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MESSAGE OF PROVISIONAL GOVERNOR BULLO K
To the Provisional legislature ot Georgia.
To the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Provisioned Legislature:
A correspondence with the Major General commanding
this District is herewith transmitted, by which yon will be
informed that yonr organization is recognized from to-day
as being one properly prepared to enter upon the action
required by the several Deconstruction Acts of Congress.
“Atuixta, Gjl, February 1,1870.
“ fill'd Major General A. 1L Terry, Commanding District cf Georgia:
“Gsxssal: I have tbe honor to report that * Joint Committee from the
two Houses of the Provisional Legislature have informed me that the
.Senate and House have perfected an organization by the election of the
proper officers, after excluding from the roll of members persons disqual
ified under the Acts of Congress from holding office. The two Houses
stand in recess until Wednesday next, the 2d instant, at 12 u.
" I am. General, very respectfully,
“RUFUS R BULLOCK,
• “Provisional Governor.”
“ Hkasquabtxbs Militabt Disrmcr or Geobota, 1
Atlanta, Ga., Febrnaiy 2, 1870. j
“Hon. B. B. Bixnocx, Provisional Governor,
Slate qf Georgia:
Govzbxos : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your commu
nication of yesterday informing me that a joint committee of the two
houses of the Legislature has informed you that the Senate and House of
Representatives have each perfected an organization by the election of the
proper officers. In reply to it I have the honor to say that I think that the
houses aro now properly organized for the purpose of assenting to and com
plying with the conditions imposed by Congress for the restoration of
the State to its original relations with the nation.
“ I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ALFRED H. TERRY,
Brevet Major General Commanding.
Headquarters Military District of Georgia,
Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 2,1870.
OrmaAt:
3. H. Taylor, Assistant Adjutant General.
That a proper understanding may be had of your pres
ent political condition, and our status under the several
acts of Congress, which have, from time to time, been
adopted for the purpose of securing the establishment of
State Governments, republican in form, in this and other of
the late rebel States, it is important to review those acts,
and to carefully consider what has been done by ourselves
towards a compliance with their provisions.
Such a review will establish the fact that the present
legislative organization, if accepted and ratified by Con
gress, is the first and only legal organization dejure of this
Legislature, and of the State Government, established by
the votes ot the people under the Deconstruction Acts; and
that this organization is based exclusively upon the election
held under the order of the District Commander on the
20th, 21st, 22d and 23d days of April, 1868.
By an act of Congress, which became a law March 2,
1867, it is provided that—
Whuzt.ah, Ho legal State Governments or adequate protection for life or
property now exist in the Bebel State of Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and
Arkansas ; and
Whxbzas, It is necessary that peace and good order should be enforced
in said States until loyal and republican State Governments con be legally
established; therefore,
lie it enacted, tbe., That said Rebel States shall be divided into Military
Districts, and made subject to the military authority of tbe United States,
ns hereinafter mentioned; and for that purpose Virginia shall constitute
tlio First District; North Carolina and South Carolina the Second District;
Georgia, Alabama and Florida the Third DistrictiMississippi and Arkansas
the Fourth District; and Louisiana and Texas tbe Fifth District
Sec. 2. That it shall be tbe duty of the President to assign to the com
mand of each of said Districts on officer of the army not below the rank
of Brigadier General, and to detail a sufficient military force to enable such
officer to perform his duties, and enforce his authority within the District
to which he is assigned.
Sec. 3. That is shall be tho dnty of each officer assigned as aforesaid to
protect all persons in their rights of person and property, to suppress in
surrection, disorder and violence, ana to punish, or cause to be punished,
all disturbers of the public peace and criminals; and to this end he may al
low local civil tribunals to toko jurisdiction of and try offenders, or when, in
his judgment, it may be necessary for tbe trial of offenders, ho Bhall have
power to organize military committees or tribnnals for that purpose ; and
all interference under color of State authority with the exercise of military
authority under this act shall be null and void.
Sec. 4. That all persons pnt nnder military arrest by virtue of this act
shall be tried without unnecessary delay, and no cruel or unusual punish
ment shall bo inflicted, and no sentence of any Military Commission or
tribunal hereby authorized affecting the life or liberty of any person shall
bo executed until it is approved by the officer in command of the Distaict;
and the laws and regulations for the government of the army shall not be
affected by this act, except in so tar os they may conflict with its provisions.
f Government, in conformity with the Constitu
tion of the United States in ell respects, foamed by a Convention of dele
gates elected by the male citizens of said State, twenty-one years old and
upward, of whatever race, color or previous condition, who have been res
ident in said State for one year previous to the day of such election, except
such as may be disfranchised for participation in the rebellion, or for felony
at common law, and when each Constitution shall provide that the elective
franchise shall be enjoyed by all such persons as have the qualifications
herein stated for electors of delegates, and when such Constitution shall
be ratified by a majority of the persons voting on the question of ratifica
tion, who aro qualified os electors for delegates, and when such Constitu
tion shall have been submitted to Congres for approval, and Congress shall
have approved the same, and when said State, by a vote of its Legislature,
elected nnder said Constitution, shall have adopted the Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States proposed by tbe Thirty-ninth Congress,
and known as Article Fourteen, and when said article wall have became
part of the Constitution of the United States, said State shall be declared
entitled to representation in Congress, and Senators and Representatives
shall be admitted therefrom on their taking the oath prescribed by law,
and then and therefore the preceding sections of this act shall be inopera
tive in said State.
