Court, when that necessity is satisfactorily established, the appointments will be made.

5. An election for delegates to a convention of the loyal citizens of Alabama, will be held in each county in the State on Monday, the 31st day of August next, in the manner provided by the laws of Alabama on the 11th day of January, 1861; but no person can vote in said election, or be a candidate for election, who is not a legal voter as the law was on that day; and if he is excepted from the benefit of amnesty, under the President's Proclamation of the 29th of May, 1565, he must have obtained a pardon.

6. Every person must vote in the county of his residence, and before he is allowed to do so, must take and subscribe the oath of amnesty prescribed in the President's Proclamation of the 29th of May, 1865, before some one of the officers hereinafter appointed for that purpose in the county where he offers to vote; and any person offering to vote in violation of these rules or the laws of Alabama on the 11th of January, 1861, will be punished.

7. There will be elected in each county of the State, on said day, as many delegates to said Convention as said county was entitled to representatives in the House of Representatives on the 11th day of January, 1861; and the delegates so elected will receive a certificate of election from the sheriff of the county, and will assemble in Convention at the Capitol in Montgomery, on the 10th day of September, 1865, at

12 M.

8. From and after this day, the civil and criminal laws of Alabama, as they stood on the 11th day of January, 1861, except that portion which relates to slaves, are hereby declared to be in full force and operation; and all proceedings for the punishment of offences against them, will be turned over to the proper civil officers, together with the custody of the

person charged, and the civil authorities will proceed in all cases according to law. Suits in civil cases now pending, whether an original measure, or final process, before any officer acting under military authority, will also be turned over to the proper civil officer, and will be governed in all things by the laws of the

State aforesaid,

9. All unlawful means to punish offenders are hereby strictly prohibited. No "vigilance committee" or other organization, for the punishment of supposed offenders, not authorized by the laws of the State, will be permitted, and if any such are attempted, the person or persons so offending, will be promptly arrested and punished. The lovers of law and order throughout the State are appealed to and solemnly urged to aid, by all lawful means, in sustaining the cause of law and order. If the people of the State will do this willingly and promptly, we shall be able to restore peace and security to every home in our beloved State; but if offenders become too strong, the military power of the United States will aid us. Henceforth that power will act in aid of, and in subordination to the civil authority of the State. 10. The oath which is required to be taken by those who desire to vote for Delegates to the Convention, may be administered by the Judge of Probate of the county where the voter lives, or by any Justice of the Peace in said county and by officers specially thereunto appointed. Blanks will be furnished these officers by the Judge of Probate, to whom they will be sent on application, where they cannot be printed. One copy of said oath will be given to the voter and another will be kept by the officer before whom it is taken, which must be filed with the Judge of Probate and endorsed by the Judge of Probate, with affiant's name, and numbered from one up, and preserved by him as a part of the records of his office. The Judge of Probate must make out a certified list of names numbered to correspond with the affidavit, and transmit it to this office by some one of the Delegates to the Convention. It is important the lists should all be here on the 10th day of September next, when the Convention meets.

The several officers will also transmit their accounts for these services at the same time, and if the list of voters, made in a proper manner, accompanies them, the accounts will be promptly laid before the Convention for adjustment.

11. There are no slaves now in Alabama. The slave code is a dead letter. They who were once slaves are now free, and must be governed by the laws of Alabama as free men. It is the dictate of wisdom, and we owe it to ourselves and them, to pro. duce the best possible results for both races, from the new order of things.

12. All good citizens are respectfully and earnestly urged to set the example of engaging cheerfully, hopefully, and energetically, in the prosecution of industrial pursuits. In so doing, they will exert a good influence upon those who are despondent and cast down by the calamities which have befallen us.

13. The idle, the evil-disposed, and the vicious, if any such there be within the limits of our State, must distinctly understand that all violations of law will be promptly punished. The Sheriffs of the several counties are hereby required to keep in readiness a sufficient force of deputies or assistants to enable them to execute all legal process and arrest all offenders promptly, and they will be held strictly accountable for any neglect of duty in this respect. Rights of person and property must be respected-law and order must be preserved. If seriously impeded in the execution of these orders, Sheriffs will immediately report to me, that prompt and effectual measures may be taken to repress violence and assert the supremacy of the laws.

