaims "room for all”—"room for
all.”
THE BURNT DISTRICT.
The scene of the disastrous fire last March
makes a very unsightly gap in Broad street, but
I noticed workmen busily removing the rub
bish and getting ready at some points for a
new start. The loss must have been quite
heavy, for the various insurance companies
were let in for about $120,000, when it takes
every cent of money a people can scrape to
gether to .buy corn and meat, improvements
must hasten slowly, and I was surprised to see
any efforts at rebuilding being made at all.
politics. «
I find no variation in the beat of the popular
pulse in this region from former reports at
points already visited. The people thoroughly
understand the situation, and will so make up
their record that, whatever betides, no man
nor men shall charge them with speaking an
uncertain language. They know tnat. not to
vote is to vote against the South, and that to
make no efforts to control the convention, if
one should be bold, through their best men, is
to sell out their State.
MISCHIEF-MAKERS.
If such peripatetic breeders of hate and bad
blood as the two creatures who figure in' Ma
eon, at the convention of-the blacks, not long
sint;e, were muzzled by Gen. Pope, there would
be no sort of trouble at all, even down here,
where the blacks are in the majority. An ef
fort has been made by these incendiaries and
their tools to make it a question of religion,
and we all know where that leads. Over in
Baker, Peter, a favorite ex-slave of Gen. Alfred
Colquitt, is resisting, and successfully, too, all
the efforts of these snakes to sting his race into
hostility to the whites. He is a very sensible
man, and I was much amused and gratified to
hear from Judge Vason a graphic account of
how he recently turned down and put to
shame one of the black barrators who had in
vaded his (Peter’s) territory. He gave him
what tradition tells us Paddy gave the drum,
or, to come down to more modern times, what
Clanton gave Wilson at Montgomery.
Jane G. Swisshelm, in her last letter to the
new Radical organ of New Orleans, pitches
into Gen. Grant as follows :
Gen. Grant, being a Democrat and an open
sympathizer with slavery, the cause of the war
was, in pursuance of our kid-glove war policy,
retained in. command through blunders which
would have secured the disgrace of any Radical
general. He used the material prepared by
Fremont for clearing the Mississippi, and for
preparing which Fremont was superceded. He
exhibited a dogged perseverance in using that
final argument in war, the longest purse and
most men ; but he never made a brilliant move
ment, or once outmanoeuvred the enemv. In
his Richmond campaign he crossed the Rappa
hannock just as Burnside and Hooker 'did, and
fought Lee at the greatest possible disadvant
age ; but as he hurled his men against one earth
work after another, and they were slaugtered
by the thousands, the Government poured in
army after army to his aid, until Lee, worn out
as he was, was not able to kill them all, and the
survivors took Richmond.
Age of Masonry. —We find an item taken
from a Glasgow paper, stating that St. John’s
Lodge, No. 2, of that city, has recently celebra
ted the 809th anniversary of its existence, it
having been erected by charter from King Mal
colm, in 1057. We should like to see the mus
ter roll of that lodge, beginning more than
eight centuries ago, and runnihg along with
the ages to the present time. What kings and
kingdoms have risen and fallen since the gaVe?
was"' first sonnded in its East. How the world
has changed, and what progress has been made ,
in science and art! Eight huudred years in
the life time of a lodge !
The West has anew sensation. A yt>ung !
man is in the habit of visiting the large cities, !
and in front of some of the finest residences, :
usually where a couple of young ladies happen ;
to be sitting, when he is suddeuly seized with a j
hemmorrhage, the blood flowing copiously |
from his mouth. Os course he is taken in the |
house, where his story is, that he was in the :
war, has a bullet in his heart, has been impris-;
oued, and all that, wjiich, of course, elicits the
sympathy of the crowd, and everj lady con- ■
tributes handsomely. The fellow recovers!
very rapidly and decamps.
“Empty Abstractions.”—A Southern paper,;
which has made up its mind to “ accept the sit
uation,” counsels its readers to “give up empty
abstractions.” No people ever should have
grasped “ empty abstractions.” But it strikes
us that resolving never to give up the struggle
for liberty is no “ empty abstraction. The
“ empty abstraction” is in accepting a dishon
orable peace, or crouching to the hand of des
potism. History teaches that despotism never
wearies in inflicting what a people will bear.
f Day Booh.
• Reconstruction
ATTORNEY GENERAL STANBERY’S
OPINION.
Washington, May 215.