Provided, That no person excluded from the privilege of holding office by
said proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, shall
. lie eligible to election os a member of the Convention to frame a Constitu
tion for any of said Rebel States; nor shall any such person vote for mem
bers of snch Convention.
Sec. G. That until fhe people of tbe said Rebel States shall by law be
admitted to representation to tho Congress of the United. States, the civil
Governments that may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and
shall be in all respects subject to tho paramount authority ot the United
States any time to abolish, modify, control and supersede the same, and in
all elections to any office under such Provisional Government, all persons
shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who are entitled to vote nnder
the provision of the fifth section of this act. And no person shall be eligi
ble to any office under such Provisional Governments who would be dis
qualified from bolding office under tbe provisions of tho third article of said
Constitutional Amendment.
Under this, and snpplemental acts, an election was held
on tho 29th, 30th and 31st of October, and the 1st and 2d
of November, 1867, for delegates to assemble in convention
and to form a Constitution. The delegates then elected
assembled in convention at Atlanta on the 9th day of De
cember, and,after framing a Constitution and adopting
certain ordinances, adjourned on the 11th of March, 1868.
An election for the ratification of the Constitution so
framed, for members of a Legislature, Governor, &c., was
held on the 20th, 21st, 22d and 23d days of April, 1868,
and resulted in the ratification of the Constitution by a
largo majority of the voters, and also in the election of
members of the Legislature, Governor, Ac.
Tlio result of this election was proclaimed by the Com
mander of the District, in General Order No. 90, dated
Jane 25,1868, and in accordance with the following act of
Congress:
AY ACT to admit the Slates cf North Cantina, South Carolina, Louisiana,
Georgia, Alabama and Florida, to representation in Congress:
Whereas, The people at North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana,
Georgia. Alabama and Florida, have, in pursuance of tbe provisions of on
act entitled “An aet for the more efficient government of the rebel States,”
passed March 2d, 1867, and tbe acts supplemental thereto, framed con
stitutions of a State government, which aro republican, and have adopted
said constitutions by largo majorities of the votes east at tbe elections neld
for the ratification or repealing of the same: Therefore,
lie it enacted, That each of the States of North Carolina, South Carolina,
Louisiana, Georgia, .Alabama end Florida, shall be entitled and admitted
to representation fat Coegress os a State of tho Union, when the Legislature
of snch .State shall have duly ratified the amendment to the Constitution of
the United States, proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known as
Article 14, upon the following fundamental conditions:
Section 1 st. That the Constitution of neither of said States shall ever be
so amended or changed a- to deprive any citizen, or class of citizens, of the
United States of the right to vote in said State who ore entitled to vote by
the Constitution thereof herein recognized, except as a punishment of such
crimes os are now- felonies at common law, whereof they shall have been
. duly convicted under laws equally applicable to all the inhabitants -of said
^States; P'rmnieA, That any alterations of said Constitutions, prospective in
its effect, may bo mode with regard to the time and place of residence of
voters; and the State of Georgia sholl only be entitled and admitted to
representation upon this iurther fundamental condition: That the first and
third suit-divisions of Section 17 of the 5th Articte at the Constitution of
said State, except the proviso to the first subdivision, shall be null and
void, and that the General Assembly of said State, by solemn public act,
shall declare the assent of the State to the foregoing fundamental condition.
Sec. 2. That, if the day fixed for the first meeting of the Legislature of
either of said States by tho Constitution or ordinance thereof shall have
passed, or so nearly arrived, before the passage of this set, that there shall
not bo time for the Legislature to assemble si the period fixed, snch Legis
lature shall convene at the end of twenty days from the time this aet takes
effect, nnlesathe Governor elect shall sooner convene the some.
Sec. A That the First Section of this net shall take effect ns to each
State, except Georgia, when snch State shall, by its Legislature, duly ratify
Article XIV of the amendment to the Constitution of the United States
proposed by tho thirty-ninth Congress, and os to the State cf Georgia
when it shall, in addition, give the assent of said State to the fundamental
condition hereinbefore imposed upon the some; and thereupon the officers
I of each State duly elected and qualified nnder tho Constitution thereof
A shall be inaugurated without delay; but no person prohibited from hold-
office under tbe United States or nnder any State by Section 3 of the
■kTODoscd amendment to tbe Constitution of the United States, known os
isiUm relieved from disability as provided in said amendment; and. it Is
hereby made tho duty of tbe President within ten days after receiving
official informs How of the ratification of said amendment by the Legisla
ture of either of said States, to issue a proclamation announcing that tact,
which became a law June 25th, 1868, the members of
the Legislature so elected were by the proclamation of tho
Governor elect convened in Atlanta on the 4th day of July,
1868.
On the same date the Governor elect was appointed Pro
visional Governor by the Commander of the District,’under
General Order No. 91, dated June 28th, 1868.
