Btitution (excluding the provisions above quoted) as framed by the convention of December 3,1867, shall express his judgment by voting

FOR THE CONSTITUTION".

Each voter favoring the rejection of the constitution (excluding the provisions above quoted) shall express his judgment by voting

AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION.

Each voter will be allowed to cast a separate ballot for or against either or both of the provisions above quoted.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 14th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1869, [seal.] and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety-third., U. S. Grant. By the President:

Hamilton Fish,

Secretary of State..

Respecting Wages of Labor, May 19,1869.

Whereas the act of Congress, approved June 25,1868, constituted on and after that date eight hours a day's work for all laborers, workmen, and mechanics employed by or on behalf of the Government of the United States, and repealed all acts and parts of acts inconsistent'therewith:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby direct that, from and after this date, no reduction shall be made in the wages paid by the Government by the day to such laborers, workmen, and mechanics on account of such reduction of the hours of labor.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of May, in the year of Lord 1869, and [seal.] of the independence of the United States the ninety-third. U. S. Grant.

By the President:

Hamilton Fish,

Secretary of State.

Eelative to Duties upon Merchandize in French Vessels, June 12,1869.

Whereas satisfactory evidence has been, received by me from his majesty the Emperor of France, through the Count Faverney, his charge d'affaires, that on and after this date the discriminating duties heretofore levied in French ports upon merchandize imported from the countries of its origin in vessels of the United States are to be discontinued and abolished:

Now, therefore, I, U. S. Grant, President of the United States of America, by virtue of th^ authority vested,in me by an act of Congress of the 7th day of January, 1824, and. by an act in addition thereto of the 24th day of May, 1828

do hereby declare and proclaim, that on and after this date, so long as merchandize imported from countries of its origin into French ports in vessels belonging to citizens of the United States is admitted into French ports on the terms aforesaid, the discriminating duties heretofore levied upon merchandize imported from the countries of its -origin into p,orts of the United <States'dn French vessels shall be, and are hereby, discontinued and abolished.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day

: of June, in the year of our Lord 1869,

[seal.] and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety-third. U. S. Geant.

By the President:

Hamilton Fish,

Secretary of State.

The following is the official notification containing the evidence upon which the foregoing proclamation was issued:

[Translation.]
Legation Op Feance To The U. S.,
Washington, June 12, 1869.

Me. Secretary Of State: In conformity with the desire expressed in the note addressed by you to M. Berthemy, of the 19th of March last, I have requested of the Emperor's government to be informed by telegraphic dispatch of the abolition of discriminating duties on merchandize imported into France from the countries of its origin in American vessels.

: I have the honor to send you herewith a copy of the notice which I have just received on this subject from his excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This shows that discriminating duties ;^pon merchandize imported into the empire unaier the American flag have been abolished from and after the 12th of June, 1869. Consequently, pursuant to what has been agreed between us, I pray your excellency to have the ■ goodness to take the necessary measures in order that reciprocal treatment may at once be granted France by the Government of the United States.

Accept, Mr. Secretary of State, the assurances of my high consideration.

Count De Faveeney.

To Hon. Hamilton Fish,

Secretary of State.

[Translation.]

DATED—, 1869. RECEIVED IN WASHINGTON

JUNE 12.

To the Charge oV Affaires of France, Washington: Discriminating duties on merchandize imported from the countries of its origin in American vessels have this day been discontinued in the ports of the empire. Ask for reciprocity. The Minister Paris, for Foreign Affairs.

