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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. 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