This act of Congress authorizing the assembling of the
Legislature, it will be observed, required that
“No person prohibited from holding office under the United States, or
under any State, by section 3 of the proposed amendment to the Constitu
tion of the United States, known as Articlo XIV, shall be deemed eligible
office in either of said States, unless relieved from disability as pro-
in said amendment.'* .
The Legislature thus convened having been organized
under the orders of the Commanding General withont in
quiring into the eligibility of its members as required by
tliia act of Congress, bis attention was called to tho fact
that persons disqualified by that act were then sitting and
acting as members; whereupon the Commanding General
directed the body to examine into the subject of the eligi
bility and proper qualification of its members; and upon a
resolution being adopted in each House that all the then
sitting members were eligible and qualified, the Command
ing General authorized the body to proceed with the legis
lative action required by the several laws of Congress to
which reference has been made.
This legislative action was taken on the 21st of July,
1868, in apparent good faith, and members of Congress
who were ejected, as provided by an ordinance of the
Constitntional Convention, to the XLTst Congress, were
admitted to the last session of the XLth Congress upon
presentation of certificates from the District Commander
that they had received the highest number of votes in their
respective districts. This admission occurred in July, 1868,
and Congress adjourned on the 25th of the same month.
The Legislature, on the 29th of July, 1868, proceeded to
the election of United States Senators, when, by uniting
the entire vote of the disqualified members and the mem
bera who were opposed to the Congressional policy of re
construction, with a few who had assumed to favor it,
Messrs. Hill and Miller were declared to have been elected
Senators, the former for the term ending March 4th, 1873,
the latter for the term ending March 4th, 1871. Although,
as has since been disclosed, if the twenty-five or more dis
qualified men hod been excluded, neither of these gentle
men could have been elected, Mr. Hill’s majority on joint
ballot having been but seven and Mr. Miller’s but fourteen.
This, action having been taken and the District Comman
der having issued his order relinquishing military control,
it was assumed that tho requirements of Congressional law
had become inoperative, and that tbe National authority
was no longer effective in Georgia.
On the 8th day of August, 1868, a resolution was offered
in the Hoose of Depresentatives of tho General Assembly,
“denying the eligibility of colored men to seats upon the
floor of the Honse,” who up to that time had been acting
as members, and on the 3d day of September following,
twenty-six colored members were expelled. On tbe 12th
day of September, similar action was perfected in the Sen
ate, and all the colored Senators were expelled. On the
6th day of October, 1868, this organization adjourned.
Congress re-assembled on the 7th day of December, 1868,
when the credentials of one of the Senators elect, Hon.
Joshua TTill, were presented in the Senate, and, upon ob
jection being made, his credentials were referred to the
Judiciary Committee. This committee, having examined
thoroughly into the organization, and the revolutionary
action of the legislative body, which had assumed to elect
these Senators, and after having had the case before it
for deliberation for many weeks, the committee made an
elaborate report to tho Senate against tho admission of
Mr. Hill, in which that committee say:
Your committee are of opinion that the act of June 25, 18G8, which
required that the Constitutional Amendment should bo duly ratified,
must be held to mean that it must be ratified by a Legislature ichich has in
good failh substantially complied icilh the requirements of laic providing for Us
organization."
Deferring to the fact that ordinarily the election and
qualification of members of the State Legislature is not a
subject to be inquired into by the Senate, the committee in
their report, marked very distinctly the difference between
a State which has uninterruptedly maintained its proper re
lations to the Union and one like ours, in which a government
is being organized under and by virtue of the authority of
the United States. The committee say:
The election and qualification of members of the Legislature, where
the existence qf any Legislature authorized to aet as such is not involved, cannot
be inquired into by the Senate in determining the right of a Senator to his
seat, your committee hold that tho question involved in this cose is not
whether persons not entitled to seats m the Legislature were received by
tbot body and allowed to vote upon the election of a Senator, but whether
the body assuming to be the Legislature violated the conditions upon ichich it
teas allotted to organize, by permitting disloyal persons to participate in its pro
ceedings."
In repelling the proposition that the action of the Legis
lature touching the eligibility of its members, under the
the law and the Fourteenth Amendment, together with the
subsequent action in the premises by the District Comman
der, finally disposed of the whole question and debarred
Congress from taking any action—the committee say:
“ Whereupon tho two Houses went throngh the form of on investigation.
But from the evidence before your committee, the investigation does not
appear to have been conducted in good faith, or with auy intention either
of binding the facts or of excluding persons known to be disqualified. A
committee was appointed in each Hpnsc. In the Senate the majority of
the committee found all the members qualified, but there was a minority
report which gave an abstract of the evidence and found four Senators dis
qualified. The evidence consisted of the admissions of the Senators them
selves, which, if true, they should have been excluded. Yet the Senate passed
a resolution, unde the operation of the previous question, admitting them
ML"
«‘For the purposes of this report, however, your committee did not deem
it necessary to ascertain the number of disqualified persons admitted. But
tho fact that any were knowingly admitted .was not only a violation of the
Fourteenth Amendment, and a failure to comply with the requirements of
Congress, but manifests a disposition to disobey and defy the avihorih
United States. If one could be admitted, why not all ? And will it be con
tended that if the entire body had been composed of men who had usurped
the functions of the Legislasure against the express provisions of the Re
construction Acts, they could have complied with the provisions of those
acts so as to create any obligation on tho part of Congress to receive their
Senators and Representatives ? ”
such action, and that twenty-seven disqualified white men hold seats in said
Legislature, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constttyiion and of
the Reconstruction Acts of Congress: and Senators from Georgia have not
been admitted to the Senate of the United States,
Resolved, That the Committee on Reconstruction be ordered to inquire
and report whether any, and if any, what further action ought to be taken
during the Fbriieth Congress respecting the representation of Georgia iu this
Honse.