Orders and Papers relating to Reconstruction, and General Action under the Reconstruction Laws.* _

Headquarters Of The Army, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, July 28, 1868. General Orders, No. 55:

The following orders from the "War Department, which have been approved by the President, are published for the information and government of the army and of all concerned:

The commanding generals of the second,: third, fourth, and fifth military districts having officially reported that the States of Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida have fully complied with the acts of Congress k©own as the reconstruction acts, including the act passed June 22, 1868, entitled "An act to admit the State of Arkansas to representation in Congress," and the act passed June 25,1868, entitled "An act to admit the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida to representation in Congress," and that, consequently, so much of the act of March 2, 1867, and the acts supplementary ty^reto, as provide for the organization of miliary districts, subject to the military authority of the United States, as therein provided, has become inoperative in said States, and that the commanding generals have ceased to exercise in said States the military powers conferred by: said acts of Congress: therefore, the following; changes will be made in the organization and: command of military districts.and geographical departments:

I. The second and third military districts; having ceased to exist, the States of North Caro-: Ima, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, will constitute the department of the; South; Major General George G. Meade to command. Headquarters.at Atlanta, Georgia.

II. The fourth military district will-now consist only of the State of Mississippi, and will continue to be commanded by, Brevet Major General A. C. Gillem.

III. The fifth military district will now consist of the State of Texas, and will be commanded by Brevet Major General J. J. Reynolds. Headquarters at Austin, Texas.

IV. The States of Louisiana and Arkansas will constitute the department of Louisiana. Brevet Major General L, H. Rousseau is assigned

* Continuation of the record from p. 346 Hand-Book of Politics for 18G8, or p. 87 Political Manual of 1868. 40

to the command. Headquarters at New Orleans, Louisiana. Until the arrival of General Rousseau at New Orleans, Brevet Major General Buchanan will command the department.

V. Brevet Major General George Crooke is assigned, according to his brevet of major general, to command the department of the Columbia, in place of Rousseau, relieved.

VI. Brevet Major General E. R. S. Canby is reassigned to command the department of Washington,

VII. Brevet Major General Edward Hatch, colonel 9tli cavalry, will relieve General Bui chanan as assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees', Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands in Louisiana.

By command of General Grant.

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant General

Attorney General's Office,

August 20, 1868. Alexander Magruder, Esq.,

United States Marshal Northern District of Florida., St. Augustine,,Florida.

Sir: Your letter of the 12th instant reached me yesterday, ,and has received an attentive consideration. Colonel Sprague's information to you must have been based upon his own construction of General Meade's order lately issued, and not upon any special instructions from the President to Colonel Sprague, through General Meade or otherwise, as no such special instructions have been issued by the President. You add: "Under some circumstances I should be glad to have the aid of the military, and, if practicable, would be pleased to' have instructions given to the military to aid me when necessary. I ask this, as Colonel Sprague informs me under his instructions he cannot do so."

This desire and request for the aid of the military under certain circumstances I understand ;to refer to the occasional necessity which may arise that the marshal should have the means of obtaining the aid and assistance of a more considerable force than his regular deputies supply for execution of legal process in his district.

The 27th section of the- judiciary act of 1789 establishes the office of marshal; and names among his duties and powers the following: "And to execute throughout the district all lawful precepts directed to him and issued under the authority of the United States, and he shall have powor to command all necessary assistance in the execution of his duty, and to appoint, as there may be occasion, one or more deputies."— (1st ff 87.)

You will observe from this that the only measure of the assistance which you have power to command is its necessity for the execution of• your duty, and upon your discreet judgment, under your official responsibility, the law reposes the determination of what force each particular necessity requires. This power of the marshal is equivalent to that of a sheriff, and with either embraces, as a resort in necessity, the whole power of the preciiifct (county or'district) over which the officer's 'authority extends.: In ..defining, this power Attorney General Cushing— and, as I" understand, the subject, correctly— says it il comprises every person in .the. district or county above the age of fifteen years, whether civilians or not, and including the military, of all denominations—militia, soldiers, marines—<-all of whom are alike bound to obey the commands of a sheriff or marshal."