Done at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 20th day of July, A. D., 1865. LEWIS E. PARSONS, Provisional Governer of Alabama.

This proclamation renewed the powers of the persons holding the township offices in the State; called a State Constitutional Convention to assemble on September 10th, and reordained the civil and criminal laws, except those relating to slaves as they existed previous to the adoption of the Secession Ordinance of 1861, and prescribed other incidental regulations.

These measures were well received by the people of the State, and a disposition was promptly and generally manifested to cooperate with the Provisional Governor. Candidates for members of the Convention were soon nominated, and in a quiet and orderly manner elected on the appointed day. The vote given was large, but many who were qualified electors did not act.

The Convention duly assembled at Montgomery on September 10, and after the roll was called Provisional Governor Parsons administered the oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the union thereof, and to support all proclamations relative to the emancipation of slaves. He then declared the Convention authorized to make a permanent organization. This was done by the election of ex-Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick unanimously as chairman, and W. II. Ogbourne as secretary. A resolution was then adopted that a committee of one member from each judicial district should be appointed by the President to report such amendments to the Constitution as might restore the State to her proper relations with the Federal Government; and also a similar committee to report relative to the act of secession, and further relative to the manner

in which certain acts adopted during the war might be ratified without infringing upon the Constitution of the United States. Other committees were appointed relative to the State debt, &c.

On the 19th the Convention passed an ordinance providing for an election on the first Monday of November, of a Governor, members of the Legislature, and all county officers except Judges of Probate, and for an election of municipal officers in the cities of Mobile and Montgomery on subsequent days. It also authorized and requested the Provisional Governor to issue writs of election for members of Congress, and further provided that the General Assembly so elected should meet at the capital on the third Monday of November. An interesting debate arose on this ordinance relative to the power of the Convention to fix the time of electing members of Congress. The Constitution of the United States requires the Senators to be elected by the Legislature of a State. The day of election for members of the House is also to be fixed by the Legislature and not by a Convention. Three opinions prevailed in the Convention; one, that the Convention was a legislative body within the meaning of the Constitution, and authorized to act as a Legislature in this instance; another, that only the Legislature, i. e., the General Assembly, could appoint the time, and a third opinion that the office of Representative being vacant, the Governor, under the code of Alabama, should order a special election.

The question was one of importance, and was strongly debated, because it was apparent that there was hardly sufficient time to obtain a Legislature to fix the time and get the representatives elected and in Washington on the day of the meeting in Congress, the first Monday in

December.

It was finally disposed of by authorizing and requesting the Governor to issue writs as above stated.

In relation to the institution of slavery, a majority of the committee to whom the subject was referred, reported the following ordi

nance:

Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in Convention assembled, That as the institution of slavery has been destroyed in the State of Alabama, hereafter there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this State, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall be duly convicted.

And be it further ordained, That the Constitution be amended by striking out all provisions in relation to slaves and slavery.

And be it further ordained, That it shall be the duty of the Legislature, at its next session, to pass such laws as will protect the freedmen of this State in the full enjoyment of all their rights of person and property, and guard them and the State against any evils that may arise from their sudden emancipation. To this ordinance a substitute was reported by the minority of the committee, consisting of an ordinance in favor of supporting the President's proclamation and the laws of Congress

abolishing slavery until they were declared void by the Supreme Court of the United States. The debate which ensued is thus summarily re ported:

Mr. Coleman, of Choctaw County, contended that on our action depended the right of the property of the people. The proclamation of the President and make it complete required our ratification, and, bethe act of Congress had destroyed slavery, but to fore doing so, the validity and constitutionality of the proclamation and act of Congress should be tested before the Supreme Court of the United States. He recognized the right of the United States to pass laws for the punishment of crime, but as a State could not commit treason-the commission of that offence being confined to individuals, who were alone responsible and they could not be deprived of their property except on trial and conviction, those who had not been guilty of treason, could not be deprived of their property, although in slaves. Congress had no right to seize the property of an offender, after death, when it should revert to his heirs. He believed that the acts of some men in their haste to get back into the Union, would cause us to lose the respect of the conservative men of the North. To admit the right of the Federal head by proclamation to nullify the Constitution of a State, was to concede the loss of a republic and the sovereignty of the States. The present curse proposed by the majority report was one of expediency, and he was not prepared to sacrifice rights, honor, and property to it, although there was a great anxiety to get members elected to Congress. He denied that the President's Proclamation demanded of the State the abolition of slavery as a test of loyalty, although the bayonet had done its work; that a State could not forfeit its of Alabama, and must be so regarded, yet were it not rights, but citizens might. This was the loyal State through force no member would vote to abolish slavery. We had no guarantee that the sacrifice would be accepted or that our members of Congress icals of the North. He contended that on this great would be admitted; nothing would satisfy the Radprincipie of State rights the North was as deeply interested as the South, and that the precedent of yielding as proposed by the majority report was too dangerous. We should accept the freeing of the slaves by the act of the Federal Executive and the bayonet, and it was not the free and voluntary act of the people of Alabama. He believed that when the country returned to its reason, those who had lost their property and who had not participated in the rebellion, would be compensated, but the ordinance proposed put an estoppel on all reclamations.

Judge Foster, of Calhoun County, replied as follows: The war had settled two questions forever, one that of secession, the other of slavery. They had been settled by a power whose decision was binding and final, and from which there was no appeal-the power of the sword. Disputes between individuals could be settled by events, but they have no power to adjust differences between States and nations. They must be adjusted by compromise and negotiation or submitted to the arbitrament of the sword. The decisions of the Supreme Court were not respected or In McEndrick's obeyed even by political parties. case the court decided the United States Bank to be stroyed mainly on the ground of its unconstitutionconstitutional, yet the United States Bank was deality. The decision had no power to preserve the Constitution. So in the Dred Scott case, the decision gave the South all they claimed on the slavery question. It had no practical effect, only to exasperate the Republican party. The State of Georgia, at an earlier period, set at defiance the mandate of the Supreme Court.

The substitute offered by Mr. White proposed to await the action of the Supreme Court. It was im. material what that action was, so far as it secured us

any practical benefit. If we went no further than this substitute proposed, the convention have assembled prematurely, and we ought to adjourn.

The first ordinance reported by the committee asserted a fact, apparent to every one, that the institution of slavery had been destroyed, not deciding when or how, whether constitutionally or unconstitutionally. Gentlemen could select their own ground. First, the act of Congress and the Pres

ident's Proclamation; second, by the military power pation of our country by armed soldiers-the estabishment of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the practical severing of the tie between master and slave. The ordinance also asserted the proposition that we would not revive slavery. This was an impossibility. The Government of the United States in every department was unalterably determined that slavery should no longer exist. The edict had gone forth, and we were powerless to resist it. We were a subjugated people, and our conquerors could dictate their own terms. We could not resist the power of the Government. The overpowering force of public opinion at the North, backed by a million of bayonets, and the universal sentiments of the civilized world, were against us. We had tried this in the way of our strength and failed.

of the Government of the United States-the occu

We could not reduce the negroes to slavery if the United States would withdraw their forces and stand aloof. We were exhausted, and the attempt would lead to a reenactment of the bloody scenes of St. Do mingo. The Assembly of France abolished slavery in that island-no insurrection followed. Afterwards the Assembly repealed the law, the planters attempted to subject the negro again to slavery, and then the insurrection broke out in all its force. Such would be the case now, and after scenes of horror, and carnage, and blood, one race or the other

would be exterminated and Alabama a desert.

The country needed repose. The people had made up their minds that slavery was gone, and were accommodating themselves to the new order of things. It was wrong to awaken delusive hopes that could never be satisfied. Our wisest course was in good faith to accept the situation and restore our relations with the Federal Union--reorganize our State Government, that law and order might again prevail in the land. By industry and energy our national prosperity may be restored, our fields ripen again with the richest harvest, commerce and manufactures revive; our cities rebuilt and schools crowded with scholars; peace, and order, and happiness over our land, and Alabama again become a great State in this great nation.

The substitute was rejected by a vote of yeas 66; nays 17. The ordinance reported by the majority of the committee was then adopted, yeas 89; nays 3.

On September 22d the Convention adopted the following ordinance relative to the acts of the State Legislature during the war:

An ORDINANCE ratifying certain laws of the State passed since the 11th day of January, 1861. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in Convention assembled, That all the laws enacted by any Legislature since the 11th of January, 1861, that have not since been repealed, and which are not in conflict with the Constitution of the United States and laws made in pursuance thereof, or of the Constitution of this State, be and the same are hereby ratified, and declared to be valid from their respective dates; and shall remain in full force and effect until repealed according to law: except, however, all such laws as authorized the issue of Bonds, Treasury Notes, and Change Bills by the State; and all laws which authorized the payment of all debts to the State, for moneys loaned to individuals or corporations in Confederate money or bonds, and

the payment of dues and taxes to the State in Con. federate Bonds and State Treasury Notes, and all laws in relation to taxation.

Be it further ordained, That in computing the time necessary to create the bar of the statutes of limitations and non-claims, the time elapsing between the 11th day of January, 1861, and the passage of this ordinance, shall not be estimated.

laws authorizing the creation of any debt by This ordinance excepts from ratification all bond, or treasury note, or change bills, or authorizing payment to be made to the State of taxes and other dues in Confederate or State Treasury notes or change bills passed since January 11th, 1861.

During its consideration a motion was made to except from such ratification all laws authorizing executors, guardians, and trustees to make sale of property, and receive Confederate notes or other currency issued during the war for the same, and all laws authorizing persons acting in such fiduciary capacity to invest funds in Confederate or State securities. The ground taken was that the estate of the orphan had been lost by such investments, and that the guardian or executor should not have invested the estate in such uncertain and doubtful security, and one dependent not only upon success in the war, but upon the popular will to pay so large a debt, even if successful, and because it enabled the guardian or other trustee to re tain the funds for speculative purposes while money was good, and at last to invest in these securities when they had become of little value. The answer was that the guardian, executor, or trustee, was invited or encouraged to make such investment by the State law, under which he he held his appointment; that the whole property of the country and every thing it contained was dependent upon the successful maintenance of the struggle; that there was often a necessity to sell such property in order to support those who were dependent upon it for means to live upon, having often no other resource; that, besides, to disturb the laws on that subject would be to ruin many persons who had acted fairly and in good faith, and that in many cases innocent persons who were security for such trustees, executors, or guardians would be impoverished by it, and in order to protect one set of persons another class must be injured. The latter argument prevailed, and those laws were not excepted from the general ratification.

A still more earnest discussion arose upon an amendment to except from the ratification laws authorizing payment to be made to the State in the currency existing during the war, of loans made by the State to corporations and individuals prior to the war. The object of this was to invalidate a payment of $225,000 due to the State from the Alabama and Tennessee River Railroad Company, for money loaned to them out of funds in the possession of the State for purposes of internal improvement, and of which the State was trustee for such purposes. This loan was made in specie funds before the war, and the debt is not yet due, but in 1864 the Com

event of the success of the Republican party in the fall of 1860, to appoint a day for election of delegates to a Convention, which body it was provided, should "consider, determine, and do what the interest, honor, and dignity of the State should require." It was shown that the Convention met under the most regular sanction of law, and were unrestricted in the power conferred: the people voted with the understanding that the Convention might and probably would determine on secession at once as the proper remedy; and the authority conferred under the question submitted to the people in its resolution by the Legislature was ample to do what a Convention as a body should determine to be wise and expedient.