The Attorney General has prepared the fol
lowing opinion upon the clauses of the Recon
struction Act withfeference to voting and hold
ing office. The provisions relative to the
powers and duties ot comthanding officers, etc.
will be considered iu a future opinion :
Attorney General’s Office, )
May 24th, 1867. $
To the President —
Sir : I have <he houor to state my opin
ion upon questions arising under act March
2d, 1867, entitled an act to provide for
more efficient government of rebel States,
and act of March 23d, 1867, entitled “An Act
supplementary to an act entitled an act to pro
vide for the more efficient government of the
rebel States,” 4 upon which questions the mili
tary commanders of districts- iu which those
States are comprised, have asked your instruc
tion.
The first aud most important of these ques
tions may be thus stated : “ Who are entitled
to vote and who are disqualified from voting at
elections provided for or coming within pur
view of those acts ?” The first provision upon
this subject is to be found in the fifth section of
the original act aud declares the qualifications
and disqualifications of voters for an election to
be held for delegetes to the proposed Constitu
tional Convention in each State, and for an
election to be held for she ratificafion of the
Constitution that may be framed by such Con
vention.
That section, provides that delegates to such
convention shall be elected by male citizens of
said State, twenty-one years old and upwards,
of whatever race, color or previous condition,
who have been resident in said State for one
year previous to the day of such election, ex
cept such as may be disfranchised for partici
pating in rebellion or for felony at common
law, and that the same qualifications so requir
ed for the election of delegates shall also be re
quired upon election for ratification. The
proviso to this section also excludes from right
to vote for delegates to convention every per
son excluded from the privilege of holding
office, by an amendment to the Constitution of
the United States propo°ed by the Thirty-
Ninth Congress, and known as article- four
teenth.
The sixth section provides, that until people
of said rebel States shall be by law admitted to
representation in the Congress of the United
States, any civil government which may exist
therein shall be deemed provisional only, and
in all respects subject to the paramount
authority of the United States, at any time to
abolish, modify, control or to supersede the
same, and in all elections to auy office uuder
such provisional governments—all persons
shall be entitled to vote, and none others who
are entitled to vote under provisions of the
fifth section of this act, and no person • shall be
eligible to any office under any such provisional
governments who would be disqualified from
holding office under provisions of third«article
of section —of said constitutional amendment.
It is to be observed here that qualifications of
a voter are by fifth section limited to election of
delegates to the Convention and to question
whether such Convention shall or shall not be
held, and that no qualification is declared for a
delegate so to be elected, but by sixth section
same qualifications as to a voter are required in
all elections to any office under the existing
provisional governments during their con
tinuance, and as to eligibility at such elections
certain classes are excluded. The first section
of supplemental act provides that "the com
raanding general in each district shall cause a
registration to be made of male citizens of the
United States twenty-one years of age and
upwards, residents in each county or parish in
State or States included in bis district, which
registration shall include only those persons
who are qualified to vote for delegates by
original act. The person offering himself for re
gistration is also required to take an oath,which,
for convenience, I now divide into paragraphs or
sections, preserving as near as may be language
of act He must swear or affirm as follows.
First. That he is a citizen of the State, and
has resided in said State for months, next
preceding day when he takes oath, and that he
rfow resides in the county t>f or in parish
of in said State.
vSecond. That he is twenty-one years old.
Third. That he has not been disfranchised
for participation in any rebellion or civil war
against the United States, nor for felony com
mitted against the laws of any State or of the
United States.
Fourth. That he has never been a member of
any State Legislature nor held any executive
or judicial office in any State, and afterwards
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the
United States or given aid and comfort to the
enemies thereof.
Fifth. That he has never taken an oath as a
member of Congress of the United States, or as
an officer of the United States, or as a member
of any State Legislature as an executive or ju
dicial officer of any State or to support the Con
stitution of the United States, and afterwards
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against
the United States, or given aid and comfort to
the enemies thereof.
Sixth. That he will faithfully support the
Constitution and obey the laws of the United
States, and will, to the best of his obility, en
courage others so to do.
Second section of this act provides that after
the completion of this registration in any State,
and after at least thirty days, public notice of
the times and places which the commanding
general shall appoint and direct, an election
shall be held for delegates to the convention,
and a rule is given to fix the number of dele
gates to be elected, and the apportionment of
these delegates in proper civil sub-divisions,*
giving to each sub-division representation in
the ratio of the registered voters.
The third section provides that at the election
'for delegates registered voters shall vote for or j
against convention. The fourth section pro
vides for an election to ratify the constitution
that may be framed by the delegates, and the
right to vote at this election is confined to per
sons registered.
The sixth section provides that all elections
in the States mentioned in said original act
shall, during the operation of such act be by
ballot, and all officers making said registration
of voters and conducting said election, shall,
before eutering upon the discharge of their du
ties, take an oath prescribed by the act of July
3d, 1562, entitled “ An act to prescribe an oath
of office.”
The first consideration which requires ray at
tention upon the question as to the right to
vote arises upon the registration of voters; ques
tions of qualification or disqualification is fixed
by registration. No power is given to any
other board or any other authority after regis
tration is completed to change the registry.
Persons wliosg names are admitted to registra
tion are entitled to vote, subject to the limita
tion hereinafter mentioned, and none others.
This registration must be completed before the i
first day of September, 1867.
The functions of the board as a board of
registration cannot be extended beyoiffi that ‘
fixed time, but after that the duties which re- j
main to be performed by the officers compos
ing this board are limited to holding and super- ;
intending election®, and making proper refnrns \
to the commanding general. This brings us !
to the direct question who are entitled to reg
istration : Ist. As to citizenship and residence.
No person is entitled to vote who shall not be
a resident iu the State for one year previous to
the day of election. It is not necessary that
this previous residence for a year should exist
at the time the person applies for registration.
A person in all other respects entitled to vote
is entitled to registration, although he has not
at that time been a resident of the for a
full year. For we find that in the supple
mental act that the oath as to residence does
not require the applicant to swear that he has
been a resident for a year, but only requires
him to state the number of months of his resi
dence, contemplating a period less than as well
as a full term of twelve mouths. Therefore, as
to such a person so registered, if it happen at
any election subsequently to be held, that the
time of his residence, counting from the day of
election, does not cover an entire year, he cau
uot vote at such election, for this supplemental
act does not, as to residence, change the pro
visions of the original act, as it is expressly
provided by It, as to registration, that it shall in
clude onlv those who are qualified to vote by
the original act. To carry out the purposes of
the law in this respect as to residence, the
Board of Registration should note opposite
the name of the person whose residence has
not extended to the full term, the exact time of
his residence.
As to citizenship, the qualification stated
in the original act is citizens of State,
but by the first clause of the first sec
tion in,the supplemental act, the registra
tion is to be made of male citizens of the
United States, and as to oath the applicant is
only required to swijar that he is a citizen of
the State. lam of opinion that the phrase
citizeu of the State as used in the oath is intend
ed to include only such persons as are citizens
of the United States and citizens ot the State,
and that an alien who has not been made a
citizen of the United Slates cannot safely take
the oath ; but as the board ot registration have
only authority to administer the prescribed oath
they cannot require any further oath or proof
as to citizenship, and if an alien who is not made
a citizen of the United States takes the oath lie
takes it at bis peril and is subject to prosecution
for perjury.
Second. As to age, uo oue person Is entitled to
registration who is not at, least twenty-one years
of age on the day he applies lor registration. In
! this respect qualification as to age differs from
qualification as to residence, and the fact that
the majority must exist at the date of registra
tion has relation to the day ot registration and
not to the day of subsequent election.
Third. Next as to disfranchisement I shall
cousider the various clauses of disfranchise
ment according to the order and division into
sections as hereinbefore stated, and first as to the
general clause declaring disfranchisement. The
fifth section of the original act denies the right
to vote to such as may he disfranchised lor
participation in the rebellion or for felony at
common law. Words here used, in the rebel
lion, must be taken to mean the recent rebel
lion, but the supplemental act enlarges disqual
ification and requires the applicant to swear
that lie has not been disfranchised for partici
pation in any rebellion or civil war against the
United States, nor for felony committed against
the laws of any State or the United States.
I am not aware of any law of the L T nitcd
States which works disfranchisement as to the
'right of suffrage by force of the act itself; nor
does such a consequence follow from the con
viction of treason or conspiracy *to commit
treason, or for any other act of participation iu
rebellion. The provision in the Constitution
of the United States as to treason against the
United States does not declare what. Shall be
the punishment on conviction of treasou. That
is left for Congress, with the limitation that cor
ruption of blood shall not follow as a conse
quence, or auy forfeiture, except during the
life of the’party. Congress, in exercise of its
power to declare punishment, has limited such
punishments as a consequence of conviction, to
penalty of death or imprisonment and manu
mission of slaves owned by the party, aud to a
disqualification from holding any office under
the United States. I am not advised of any
statue now in force in either of these ten States,
except, perhaps, Virginia, which declares dis
franchisement, as to the right of suffrage by
force of the act itself.
