Page images
PDF
EPUB

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: Provided, 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 governments which may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, 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 provisions of the fifth section of this act; and no persons 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.

No. 150. Tenure of Office Act

March 2, 1867

A BILL "to regulate the tenure of offices" was introduced in the Senate December 3, 1866, the first day of the session, by George H. Williams of Oregon, and referred to the Joint Select Committee on Retrenchment. On the 10th a substitute amendment was reported by George F. Edmunds of Vermont, who also offered the next day a further amendment, being the last five sections of the act. The amended bill passed the Senate on the 18th by a vote of 29 to 9, 14 not voting. The House, by a vote of 82 to 63, 46 not voting, added an amendment striking out the clause excepting cabinet officers from the operation of the act, the vote on the passage of the amended bill being 111 to 38, 42 not voting. The Senate refused to concur, but the insistence of the House on its principal amendment forced the Senate to agree to the compromise contained in the first section of the act. The report of the conference committee was accepted by the Senate February 18, by a vote of 22 to 10, and by the House the following day by a vote of 112 to 41, 37 not voting. March 2 the bill was vetoed by President Johnson, but was passed over the veto the same day, the vote in the Senate being 5 to 11, 6 not vot

ing, and in the House 138 to 51, 3 not voting. Sections 1 and 2 of the act were repealed by an act of April 5, 1869, and the remainder by an act of March 3, 1887.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 430-432. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. See also Senate Exec. Doc. 9, 40th Cong., Special Sess.

An Act regulating the Tenure of certain Civil Offices.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Be it enacted That every person holding any civil office to which he has been appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and every person who shall hereafter be appointed to any such office, and shall become duly qualified to act therein, is, and shall be entitled to hold such office until a successor shall have been in like manner appointed and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise provided: Provided, That the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, of the Navy, and of the Interior, the Postmaster-General, and the Attorney-General, shall hold their offices respectively for and during the term of the President by whom they may have been appointed and for one month thereafter, subject to removal by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when any officer appointed as aforesaid, excepting judges of the United States courts, shall, during a recess of the Senate, be shown, by evidence satisfactory to the President, to be guilty of misconduct in office, or crime, or for any reason shall become incapable or legally disqualified to perform its duties, in such case, and in no other, the President may suspend such officer and designate some suitable person to perform temporarily the duties of such office until the next meeting of the Senate, and until the case shall be acted upon by the Senate . . . ; and in such case it shall be the duty of the President, within twenty days after the first day of such next meeting of the Senate, to report to the Senate such suspension, with the evidence and reasons for his action in the case, and the name of the person so designated to perform the duties of such office. And if the Senate shall concur in such suspension and advise and consent to the removal of such officer, they shall so certify to the President, who may thereupon remove such officer, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint another person to such

office. But if the Senate shall refuse to concur in such suspension, such officer so suspended shall forthwith resume the functions of his office, and the powers of the person so performing its duties in his stead shall cease, and the official salary and emoluments of such officer shall, during such suspension, belong to the person so performing the duties thereof, and not to the officer so suspended. . . .

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President shall have power to fill all vacancies which may happen during the recess of the Senate, by reason of death or resignation, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session thereafter. And if no appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall be made to such office so vacant or temporarily filled as aforesaid during such next session of the Senate, such office shall remain in abeyance, without any salary, fees, or emoluments attached thereto, until the same shall be filled by appointment thereto, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and during such time all the powers and duties belonging to such office shall be exercised by such other officer as may by law exercise such powers and duties in case of a vacancy in such office.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to extend the term of any office the duration of which is limited by law.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall, contrary to the provisions of this act, accept any appointment to or employment in any office, or shall hold or exercise or attempt to hold or exercise, any such office or employment, he shall be deemed, and is hereby declared to be, guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon trial and conviction thereof, he shall be punished therefor by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That every removal, appointment, or employment, made, had, or exercised, contrary to the provisions of this act, and the making, signing, sealing, countersigning, or issuing of any commission or letter of authority for or in respect to any such appointment or employment, shall be deemed, and are hereby declared to be, high misdemeanors,

and, upon trial and conviction thereof, every person guilty thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court..

*

*

No. 151. Command of the Army

March 2, 1867

SECTION 2 of the army appropriation act of March 2, 1867, virtually deprived the President, in certain cases, of the command of the army. The constitutionality of the provision was debated at some length, but an amendment offered in the Senate February 26, by Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, to strike out the section was lost by a vote of 8 to 28, and other motions to the same effect failed of support. Sections 5 and 6 were added to the bill by the Senate. President Johnson approved the bill in order not to defeat the appropriations, but he entered his protest against the army provision. The section relating to the militia was repealed by acts of January 14 and March 3, 1869.

[ocr errors]

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV., 486, 487. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 39th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The important discussion was in the Senate.

An Act making appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending. [June 30, 1868]..., and for other purposes.

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the headquarters of the General of the army of the United States shall be at the city of Washington, and all orders and instructions relating to military operations issued by the President or Secretary of War shall be issued through the General of the army, and, in case of his inability, through the next in rank. The General of the army shall not be removed, suspended, or relieved from command, or assigned to duty elsewhere than at said headquarters, except at his own request, without the previous approval of the Senate; and any orders or instructions relating to military operations issued contrary to the requirements of this section shall be null and void; and any officer who shall issue orders or instructions contrary to the provisions of this section shall be

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »