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It is exceedingly difficult, at the present time, to estimate the probable expense of carrying into full effect the two acts of March last, and the bill which passed the two houses of Congress on the 13th instant. If the existing governments of ten States of the Union are to be deposed, and their entire machinery is to be placed under the exclusive control and authority of the respective district commanders, all the expenditures incident to the administration of such governments must necessarily be incurred by the federal government. It is believed that, in addition to the two million one hundred thousand dollars already expended or estimated for, the sum which would be required for this purpose would not be less than fourteen millions of dollars-the aggregate amount expended prior to the rebellion in the administration of their respective governments by the ten States embraced in the provisions of these acts. This sum would no doubt be considerably augmented if the machinery of these States is to be operated by the federal government, and would be largely increased if the United States, by abolishing the existing State governments, should become responsible for liabilities incurred by them before the rebellion in laudable efforts to develop their resources, and in nowise created for insurrectionary or revolutionary purposes. The debts of these States, thus legitimately incurred, when accurately ascertained, will, it is believed, approximate a hundred millions of dollars; and they are held not only by our own citizens, among whom are residents of portions of the country which have ever remained loyal to the Union, but by persons who are the subjects of foreign governments. It is worthy the consideration of Congress and the country, whether, if the federal government, by its action, were to assume such obligations, so large an addition to our public expenditures would not seriously impair the credit of the nation; or, on the other hand, whether the refusal of Congress to guarantee the payment of the debts of these States, after having displaced or abolished their State governments, would not be viewed as a violation of good faith, and a repudiation by the national legislature of liabilities which these States had justly and legally incurred.

WASHINGTON, D. C., July 15; 1867.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WAR DEPARTment, Washington City, July 11, 1867.

SIR: In answer to the Senate resolution referred to this department on the 5th instant, I have the honor to transmit herewith a report of the Adjutant General, accompanied by copies of the orders, instructions, circular letters, letters of advice, and correspondence called for by said resolution, so far as the same are on file or have been reported to this department. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

EDWIN M. STANTON,

The PRESIDENT.

Secretary of War.

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S Office,
Washington, July 9, 1867.

SIR: In compliance with your orders, I have the honor to submit herewith copies of all orders, instructions, circular letters, or letters of advice, issued to the respective military officers assigned to the command of the several military districts under the act passed March 2, 1867, entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," and the act supplementary thereto, passed March 23, 1867, and of all correspondence relating to the operation, construction, or execution of said acts that has taken place between the General of the army and any of the said commanders, touching the same subjects;

also copies of all orders issued by any of said commanders in carrying out the provisions of said acts, or either of them, called for by Senate resolution dated July 3, 1867, so far as the said orders, instructions, circular letters, letters of advice, and correspondence, are on file or have been reported to this department. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War.

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General.

[General Orders No. 10.]

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, ADJUTANT GENeral's Office,

Washington, March 11, 1867.

I. The following act of Congress is published for the information and.government of all concerned :

[PUBLIC-NO. 68.]

AN ACT to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States. Whereas no legal State governments or adequate protection for life or property now exists in the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas; and whereas it is necessary that peace and good order should be enforced in said States until loyal and republican State governments can be legally established: therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That said rebel States shall be divided into military districts and made subject to the military authority of the United States as hereinafter prescribed; and for that purpose Virginia shall constitute the first district; North Carolina and South Carolina, the second district; Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, the third district; Mississippi and Arkansas, the fourth district; and Louisiana and Texas, the fifth district.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the President to assign to the command of each of said districts an 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. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of each officer assigned as aforesaid to protect all persons in their rights of person and property, to suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence, and to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public peace and criminals, and to this end he may allow local civil tribunals to take jurisdiction of and to try offenders, or, when in his judgment it may be necessary for the trial of offenders, he shall have power to organize military commissions or tribunals 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. And be it further enacted, That all persons put under military arrest by virtue of this act shall be tried without unnecessary delay, and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted; and no sentence of any military commission or tribunal hereby authorized, affecting the life or liberty of any person, shall be executed until it is approved by the officer in command of the district; and the laws and regulations for the government of the army shall not be affected by this act, except in so far as they conflict with its provisions: Pro

vided, That no sentence of death, under the provisions of this act, shall be carried into effect without the approval of the President.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That when the people of any one of 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 elected by the male citizens of said State twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color, or previous condition, who have been resident 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 such 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 ratification who are qualified as electors for delegates; 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 constitution, shall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the United States proposed by the thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article fourteen; 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 proposed 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.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That until the people of said rebel States shall be by law admitted to representation in the Congress of the United States, any civil government which exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, may and in all respects subject to the paramount authority of the United States at any time to abolish, modify, control, or supersede the same; and in all elections to any office under such provisional governments all persons shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who are entitled to vote under the fifth section of this act; and no person shall be eligible to any office under any such provisional governments who would be disqualified from holding office under the provisions of the third article of said constitutional amendment.