While, however, the law gives you this " power to command all necessary assistance," and the military within your district are not exempt from obligation to obey, in common with all the citizens, your summons, in case of necessity, you will be particular to observe that this high and responsible authority is given to the marshal only in aid of his duty "to execute throughout the district all lawful precepts directed,to.him. and issued under the authority of the,United States," and only in case of necessity for this, extraordinary-aid. The military persons, obeying this summons of the marshal will act in subordination and obedience, to the civil officer, the marshal; in whose aid in the. execution of process they are called, and only.to the,, effect of securing its execution.

The special duty, and authority in th'e; execution of process issued to,,you must no,t be confounded with the duty and authority of suppressing disorder and preserving the peace, which, under our Government, belongs, to the civil authorities of the/ States, and not to the, civil authorities of the "United 'States., Nor are this special duty and authority of..the,, marshal, in executing process issued to him to be con^ founded with the. authority and duty of the President of the United States in the specific cases of the Constitution and under the statutes to protect the States against domestic, violence, or with his authority^and duty under special statutes to employ military force in subduing combinations in resistance to the laws of the United. States;, for neither of .these 4utiies or authorities is shared by the subordinate officers of the Government,.except when and as the same may be specifically communicated- to th&m by tine.. President.

I have thus called your attention to the general considerations bearing upon the subject to which your letter refers, for the purpose of securing a due. observance of the limits of your duty and authority in connection therewith. Nothing can be less in accordance with the na;tureof our Government or the disposition of our people than a frequent or ready resort to military aid in the execution of the duties confided to civil officers. Courage, vigor, and intrepidity are appropriate qualities for the civil service

which the marshals of the United States are expected to perform, and a reinforcement of their power by extraordinary means is permitted by the law only in extraordinary emergencies.

If it shall be thought that any occasion at any time exists for instructions to the military authorities of the United States within any of the States in connection with the execution of process of the courts of the United States, these instructions will be in accordance with the exigency then Appearing.

I am, sir, very respectfully, }^our obedient servant, Wm. M. Evarts,

Attorney General.

Headquarters Op The Army, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, August 25, 1868. Major General G. G.Meade, V". S. A.,

Commanding Department of South,

Atlanta, Georgia.

General: In reply to your request for instruction relative to the use of troops under your command in aid of the civil authorities, the Secretary of War directs to be furnished for your information and government the enclosed copies of a letter of instructions to Brevet Major General Buchanan, commanding department of Louisiana, dated August 10,1868, and of a letter from the Attorney General of the United States to Alexander Magruder, esq., United States marshal, northern district of Florida, dated August 20, 1868.

The letter to General Buchanan indicates the conditions under which the military power of the United States may be employed to suppress insurrection against the government of any State, and prescribes the duties of the department commander in reference thereto.

The letter of the Attorney General sets forth the conditions under which the marshals and sheriffs may command the assistance of the troops in the respective districts or counties to .execute lawful precepts issued to them by competent authority.

The obligation of the military, (individual officers -and soldiers,) in common with all citizens, to obey the summons of a marshal or sheriff, must be held subordinate to their paramount duty as members of a permanent military body. Hence the- troops can act only in their proper organized capacity^ under their own officers, and in obedience to the immediate orders of their ojfficers. The officer commanding troops summoned to the aid of a marshal or sheriff must also judge for himself, and upon his own official responsibility, whether the service required of him is lawful and necessary, and compatible with the proper discharge of his ordinary military duties, and must limit the action absolutely to proper aid in execution of the lawful precept exhibited to him by the marshal or sheriff.

If time will permit, every demand from a civil officer for military aid, whether it be for the execution of civil process or to suppress insurrection, shall he forwarded to the President, with all the material facts in the case, for his orders; and in all cases the highest commander whose orders can be given in time to meet the emergencies will alone assume the responsibility of action. By a timely disposition of troops where there is reason to apprehend a necessity for their use, and by their passive interposition between hostile parties, dangers of collision may be averted.