The term "unauthorized was further objected to as implying, first, that the wrongs of the South were not such as to warrant the action of the Convention, whereas that question was submitted distinctly to that Convention; and secondly, that it seemed to deny the right of the people to secede as a revolutionary right -a right inalienable, and that belongs to all people, everywhere, and often the only remedy of those who deem themselves oppressed, a right vindicated by our ancestors in the revolution of 1776. It was said the term might imply an assent to the doctrine of passive obedience, which held no place in this country, and had no sympathy in the Convention. That word was further objected to as implying a usurpation of power by the Convention of 1861, and those who supported the action of that body. It was said, "we thereby impliedly should leave the memory of our dead, who died for their country, or as they deemed for their country, to be branded as traitors and rebels, and turn over the living survivors, so far as we are concerned, to the gibbet."

The minority report was rejected by a vote of 69 to 21. After this a variety of amendments were offered, and much spirited discussion ensued upon the majority report. The amendments were, one after another, voted down, and the majority report finally adopted unanimously.

The following ordinance was also adopted on the same day:

AN ORDINANCE, to be entitled, "An Ordinance declar

ing null and void certain ordinances and proceedings of a Convention of the State of Alabama, adopted in January and March, A. D. 1861."

Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in Contention assembled, That all ordinances resolutions, and other proceedings of a Convention of the people of the State of Alabama, begun and held on the 7th of January, 1861, and on the 4th of March, 1861, together with so much of the Constitution adopted by said Convention for the State of Alabama as conflicts with the Constitution of the United States, are hereby null and void.

An ordinance was also passed authorizing the Provisional Governor to act until a successor had been duly elected by the people and installed.

The following ordinance relative to the State

debt contracted during the war was adopted— yeas, 60; nays, 19:

AN ORDINANCE declaring the War Debt void, and for other purposes.

Be it ordained, &c., That all debts created by the State of Alabama in aid of the late war, directly or indirectly, are hereby declared void, and the General Assembly of the State shall have no authority, and are hereby forbidden to ratify the same, or to assume, or to provide for the payment of the same or any part thereof.

And be it further ordained, That the General Assembly of the State shall have no authority, and they are hereby forbidden to assume, or make any provision, for the payment of any portion of the debt contracted or incurred, directly or indirectly, by the Confederate States or by its agents, or by its authority.

Ordinances were passed declaring void the laws of the State forbidding free colored mariners to leave their ship on arriving within the State; requiring judicial officers to act as agents of the Freedmen's Bureau as to negro cases; legalizing former marriages of freedmer where they live together, making the children legitimate, and requiring the father to support the family; requiring a license to marry; authorizing county commissioners to make provision for indigent, infirm, and helpless freedmen; also an ordinance confirming decrees in courts of record during the war, and judicial sales; and confirming private contracts, but allowing parole proof as to the real value of the consideration; authorizing executors and administrators to compromise for property sold upon the real value, etc. The entire Constitution of the State was revised and amended by the Convention, and many important ordinances of a local nature adopted. The Governor was also requested to reorganize and call out one or more companies of militia to repress disorder and preserve the public peace.

On September 30th the Convention adjourned. The submission of their proceedings to a vote of the people was refused in consequence of the . delay such an election would cause. The number of persons who had taken the registration oath previous to September 22d, was 65,825.

The election for Governor, Members of Congress, and the State Legislature, took place immediately. For Governor, Robert M. Patton was elected. The vote was as follows: Patton, 21,422; M. J. Bulger, 15,234; W. R. Smith, 8,194. Total, 44,850. The total vote of the State at the Presidential election in 1860 was 89,572.

The Legislature assembled on November 20th, and was organized by the choice of Walter H. Crenshaw President of the Senate, and T. B. Cooper Speaker of the House. A message from the Provisional Governor was delivered on the 23d. He called the attention of the members to the Constitutional amendment proposed by the Congress of the United States, and to their duty respecting the freedmen, as prescribed in the State Constitution adopted by the Convention, in these words: "To pass such laws as will protect the freedmen of this