SCHUYLER COLFAX,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.
LAFAYETTE S. FOSTER,
President of the Senate pro tempore.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

March 2, 1867.

The President of the United States having returned to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, the bill entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," with his objections thereto, the House of Representatives proceeded, in pursuance of the Constitution, to reconsider the same; and

Resolved, That the said bill do pass, two-thirds of the House of Representatives agreeing to pass the same.

Attest:

EDWARD MCPHERSON,
Clerk of the House of Representatives.

IN SENATE Of the United States,

March 2, 1867.

The Senate having proceeded, in pursuance of the Constitution, to reconsider the bill entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," returned to the House of Representatives by the President of the United States, with his objections, and sent by the House of Representatives to the Senate, with the message of the President returning the bill

Resolved, That the bill do pass, two-thirds of the Senate agreeing to pass the

same.

Attest:

J. W. FORNEY,

Secretary of the Senate.

II. In pursuance of the act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," the President directs the following assignments to be made:

First district, State of Virginia, to be commanded by Brevet Major General J. M. Scofield. Headquarters, Richmond, Virginia.

Second district, consisting of North Carolina and South Carolina, to be commanded by Major General D. E. Sickles. Headquarters, Columbia, South Carolina.

Third district, consisting of the States of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, to be commanded by Major General G. H. Thomas. Headquarters, Montgomery, Alabama; changed to Atlanta, Georgia. General Orders 52.

Fourth district, consisting of the States of Mississippi and Arkansas, to be commanded by Brevet Major General E. O. C. Ord. Headquarters, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Fifth district, consisting of the States of Louisiana and Texas, to be commanded by Major General P. H. Sheridan. Headquarters, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The powers of departmental commanders are hereby delegated to the abovenamed district commanders.

By command of General Grant:

Official :

E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A General.

E. D. TOWNSEND, Ass't Adjutant General.

[General Orders No. 18.]

HEADQUARTERS of the Army, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, March 15, 1867. The President directs that the following change be made, at the request of Major General Thomas, in the assignment announced in General Orders No. 10, of March 11, 1867, of commanders of districts, under the act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," and of the department of the Cumberland, created in General Orders No. 14, of March 12, 1867 :

Brevet Major General John Pope to command the third district, consisting of the States of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama; and Major General George H. Thomas to command the department of the Cumberland.

By command of General Grant:

Official:

E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A. General.

E. D. TOWNSEND, Ass't Adjutant General.

Major General Pope assigned to command of third district, instead of Major General Thomas. General Order No. 18.

[General Orders No. 33.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, March 28, 1867. The following act of Congress is published for the information and government of all concerned:

[PUBLIC-No. 6.]

AN ACT supplementary to an act entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," passed March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and to facilitate restoration.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That before the first day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the commanding general in each district defined by an act entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," passed March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, shall cause a registration to be made of the male citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age and upwards, resident in each county or parish in the State or States included in his district, which registration shall include only those persons who are qualified to vote for delegates by the act aforesaid, and who shall have taken and subscribed the following oath or affirmation: "I, do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) in the presence of Almighty God, that I am a citizen of the State of ; that I have resided in said State for months next preceding this day, and now reside in the county of -, or the parish of in said State, (as the case may be ;) that I am twenty-one years old; that I have not been disfranchised for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the United States, nor for felony committed against the laws of any State or of the United States; that I have never been a member of any State legislature nor held any executive or judicial office in any State, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress of the United States, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, encourage others so to do so help me God;" which oath or affirmation may be administered by any registering officer.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That after the completion of the registration hereby provided for in any State, at such time and places therein as the commanding general shall appoint and direct, of which at least thirty days' public notice shall be given, an election shall be held of delegates to a convention for the purpose of establishing a constitution and civil government for such State loyal to the Union, said convention in each State, except Virginia, to consist of the same number of members as the most numerous branch of the State legislature of such State in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, to be apportioned among the several districts, counties, or parishes of such State by the commanding general, giving each representation in the ratio of voters registered as aforesaid as nearly as may be. The convention in Virginia shall consist of the same number of members as represented the territory now constituting Virginia in the most numerous branch of the legislature of said State in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, to be apportioned as aforesaid.

SEC. 3 And be it further enacted, That at said election the registered voters of each State shall vote for or against a convention to form a constitution therefor under this act. Those voting in favor of such a convention shall have

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