• A PEACE PROCLAMATION. On the 20th of August, 1866, the President issued a proclamation announcing the return of peace and restoring the writ of habeas corpus in all the Southern States. Among the points made in this proclamation are the following: "There now exists no organized armed resistance of the misguided citizens or others to the authority of the United States in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, and the laws can be sustained and enforced therein by the proper civil authority, State or Federal, and the people of the said States are well and loyally disposed, and have conformed, or will conform, in their legislation to the condition of affairs growing out of the amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibiting slavery within the jurisdiction of the United States. * * The people of the several before mentioned States have, in the manner aforesaid, given satisfactory evidence that they acquiesce in this sovereign and important revolution of the national unity. "It is believed to be a fundamental principle of government that people who have revolted, and who have been overcome and subdued, must either be dealt with so as to induce them voluntarily to become friends, or else they must be held by absolute military power, or devastated so as to prevent them from ever again doing harm as enemies, which last named policy is abhorrent to humanity and freedom. "The Constitution of the United States provides for constitutional communities only as States, and not as territories, dependencies, provinces, or protec torates. ،، * * * Therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, Presi dent of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection which heretofore existed in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida is at an end, and henceforth to be so regarded." CIVIL RIGHTS BILL. AS ADOPTED BY CONGRESS, MARCH, 1866. §1. That all persons in the United States, and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and such citizens of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of Slavery or involuntary service, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right, in every State and Territory, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, to be sued, be parties and give evidence; to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey personal property, and to full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property as are enjoyed by white citizens; and shall be subject to the like punishment, pains and penalties, and to none other; any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. § 2. And that any person who, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any inhabitant of any State or Territory to the deprivation of any right secured or protected by this act, or to punishment, pains, and penalties, on account of such person having at any time been held in a condition of slavery, or involuntary servitude, except for the punishment of crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by the reason of his color or race, than is prescribed for the punishment of white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court. § 3. That the district courts of the United States, within their respective districts, shall have, exclusively of the courts of the several States, cognizance of all crimes and offences committed against the provisions of this act, and also, concurrently with the circuit courts of the United States, of all causes civil and criminal, affecting persons who are denied, or can not enforce in the courts of judicial tribunal of the State or locality where they may be, any of the rights secured to them by the first section of this act; and if any suit or prosecution, civil or criminal, has been, or shall be commenced in any State court against any such person, for any cause whatsoever, civil or military, or any other person, any arrest or imprisonment, trespasses, or wrong done or committed by virtue or under color of authority derived from this act, or the act establishing a bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees, and all acts amendatory thereof, or for refusing to do any act, upon the ground that it would be inconsistent with this act, such defendant shall have the right to remove such cause for trial to the proper district or circuit court, in the manner prescribed by the act relating to habeas corpus, and regulating judicial proceedings in certain cases, approved March 3, 1863, and all acts amendatory thereto. The jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters hereby conferred on the district and circuit courts of the United States shall be exercised and enforced, in conformity with the laws of the United States, so far as such laws are suitable to carry the same into effect; but in all cases where such laws are not adapted to the object, or are deficient in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable remedies and punish offences against the law, the common law, as modified and changed by the Constitution and statutes of the State wherein the court having juris |