[Adopted January 28—yeas, 127; nays, 33.]
While this action was being taken by Congress, indica
ting plainly the desire, the judgment and the pnrpose of
the- Government, this illegal legislative organization of ours,
on the 13th Jannary, 1869, re-assembled, and after being in
Session until the 18th day of March following, refused to
heed the recommendations then repeated to perfect its or
ganization in accordance with the laws of Congress, by the
exclusion of the disqualified persons and the restoration of
members expelled on account of their color.
All that lias since been done could then have been
avoided. We all knew what was required of us, and
should have promptly complied.
Valuable lives would have been saved. The peace, good
order and good name of our State would have been main
tained, and our material prosperity greatly enhanced, by
following the dictates of wisdom and ceasing useless and
fruitless opposition to the inevitable. But unfortunately
other counsels were heeded and the policy of reaction and
resistance prevailed at that time.
Congress assembled again on the first Monday of De
cember, 1869, and in accordance with tho recommendation
of the President proceeded promptly to prepare and adopt
an act to promote the reconstruction of Georgia, and thus
overcome the obstacles which had been placed in the way
of restoration by the men who had embraced every pre
vious opportunity to defeat that wise and just policy which
is involved in the Congressional enactments for the estab
lishment of civil governments in this and other Southern
seceding States.
The act under which yon are now assembled and organ
ized was adopted in the United States Senate on the 17th
of December, 1869, by a vote of 46 to 9, and in the House
on the 21st of the same month by a vote of 121 to 51, and
became law by the approval of the President on the follow
ing day, thus displaying the united determination of Con
gress and the President that the machinations of defeated
rebels should not prevail by civil proceedings after their
armed opposition had been so signally defeated,
In accordance with the letter and the spirit of the action
of Congress, the President, on the 24th of December, 1869,
assigned “an officer of the army, not below the rank of
Brigadier General”—Brevet Major General Alfred H.
Terry—to the command of Georgia as a Military District.
I have thus recapitulated the facts covering our political
history from the time of the adoption of the act of March
2d, 1867—which declares
That until the people of said Rebel States shall by law be admitted to
.~ r . , esentetion to the Congress of tbe United States, tbe civil governments
that may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and shall be in all
respects subject to the paramount authority of the United States, any time
to abolish, modify, control and supersede the same,” Ac.—
up to the present hour, and it will not, I think, be seriously
argued that the right reserved by Congress in that act has
ever been withdrawn by the action of Congress or expired
by reason of any legal act of our own.
But the argument made by General Terry in his report
is so cogent and conclusive that I repeat it here. I quote
from Major General Terry’s report, dated “Atlanta, Ga.,
August 14th, 1869.
While I have been in command of the Department, I have endeavored to
take no action which could not be justified by the letter of the law, even if
Georgia should be held to be restored to its original relations to the general
government I have confined myself to giving support to the civil author
ities and moving detachments of troops into some of the disturbed coun
ties where their presence would exert a good influence, and where they
would be ready to act if properly called upon. I think that some good has,
in thi«i way, been accomplished, but the great evil has by no means been
reached. As a J)*p<*rtinent Commander, I can do no more j. for vWAmr
any ne mo status of Georgia, and whatever may be the powers which an
officer assigned to command tho Third District, created by the Reconstruc
tion Acts, would possess, it is only an officer, so assigned, who could exer
cise them : they are not vested in me by my assignment to the command
of this Department
Where, therefore, the civil authorities are in sympathy with, or are over
awed by those who commit crime, it is manifest that I am powerless. In
this connection, I respectfully call the special attention of the General Com
manding the Army to the reports in regard to the attempt made in Warren
county to secure the arrest and punishment of persons charged with crime,
which are to-day forwarded. It appears to me that the national honor is
pledged to the protection of the loyalist and the freedmen of the South.
I am well aware that the protection of persons and property is not, ordina
rily, one of the functions of the National Government, but when it is re
membered that hostility to the supporters of the Government, is bnt a
manifestation of hostility to the Government itself and that the prevailing
prejudice against the blacks results from their emancipation—the act ol"
the Government—it would seem that such protection cannot be denied
them, if it be within the power of the Government to give it I know of
no way in which such protection can be given in Georgia, except by the
exercise of the powers conferred on Military Commanders by the Recon
struction Acts. The question whether these powers can still be exercised
in this State, is a grave one. I should hesitate to attempt the discussion
of it, were I not convinced of the absolute necessity of such action. Beinj;
convinced of that necessity, I venture to present my views to the Genera
Commanding.
