No. 165. Reconstruction of Georgia December 22, 1869 A BILL "to enforce the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution and the laws of the United States in the State of Georgia, and to restore to that State the republican form of government elected under its new constitution," was introduced in the Senate March 5, 1869, by Edmunds of Vermont, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The bill was reported with an amendment on the 17th, but without recommendation as to its passage, the committee being equally divided on that point. A bill with the same title was reported in the House April 7, from the Committee on Reconstruction. There was no further action on either bill during the session. A concurrent resolution of February 9 had provided, in the meantime, for the recognition of the electoral vote of Georgia. In his annual message of December 6, President Grant called attention to the unseating of colored members of the legislature of Georgia and the seating of persons disqualified by the fourteenth amendment, and submitted "whether it would not be wise, without delay, to enact a law authorizing the governor of Georgia to convene the members originally elected to the legislature, requiring each member to take the oath prescribed by the reconstruction acts, and none to be admitted who are ineligible under the third clause of the fourteenth amendment." The Edmunds bill was thereupon called up, and, together with a bill on the same subject introduced by Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. December 13 the committee reported the Morton bill. On the 17th, by a vote of 38 to 15, section 8, "that the legislature of Georgia shall be regarded as provisional only, until the further action of Congress," was stricken out, and section 8 of the act inserted. The bill then passed, the vote being 45 to 9. The House passed the bill on the 21st by a vote of 121 to 51, 39 not voting. REFERENCES. - Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 59, 60. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 1st and 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. On political conditions in Georgia see House Misc. Doc. 52, 40th Cong., 3d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 82, Senate Exec. Docs. 3 and 41, Senate Reports 58 and 75, 41st Cong., 2d Sess. An Act to promote the Reconstruction of the State of Georgia. Be it enacted That the governor of the State of Georgia be, and hereby is, authorized and directed, forthwith, by proclamation, to summon all persons elected to the general assembly of said State, . . . to appear on some day certain, to be named in said proclamation, at Atlanta, in said State; and thereupon the said general assembly of said State shall proceed to perfect its organization in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States, according to the provisions of this act. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when the members so elected to said senate and house of representatives shall be convened, as aforesaid, each and every member and each and every person claiming to be elected as a member of said senate or house of representatives shall, in addition to taking the oath or oaths required by the constitution of Georgia, also take and subscribe and file in the office of the secretary of state of the State of Georgia one of the following oaths or affirmations, namely: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I have never held the office, or exercised the duties of, a senator or representative in Congress, nor been a member of the legislature of any State of the United States, nor held any civil office created by law for the administration of any general law of a State, or for the administration of justice in any State or under the laws of the United States, nor held any office in the military or naval service of the United States, and thereafter engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or gave aid or comfort to its enemies, or rendered, except in consequence of direct physical force, any support or aid to any insurrection or rebellion against the United States, nor held any office under, or given any support to, any government of any kind organized or acting in hostility to the United States, or levying war against the United States. So help me God . . ." Or the following oath or affirmation, namely: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I have been relieved, by an act of the Congress of the United States, from disability as provided for by section three of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. So help me God . . .” And every person claiming to be so elected, who shall refuse or decline or neglect or be unable to take one of said oaths or affirmations above provided, shall not be admitted to a seat in said senate or house of representatives, or to a participation in the proceedings thereof, but shall be deemed ineligible to such seats. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the persons elected, as aforesaid, and entitled to compose such legislature, and who shall comply with the provisions of this act, by taking one of the oaths or affi nations above prescribed, shall thereupon pro ceed, in said senate and house of representatives to which they have been elected respectively, to reorganize said senate and house of representatives, respectively, by the election and qualification of the proper officers of each house. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That it is hereby declared that the exclusion of any person or persons elected as aforesaid, and being otherwise qualified, from participation in the proceedings of said senate or house of representatives, upon the ground of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, would be illegal, and revolutionary, and is hereby prohibited. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That upon the application of the governor of Georgia, the President of the United States shall employ such military or naval forces of the United States as may be necessary to enforce and execute the preceding provisions of this act. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the legislature shall ratify the fifteenth amendment proposed to the Constitution of the United States before senators and representatives from Georgia are admitted to seats in Congress. No. 166. Admission of Virginia to Representation in Congress January 26, 1870 THE annual message of President Grant, December 6, 1869, urged the admission of Virginia to representation, but stated that the results of the recent elections in Mississippi and Texas were not yet known. To the proposition to rehabilitate Virginia there was strong opposition, but the wish of the President prevailed. A bill to give effect to the recommendation was reported January 11, 1870, from the Committee on Reconstruction. On the 14th a substitute offered by Bingham was agreed to by a vote of 98 to 95, 17 not voting, and the bill passed, the final vote being 142 to 49, 19 not voting. The Senate added various amendments imposing conditions and restrictions, and passed the bill on the 21st by a vote of 47 to 10. On the 24th the House concurred in the Senate amendments, the vote being 136 to 58, 16 not voting. July 28 the military authority in Virginia ceased. Acts of February 23 and March 30 provided in similar terms for the restoration of Mississippi and Texas, and the military authority in those StatesCras withdrawn. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI., 62, 63. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. An Act to admit the State of Virginia to Representation in the Congress of the United States. WHEREAS the people of Virginia have framed and adopted a constitution of State government which is republican; and whereas the legislature of Virginia elected under said constitution have ratified the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States; and whereas the performance of these several acts in good faith was a condition precedent to the representation of the State in Congress: Therefore, . Be it enacted That the said State of Virginia is entitled to representation in the Congress of the United States: Provided, That before any member of the legislature of said State shall take or resume his seat, or any officer of said State shall enter upon the duties of his office, he shall take, and subscribe, and file in the office of the secretary of state of Virginia, for permanent preservation, an oath in the form following: "I, do solemnly swear that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress, 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 afterward engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof, so help me God"; or such person shall in like manner take, subscribe, and file the following oath: "I, do solemnly swear that I have, by act of Congress of the United States, been relieved from the disabilities imposed upon me by the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States, so help me God"; . . . And provided further, That every such person who shall neglect for the period of thirty days next after the passage of this act to take, subscribe, and file such oath as aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken, to all intents and purposes, to have vacated his office: And provided further, That 1 An amending act of February 1, 1870, provided for the usual alternative of affirmation. — ED. the State of Virginia is admitted to representation in Congress as one of the States of the Union upon the following fundamental conditions: First, That the Constitution of Virginia shall never be so amended or changed as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens of the United States of the right to vote who are entitled to vote by the Constitution herein recognized, except as a punishment for such crimes as are now felonies at common law, whereof they shall have been duly convicted under laws equally applicable to all the inhabitants of said State: Provided, That any alteration of said Constitution, prospective in its effects, may be made in regard to the time and place of residence of voters. Second, That it shall never be lawful for the said State to deprive any citizen of the United States, on account of his race, color, or previous condition of servitude, of the right to hold office under the constitution and laws of said State, or upon any such ground to require of him any other qualifications for office than such as are required of all other citizens. Third, That the constitution of Virginia shall never be so amended or changed as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens of the United States of the school rights and privileges secured by the constitution of said State. No. 167. Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution March 30, 1870 "THE evident and complete inefficacy of the second section of the [fourteenth] amendment was the reason for the introduction of the fifteenth amendment" (Johnston). As in the case of the previous amendments, various propositions were submitted, while the discussion of the political and constitutional theories embodied in the proposed amendment took a wide range. February 17, 1869, the Senate, after long debate, passed, by a vote of 35 to 11, a joint resolution for the submission of an amendment to the Constitution reported from the Committee on the Judiciary January 15. February 20 the resolution in amended form passed the House, the vote being 140 to 37, 46 not voting. The Senate, by a vote of 32 to 17, disagreed to the House amendment. The conference committee rejected the amendment of the House and agreed to the Senate resolution, except the words "and to hold office," in section 1. The amendmen, was rejected by New Jersey, Dela |