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Third
Reconstruction Act An Act
supplementary to an Act entitled "An Act to provide for the more
efficient Government of the Rebel States," passed . . . [March
2, I867] .; . , and the Act supplementary thereto, passed Be it enacted . . ., That it is hereby declared to have
been the true intent and meaning . . . [of the acts of March 2 and March
23, I867] . . ., that the governments then existing in the rebel States
of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama,
Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas were not legal State governments;
and that thereafter said governments, if continued, were to be continued
subject in all respects to the military commanders of the respective districts,
and to the paramount authority of Congress. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the General of the army of the United States shall be invested with all the powers of suspension, removal, appointment, and detail granted in the preceding section to district commanders. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the acts of the officers of the army already done in removing in said districts persons exercising the functions of civil officers, and appointing others in their stead, are hereby confirmed: Provided, That any person heretofore or hereafter appointed by any district commander to exercise the functions of any civil office, may be removed either by the military officer in command of the district, or by the General of the army. And it shall be the duty of such commander to remove from office as aforesaid all persons who are disloyal to the government of the United States, or who use their official influence in any manner to hinder, delay, prevent, For obstruct the due and proper administration of this act and the acts to which it is supplementary. SECT 5. If be at further enacted, That the boards of registration provided for in the act. . . [of March 23, I867] . ... shall have power, and it shall be their duty before allowing the registration of any person, to ascertain, upon such facts or information as they can obtain, whether such person is entitled to be registered under said act, and the oath required by said act shall not be conclusive on such question, and no person shall be registered unless such board shall decide that he is entitled thereto; and such board shall also have power to examine, under oath, . . . any one touching the qualification of any person claiming registration; but in every case of refusal by the board to register an applicant, and in every case of striking his name from the list as hereinafter provided, the board shall make a note or memorandum, which shall be returned with the registration list to the commanding general of the district, setting forth the grounds of such refusal or such striking from the list: Provided, That no person shall be disqualified as member of any board of registration by reason of race or color. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the true intent
and meaning of the oath prescribed in said supplementary act is, (among
other things,) that no person who has been a member of the legislature
of any State, or who has held any executive or judicial office in any
State, whether he has taken an oath to support the Constitution of the
United States or not, and whether SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the time for completing the original registration provided for in said act may, in the discretion of the commander of any district, be extended to . . . [October I, I867] ., .; and the boards of registration shall have power, and it shall be their duty, commencing fourteen days prior to any election under said act, and upon reasonable public notice of the time and place thereof, to revise, for a period of five days, the registration lists, and upon being satisfied that any person not entitled thereto has been registered, to strike the name of such person from the list, and such person shall not be allowed to vote. And such board shall also, during the same period, add to such registry the names of all persons who at that time possess the qualifications required by said act who have not been already registered; and no person shall, at any time, be entitled to be registered or to vote by reason of any executive pardon or amnesty for any act or thing which, without such pardon or amnesty, would disqualify him from registration or voting. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That section four of said last-named act shall be construed to authorize the commanding general named therein, whenever he shall deem it needful, to remove any member of a board of registration and to appoint another in his stead, and to fill any vacancy in such board. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all members of said boards of registration and all persons hereafter elected or appointed to office in said military districts, under any so called State or municipal authority, or by detail or appointment of the district commanders, shall be required to take and to subscribe the oath of office prescribed by law for officers of the United States. SEC. IO. And be it further enacted, That no district commander or member of the board of registration, or any of the officers or appointees acting under them, shall be bound in his action by any opinion of any civil officer of the United States. SEC. 11. And be it further exacted, That all provisions
of this act and of the acts to which this is supplementary shall be construed
liberally, to the end that all the intents thereof may be fully and perfectly
carried out. |
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Copyright
2003 |