By the act entitled “An Act to provide for the more efficient government
of the rebel States,** passed March 2,1867, it is provided in the 1st section
thereof, that the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor
gia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Arkansas, shall
be divided into five Military Districts, and subjected to military authority;
and in the 2d section, that to each of the said Districts sbsll be assigned as
a Commander an officer of the army not below the rank of Brigadier Gene
ral The Sd and 4th sections of the act specify the powers and duties of
restrict Commanders; making it their dnty “to suppress insurrection,
disorder and violence, and to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers
of the public peace,'* etc. The 5th section prescribes the manner in which,
and the conditions upon which, the rebel States may be
The action of Congress in this matter is fully quoted
because of its importance, as the foundation upon which
the subsequent action rests.
If our legislative organization had been perfected as re
quired by the laws, there would have been no power rest
ing in Congress to interfere wliich would not apply equally
to the adhering States—New York or Massachusetts—but
when it was ascertained that we had not complied with the
laws, and had not organized the Legislature by excluding
men who were disqualified by the law, Congress could in
nowise be bound by the action of snch a body, and the
right, we may say the duty, of Congress to adopt such
measures as seemed to them proper to enforce their own
laws, was not only indisputable but freely admitted. As
will be subsequently shown, Congress and the President
concur in requiring us to commence again the work of
reconstruction at tho precise point whero a failure in the
execution of those laws becomes apparent, viz: the Fourth
Day of July, 1868.
That both Houses of Congress moved in harmony upon
this subject is established by the adoption of the following
preamble and resolution in the House of Representatives
of Congress after the report of the Judiciary Committee
was made in the Senate:
Whereas, It is reported that the Legislature of Georgia has expelled
the colored members thereof, and admitted to their seats white men who
received minorities ofyotes at^ the poUs^and that members of said Legis-
therefore respectfully submit that the work of reconstruction here has not |
been completed, and that consequently the powers conferred on military j
commanders may still be exercised within the State.
Thus far I have proceeded on the assumption that all the conditions pre
cedent to restoration have been complied with by Georgia, but I now sub
mit that the Fourteenth Amendment has not been duly ratified by its
Legislature. The act of June 25, 1868, in its concluding section, provides
that “no person prohibited from holding office nnder the United States or
under any State by Section 3 of the proposed amendment to the Constitu
tion of the United States known as Article XIV, shall be eligible to any
office in either of said States, unless relieved from disability as provided in
said amendment ;*’ thus in effect prescribing the character of the Legisla
ture by which said amendment should be adopted as a condition precedent
to restoration, that is to say, Legislatures composed of persons eligible to
office under that amendment. 21To such Legislature has yet assembled in
Georgia; for it is well ascertained that in the Legislature which did assem
ble nod which acted upon thq Fourteenth Amendment were a number of
i persons who were not eligible to seats therein. The facts in the case are
: ully set forth in the following extract from the report made in July last by
a majority of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate of tho United States
to whom had been referred the credentials of Mr. Joshua Hill, claiming to
be a Senator elect from this State, viz:
“ The District Commander, General Meade, by a General Order dated
June 25, 1868, declared the result of the election, Rufus B. Bullock being
elected Governor, and amoung the members elected to the Legislature in
that ordef were thirty-one colored men—three Senators and twenty-eight
Representatives. (See Exhibit No. 1.) By a proclamation of the Gov
ernor elect, in pursuance of the act of June 25, 1868, the Legislature of
Georgia convened on the 4th Jnly following. On the 8th July, the organi
zation of the two houses was effected, and aU persons declared elected
were allowed to take their seats.”
“ When tho Governor elect was notified of the action of the two houses, he
addressed a communication to General Meade, Commander of the District,
informing him of the fact, and also that it was alleged that a number of the
members of the General Assembly who had taken their seats and ono or
more officers of that body were not eligible under the act of June 25, 1868,
by reason ot their having taken an official oath to support the Constitution
of the United States and subsequently hod given aid and comfort to the
enemies thereof General Meade on the same day replied to the communi
cation, and, among other things, desired the Governor elect to communi
cate to the Legislature that he could not recognize any act of that body as
valid or allow the same to be executed until satisfactory evidence was pro
duced that all persons excluded by the Fourteenth Amendment were de-
; irived of their seats in both houses. Whereupon, tho two houses went
hrongh the form of an investigation. But from the evidence before yonr
committee, the investigation does not appear to have been conducted in
good faith, or with any intention either of finding the facts or of excluding
persons known to have been disqualified. A committee was appointed in
each house. In the Senate the majority ef the committee found all the
members qualified; but there was a minority report which gave an abstract
of the evidence and fonnd four Senators disqualified. The evidence con
sisted of the admission of the Senators themselves; which, if true, they
should have been excluded. Yet the Senate passed a resolution, under the
operation of the previous question, admitting them alL These facts ap
pear in the official correspondence between Governor Bullock and General
Meade in regard to tho organization of the Georgia Legislature. (See Ex
hibit A.) There were three reports in the House. The majority report found
two members disqualified ; one of the minority reports found still another
member disqualified, bnt tho other minority report found that all were
qualified. The last report was adoped by tho House under the operation
of the previous question. To illustrate the manner in which the investiga
tion was conducted, a copy of the proceedings of the Legislature on the
16th, 17th and 18th days of July, 1868, as reported in the Atlan* a Daily
Era, and forwarded to the State Department, is attached to this report