Department commanders, and in cases of necessity their subordinates, are expected, in this regard, to exercise, upon their own responsibility, a wise discretion, to the end that in any event the peace may be preserved.

By command of General Grant.

J, C. Kelton,
Assistant Adjutant General.

Headquarters Op The Army,
\djutant General's Office,
Washington, October 31, 1868.
General Orders, No. 90.

The following order has been received from the War Department, and is published for the information and guidance of all concerned:

Soldiers may, for certain offences not strictly military, be sentenced by general court-martial to confinement in a penitentiary.

If any State in a military department has made provision by law for confinement in a penitentiary thereof of prisoners under sentence by. courts-martial of the United States, the department commander may designate such penitentiary as a place for the execution of any such sentence to penitentiary confinement; but if no such provision has been made by any State in the department, the record will be forwarded to the Secretary of War for designation of a prison.

The authority which has designated the place of confinement, or higher authority, can change the place of confinement, or mitigate or remit the sentence.

The same rules apply to prisoners sentenced by military commission, so long as the law under which the military commission acted is in force; but when that law ceases to be operative, the President alone can change the place of confinement, or mitigate or remit the sentence.

By command of General Grant.

E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General.

over his present command to the officer next in
rank to himself, and proceed to Austin, Texas,
to relieve Brevet Major General Reynolds of the
command of the fifth military district.
By command of General Grant.

E. D. Townsend,
Assistant Adjutant General.

Headquarters Of The Army,
Adjutant General's Office,
Washington, March 5, 1869.
General Orders, No. 10.

The President of the United States directs that the following orders he carried into execution as soon as practicable:

1. The department of the South will he commanded by Brigadier and Brevet Major General A. H. Terry.

2. Major General G. G. Meade is assigned to command the military division of the Atlantic, and will transfer his headquarters to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He will turn over his present command temporarily to Brevet Major General T. H. Ruger, colonel 33d infantry, who is assigned to duty according to his brevet of major general while in the exercise of this command.

3. Major General P. H. Sheridan is assigned to command the department of Louisiana, and will turn over the command of the department of the Missouri temporarily to tlie next senior officer.

4. Major General W. S. Hancock is assigned to command the department of Dacotah.

5. Brigadier and Brevet Major General E. R. S. Canby is assigned to command the first'military district, and will proceed to his post as soon as relieved by Brevet Major General Reynolds.

6. Brevet Major General A. C. Gillem, colonel 24th infantry, will turn over the command of the fourth military district to the next senior officer, and join his regiment.

7. Brevet Major General J. J. Reynolds, colonel 26th infantry, is assigned to command the fifth military district, according to his brevet of major general.

J 8. Brevet Major General W. H. Emory, colonel 5th' cavalry, is assigned to command the department of Washington, according to his brevet of major general.

By command of the general of the army.
E. L>. Townsend,
Assistant Adjutant General.

Headquarters Of The Army,

Adjutant General's Office, Washington, March 16,1869; General Orders, No. 18.

By direction of the President of the United States, the following changes are made in military divisions and department commands:

I. Lieutenant General P. H. Sheridan is assigned to command the military division of the Missouri.

II. Major General H. W. Halleck is assigned to the command of the military division of the South, to be composed of the departments of the South and Louisiana, of the fourth military district, and of the States composing the present department of the Cumberland, headquarters Louisville, Kentucky. Major General Halleck will proceed to his new command as soon as relieved by# Major General Thomas.

III. Major General G. H. Thomas is assigned to command the military division of the Pacific.

IV. Major General J. M. Schofield is assigned to command the department of the Missouri. The State of Illinois and post of Fort Smith, Arkansas, are transferred to this department.

V. Brigadier and Brevet Major General 0. 0. Howard is assigned to command the department of Louisiana. Until his arrival, the senior officer, Brevet Major General J. A. Mower, will command according to his brevet of major general.

VI. The department of Washington will be discontinued and merged in the department of the East. The records will be sent to the adjutant general of the army.