It must be ascertained by the judgment of
the court or legislative act passed by competent
authority. Disfranchisement for felony commit
ted against the law 6 of a State or the United
States, consequent on a conviction in the courts,
either of the United States or of a State, de
clared by the laws of either would be fatal uu
der these acts.
What, then, works a disfranchisement under
these provisions ? Whether we consider this
disability as arising.out of participation in re
bellion or commission of felony, the mere fact of
participation or commission of felonious offense
does not of itselfwork disfranchisemeut.
The fourth and fifth sections may be consid
ered together. The party applying for regis
tration must swear as follows : “ That I have
never been a member of any State Legislature,
nor held any executive or judicial office in any
State, and afterwards engaged in insurrection
or rebellion against the United-States, or given
aid or comfort to the enemies thereof ; that l
have never taken an oath as a member of Con
gress of the United States, or as an officer of
the United States, or us a member of any State
Legislature, or as an executive or judicial
officer of any State to support the Constitution
of the United States, aud afterwards engaged
in insurrection or rebellion against the United
States, or gave aid and comfort to the enemies
thereof.”
Tbeee clauses of the oath in effect extend
disfranchisement beyond the provisions of the
original act., and the prior clauses of the oath
itself, in the important particular, that neither
conviction nor judgment of court, nor an ex
press legislative enactment, is required to
establish the fact of disfranchisement.
In legal parlance, disfranchisement, under
these clauses of the oath, results from matters
en pais. But, in one respect, these clausse
limit the generality of the original act as to
disfranchisement.
The original act contemplates that disfran
chisement under these clauses does not arise
from participation in rebellion alone, but other
elements must concur. That is to say, holding
certain offices, or taking official oath by certain
officers, and afterwards particnlation in rebel
lion against the United States.
The consideration of these two clauses leads
to two distinct subject matter of ijjfJuiry:
First. What offices or officers are comprehend
ed ? Second. What acts amount to engaging
in insurrection or rebellion against the United
States, or giving aid and comfort to the ene
mies thereof.
I will first consider what offices or officers
are comprehended. As to some officers there
is no room for doubt. Members of the State
Legislature and the members of Congress afe
clearly enough designated. The question might,
however, arise whether a convention held in a
State for framing an amendment of its consti
tution would answer to the 'description of a
State Legislature, within the meaning of the
act. Such a convention, although it is clothed
with legislative power, cannot properly be de
nominated a State Legislature, and in the acts
now under consideration, a convention and
Legislature are expressly distinguished from
each other, for they require the constitution to
be- framed by a convention, and they require
the Legislature of the same State to adopt the
Constitutional Amendment. When, then, in
the same acts they again use the phrase, Legis
lature of tfip State, they must be understood to
use it in the same sense, and as to distinguish
from a constitutional convention ; but as to
those legislative bodies which passed wbat are
called ordinances of secession, by whatever
name they rnay have been called, I am of opin
ion that their meml e s are properly compre
hended within this and clause, for 1
can imagine no official legislative position iu
which the duty of allegiance was more distinct
ly violated. The next and more difficult inqui
ry is, who is to be considered an officer of the
United States, or executive or judicial officer of
any State within the meaning of these clauses.
Various classes of officers are here intended :
State officers and Federal officers and
Executive or Judicial officers. No legis
lative officer is mentioned, except mem
bers of the State Leglalurc or members
of Congress. The description used as
to other officers are as to State officers—that
they must be judicial or executive, and as to a
Federal officer, the terms executive or judicial
are not expressed. He is described simply as
an officer of the United States. It has been
shown that Federal and State officers are classi
fied separately in clauses of the act under con
sideration. I deem it profitable and conducive
to a clear order to follow this classification. I
shall accordingly first consider what State offi
cers are included in the terms executive or ju
dicial. This phrase is twice used in these
clauses, with the superadded description in any
State in tne first clause, and of any Btate in the
second clause. I think the controlling term of
discription, if there is any repugnancy in the
terms, must be taken to be the last for that is
used in.the first clause and in others. Besides
it is the same term of description -used in the
act of Congress of 1780, declaring what State
officers are required to take the oath to support
the Constitution of the United .States ; and in
the third section of the Constitutional|Amend
ment both use the same terms of description—
executive and judicial officers of a State —the
terms are so general and indefinite that they
fail to express with sufficient certainty a desig