(See Exibits A, B and C.) It is alleged that on impartial investigation
would have shown from thirty to forty members of the Legislature dis
qualified under the Fourteenth Amendment, and although your committee
nave not been able to fully investigate this matter, but from tho evidence
before them, they have little doubt that the number was large, as tho ex
hibit hereto attached will tend to establish. *'
It may bo contended that this action of the two branches of the Legisla
ture is final and conclusive; bnt I respectfully submit that by the terms of
the act of March 2, the State government at the time was provisional only;
the Fourteenth Amendment had not been ratified, the conditions prece
dent to restoration had not been performed, the State and its officers were
still “snbiect to tho paramount authority of Congress,” and to tho author
ity which had been conferred by law on the military Commander of the
District, of which Goorgia formed a part, therefore it was within the power
of that Commander to determine the eligibility of members; and conse
quently the clause of the constitution of the State which gives conclusive
iuriadiction of this question to the two branches of tho Legislature, cannot
t>e considered os having taken effect
And I also submit that the action of tho Legislature admitting to
membership the ineligible persons elected to it, whether intentionally so
or not, was, in effect, a fraud upon the reconstruction laws, and upon the
government; a fraud which so vitiates its organization that it cannot be
considered a Legislature within the terms and provisions of the reconstruc
tion acts ; and therefore the Fourteenth Amendment has not been ratified
by the Legislature of Georgia; the conditions precedent to the restoration
oi the State have not been folly complied with, and the first, second, third
and fourth sections of the act of March 2 have not become inoperative in
this State.
There have been several official acts of the Executive and Legislative De
partments of the Government bearing upon this question, some of which
declare or imply that the State has been restored to its normal condition,
others that it lias not been. Of the former class arc: First. The order of
General Meade declaring the State restored, and withdrawing from the
exercise of military control over it. Secondly. General Orders No. 55, Ad
jutant General’s Office, Washington, July 28,1868, declaring that the Third
Military District had ceased to exist; and Thirdly. The admission of mem
bers from Georgia to the House of Representatives of the Fortieth Congress.
Of the latter class are: The refusal of the Senate to admit tho persons
elected to it from Georgia; the refusal of the present House of Representa
tives to admit members to it from the State, and the refusal of Congress to
count in the accustomed manner the electoral vote of the State at the recent
Presidential election. It is hardly necessary to suggest that the argument
to be drawn from this action, as a whole, is strongly against the proposition
that the State has been restored.
In conclusion, I desire to express my conviction that the only way to
restore good order in the State, is to resume military control over it for the
time being, and ultimately to provide by law that the Legislature shall re-
assamm- us u j/rxwfsupxifi' sseytucaure, irum wiilcH nil inenginie porsuus
shall be excluded, and to which all eligible persons elected to it, white or
black, shall be admitted. Such a Legislature would, I believe, enact such
laws and invest the Executive with such* powers as would enable him to
keen the peace, protect life and property, and punish crime.
The process of resuming military’ control would, it appears to me, be a
very simple one. All that would be required is an order from the President
countermanding General Orders No. 55, Adjutant General’s Office, July 28,
1868, and General Orders No. 103, Headquarters Third Military District,
July 22, 1868, and assigning an officer to the command of the District,
excepting the States of Florida and Alabama. This action I respectfully
recommend.
I have the honor to be, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed) ALFRED H. TERRY,
Brevet Major General Commanding.
That the foregoing presents the correct legal view of the
case, and that Congress arid the administration have so
decided, is folly established by the fact that Congress has
assumed to legislate upon the subject, and that the Pres
ident has approved such legislation, and has assigned a
commander to this district, by the following order:
Genedal Oddeds
No. 1.
ana me conditions upon wmen, tne rebel states may be restored to their
normal relations to the National Government, and fixes the contingencies
upon the happening of which, the preceding sections become inope
rative in said States respectively; upon the happening oi which, military
control in said States shall cease. This section is as follows, viz:
“Section 5. And be it farther enacted, That when the people of any one
of the said rebel States shall have formed a constitution of government in
conformity with the Constitution of the United States in all respects,
framed by a convention of delegates elevated by the male citizens of said
State, twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color or previ
ous condition, who have been resident in said State for one year previous
to the day of such election, except snch as may be disfranchised for partici-
pationin the rebellion or for felony at common law; when such consti
tution shall provide that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by all such
persons as have the qualifications herein stated for electors of delegates;
and when such constitution shall be ratified by a majority of the persons
voting on the question of ratification who are qualified as electors lor dele
gates ; and when such constitution shall have been submitted to Congress
for examination and approval, and Congress shall have approved the same,
and when said State, by a vote of its Legislature elected under said consti
tution shall have adopted the amendment to the constitution of the United
States proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress and known as article four
teenth ; and when said article shall have become a part of the constitution
of the United States, said State shall be declared entitled to representation
in Congress, and senators and representatives shall be admitted therefrom
on their taking the oath prescribed by law; and then and thereafter the
preceding sections of this act shall be inoperative in said State: Provided
that no person excluded from the privilege of holding office by said pro
posed amendment to the constitution of the United States shall be eligible
to election as a member of the convention to frame a constitution for any
of said rebel States, nor shall any such person vote for members of such
convention.”
It will be observed that, after prescribing the terms of restoration, it
provides that, when they shall have been complied with by any one of the
States to which the act applies, said State shall be declared to be entitled
to representation in Congress; and Senators and Representatives shall be ad
mitted (herefrom on their taking the oath prescribed by law: and then and
thereafter the preceding sections shall bo inoperative m said State. I
respectfully submit that, by this language, the actual admission of Senators
ana Representatives is made a condition precedent to the abrogation of
military authority; that the action of the two Houses of Congress m admit
ting members was provided for as the final recognition of the restoration of
the States; and that, until that recognition by the law-making power, un
less subsequent acts have changed, modified, or repealed this act, in this
respect, the powers conferred on District Commanders may be exercised.
The supplementary acts of March 23, and July 19th, 1867, to my appre
hension, have no bearing whatever upon this question; they in no degree
modify or change the act of March 2d, in respect to the time when, or the
conditions upon which the first four sections of that act become inoperative.
The act of June 25,1858, the only remaining act which relates to the
government and restoration of the rebel States, seems to have been passed
mainly in pursuance of those portions of the fifth section of the act oi
March 2, 1867, which provide for the submission to, and approval by Con
gress of the constitutions framed for the several States, and for a declaration
by Congress that the States are entitled to representation. It contains a
conditional approval of the constitutions formed for certain of the rebel
States, and tne reaffirming one of the original conditions of restoration,
provides that alter the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment by tbe
Legislatures of the said States, they shall be entitled and admitted to rep
resentation. In this there seems to be no departure from the original act;
that act also provided that when the prescribed terms and conditions
should be complied with, the States should be entitled and admitted to
representation, Uut it made the cessation of military control dependent on
the actual admission of Senators and Representatives; and the act of June
25th leaves this matter where the original act placed it The plan of re-
construction contemplates five great steps. 1st The formation of a State
Constitution. 2d. Tne approval of that Constitution by Congress 3d. The
ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment 4th. The declaration by Con
gress that the State is entitled to representation; and 5th. The final act of
recognition—the admission of Senators and Representatives on their tak
ing the oath prescribed by law. When all these steps are taken, the powers
conferred on military commanders cease to exist; until then they may be
exercised. The persons elected as Senators by the Legislature of Georgia
have never been admittoa^the^Senato^and^no Representatives from the
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE,
Washington, January 4, 1870.
By direction of ihe President of the United States, so much of General
Orders No. 103, dated Headquarters Third Military District, (Department
of Georgia, Florida and Alabama,) Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1868 ; and so
much of General Orders No; 55, dated Headquarters of the Army, Adju
tant General’s Office, Washington, July 28, 1868, as refers to the State of
Georgia is hereby countermanded. Brevet Major General Terry will, until
further orders, exercise within that State the powers of the Commander of
a Military District, as provided by the act of March 2, 1867, and the acts
supplementary thereto, under his assignment by General Orders No. 83,
dated Headquarters erf the Army, Adjutant Generals Office, Washington,
December 24, 1869,
By command of General Sherman - r
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Adjutant General.
That it is a political question upon which Congress' is
the sole and final judge, will not be ffenied.
It therefore follows that, having perfected an organiza
tion as required by law, you are prepared and required to
pass upon the several subjects submitted for your action
by the acts of Congress, known as the Reconstruction
Acts, and to elect Senators.
These subjeots are the ratification of the XTVth Amend
ment, giving the assent of the State to certain modifications
of the Constitution, and the adoption of the XVth Amend
ment.
Should it be urged that we haye already acted upon
the XTVth Amendment, etc., it is a sufficient answer to
quote the action of Congress, wherein they hold that no
legal organization of a Legislature has heretofore been
perfected. And should it be argued that Georgia was
counted as having ratified the XTVth Amendment, it is an
swered by the following joint resolution of Congress,
adopted before Georgia acted, and in which Georgia is
not named.
Concurrent Resolutions qf Congress respecting the ratification of the XlVlh
Amendment to the Gonsiilution, July 21, 1868.
Whereas, The Legislatures of the States of Connecticut, Tennessee,
New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, West Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana,
Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Nebraska,
Maine, Iowa, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina
and Louisiana, being three-fourths and more of the several States of the
Union, have ratified the fourteenth article of amendment to the Constitution
of the United States, duly proposed by two-thirds of each House of the
Thirty-Ninth Congress, therefore,
Resolved, By the Senate, [the House of Representatives concurring) that
said fourteenth article is hereby declared to be a part of the Constitution of
the United States, and it shall be duly promulgated as such by the Secre
tary of State.
July 21—Passed tbe Senate without a count.
Some day the House passed the resolution—yeas 126, nays 32; tho pre
amble-yeas 127, nays 35.”