VII. The first military district will be added to the military division of the Atlantic.

VIII. As soon as Major General Thomas is ready to relinquish command of the department of the Cumberland, the department will be discontinued, and the States composing it will be added to other departments, to be hereafter designated. The records will be forwarded to the adjutant general of the army.

By command of General Sherman:

E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General.

Headquarters Of The Army, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, March 31,1869. Special Orders, No. 75.

Extract. * # * * * ■* *

16. By direction of the President of the United States, Brevet Major General A. S. Webb, U. S. army, is assigned to command the first military district, according to his brevet of major general, until the arrival of Brevet Major General Canby to relieve him. He will accordingly repair to Richmond, Virginia, without delay. * *

By command of General Sherman:

E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General.

Headquarters Of The Army, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, April 3, 1869. General Orders, No. 29.

I. By direction of the President of the United States, paragraph VIII of General Orders, No. 18, of March 16, 1869, is hereby revoked.

II. Brigadier and Brevet Major General P. St. G. Cooke, U. S. army, is assigned to the command of the department of the Cumberland when it shall be relinquished by Major General Thomas.

By command of General Sherman:

E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General.

ORDERS OF THE DISTRICT COMMANDERS *

First Military District—Virginia.

Headquarters Department Of Virginia, Richmond, Va., June 23, 1869. General Order, No. 77.

The laws of the State of Virginia and the or

* Continued from p, 325 Hand-Book of Politics for 1868, or p. 65 Political Manual for 1868.

dinances of the different municipalities within the State having especial Reference to and made to restrain the personal liberty of free colored persons were designed for the government of such persons while living amid a population of colored slaves; they were enacted in the interests of slave-owners,, and were designed for the security of slave property: they were substantially parts of the slave code.

Slavery has been abolished in Virginia; and, therefore, upon the principle that where the reason' of the law ceases the law itself ceases, these laws and ordinances have become obsolete. People of color will henceforth enjoy the same personal liberty that other citizens and inhabitants enjoy; they will be subject to the same restraints and to the same punishments for crime that are imposed on whites, and to no others.

Vagrancy, however, will not be permitted; neither whites nor blacks can be allowed to abandon their proper occupations, to desert their families, or roam in idleness about this department; but neither whites nor blacks will be restrained from seeking employment elsewhere, when they cannot obtain it with just compensation at their homes, nor from travelling from place to place on proper and legitimate business.

Until the civil tribunals are re-established, the administration of criminal justice must of necessity be by military courts. Before such courts the evidence of colored persons will be received in all cases.

> Bv command of Major General A. H. Terry. Ed. W. Smith, A. A. G>

Official: A. E. S. Foote, A. A. G.

1869, February 8—All civil officers, corporations, &c, required to make returns to the legislature, ordered to make the same to headquarters.

March 15—The joint resolution respecting the provisional governments of Virginia and Texas was promulgated, and all officers unable to take the test oath removed, to take effect the 18th instant.

March 18—Removal in accordance with above order suspended till the 21st instant.

March 21—General Stoneman submitted his report, which showed that there were 5,446 offices in the State, 532 of which had been filled by General Schofield, 1,972 by General Stoneman, 329 could take the oath, and 2,613 were unfilled, owing to the difficulty in finding men able to take the test-oath.

March 22—The mayor of Richmond asked the commanding officer if the appointment of colored policemen would meet his approval, who on the 23d answered that it would, and so would their appointment to all positions to which they were eligible and for which they were competent.

March 27—General Stoneman took upon himself the duties of governor, removing Governor Wells.

March 30—In compliance with Special Order, 75, A. G. 0., Brevet Major General A. G. Webb assumed command.

April 2—Governor Wells was reinstated.

April 3—It appearing that the organization of civil government under the reconstruction laws in certain counties proved to be impossible, since suitable persons to qualify and assume the duties of the various offices of this district, under the