Our action having been accepted and approved by Con
gress by the admission of Senators and Representatives,
we will, after nearly ten years of wandering estray, be
once more a State in the Union. Our Constitution will
then become of force, and upon the election by your now
legal organization of the officers provided for lay the Con
stitution, the State Government will become a government
dejure; the members of your honorable body will enter
upon the terms for which they were elected, and it is hoped
and believed that nothing will ever again occur to disturb
the harmonious relations which should be forever main-
I transmit herewith authentic copies of the joint resolu
tions of the Thirty-ninth Congress proposing an amend
ment to the Constitution of the United States, known as
Article XTV, and the joint resolution of the Fortieth Con
gress proposing an amendment known as Articlo XV; also
the act of June 25th, 1868, which requires the assent of
the State to be given to certain modifications of the Con
stitution of the State.
The party in this State which has promoted reconstnTc ;
tion may. properly be mentioned in a communication of
this character, because party lines here, as in all the South
ern States since tho rebellion, have been drawn between
those who favored restoration of State governments under
Congressional enactment and those who opposed such
restoration, the former party being in favor of compliance,
and the latter party opposed to any settlement which did
not practically yield all the issues which the General Gov
ernment had established by force of arms.
This party, therefore, has been and is the party of peace,
and .the other the organization of all the elements of dis
cord, discontent and defiance. And I speak of the party
favoring the reconstruction measures, now to recognize the
fact that its course has been consistent and persistent iu
support of tho measures provided by Congress as a settle
ment and for a restoration of civil government in the South,
and the party has been equally as determined in its oppo-
ition to every scheme which the old political tricksters
have devised to defeat this wise and just policy of Con
gress.
In pursuing their opposition to Congress, these political
charlatans have resorted to every conceivable baseness,
abandoning argument to take up with murder and assassi
nation ; disregarding principles to indulp c in villification,
and now, in then- hopeless despair, we find them endeavor
ing to grasp a Republican livery, under which they hope to
hide their nefarious purpose. They now loudly proclaim
their hot haste to promote reconstruction and to adopt
measures which will successfully perfect it.
While we congratulate the State, and tho country, even
upon this outward evidence that wisdom is returning to our
misguided brethren, the party door is wide and open for any
and all who desire to enter and support the great principles
of equal rights and republican liberty, which have triumphed
over secession and rebellion.
We desire the good of the whole people; that the rights
of the poor laboring men shall be equally protected with
those of the rich; that the avenues of intelligence shall be
open for all, and that a citizen’s worth shall be determined
by his own efforts and his own character, neither advanced
nor retarded by his birth, his color, his religion or his
politics. Upon this platform all can unite. The industri
ous, the intelligent, and those who love peace rather than
strife, will soon abandon the lead of disappointed politi
cians, and aid in sustaining the Government.
The wrongs which have been done, the lawless outrages
which have been committed in many parts of the State,
are the acts of but a few irresponsible persons. When all
good citizens exert their influence in favor of justice, law
lessness will cease.
Let us, therefore, unite in a complete recognition of the
rights of men, irrespective of birth, color or previous con
dition, and frankly admit that nnder, and before, the law
all men are equal—that all are responsible—and see to it
that by future legislation the requirements of our Consti
tution are recognized—that free schools are established
and maintained, and that protection is secured for persou
and property, and for the free expression of political
opinions.
Let party lines be extended so as to welcome and include
all who are in favor of impartial suffrage and universal
amnesty. Under our State Constitution no man is dis
franchised, and under the Constitution of the United
States no man will be disqualified from holding office who
is ready to maintain and uphold the Government.
I would respectfully recommend that the XTVth Amend
ment and the fundamental conditions required by the Act
of June 25,1868, and the XVth Amendment be adopted at
once, and that your honorable body then take a recess until
Monday the 14th inst.
Should it be deemed desirableJby any member to attempt
general legislation at this time, his attention is invited to
the following extract from the opinion of the Honorable
Attorney General of the United States in the case of Vir
ginia :
“ It is required under the previous law to act upon tho question of
adopting the • • [Amendments] to the Constitution of the United States
before the admission of tho States to representation in Congress. I am of
opinion, therefore, that it may come together, organize, and act upon that
Amendment, bnt that until Congress shall hare approved the Constitution,
and the action under it, and shall have restored the State to its proper
place in the Union, by recognizing its form of Government os republican,
and admitting it to representation, the Legislature is not entitled, and
could not, without violation of law, be allowed to transact any business,
pass any aet or resolve, or undertake to assume any other function of a
Legislature, if the test oath has not been required of its members.”
In a subsequent opinion tbe honorable Attorney General
decided that tho election of Senators, at the proper time,
was a part of the work of reconstruction.
Your organization having been recognized from to-day,
tbe time fixed by the United States for the election of Sen
ators will occur on Tuesday the 15th instant, and as it is
unwise to attempt any general legislation while tho Gov
ernment. is Provisional, and pending our recognition ;by
Congress, the recess recommended seems desirable.
I shall esteem it a personal and on official favor if your
honorable body will authorize a Joint Committee to sit du
ring the recess, and investigate the indirect charges made
by the Treasurer through the public prints against (he Ex
ecutive, as well as any and all charges he may now have to
t I would respectfully recommend tiiat the Com
mittee be authorized to send for persons and papers, and
to administer oaths; and I am confident that such validity
will be given to the acts of the committee, by the Com
mander of the District, as may be necessary to insure
justice.
. RUFUS B. BULLOCK,
Provisional Governor.
Atlanta, Wednesday, February 2,1870.
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