order another election of delegates to a convention for the purpose and in the manner prescribed in this act, and to proceed in all respects as hereinbefore provided, either to dissolve the convention, or to certify the state government reëstablished by it to the President.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That, until the United States shall have recognized a republican form of state government, the provisional governor in each of said states shall see that this act, and the laws of the United States, and the laws of the state in force when the state government was overthrown by the rebellion, are faithfully executed within the state; but no law or usage whereby any person was heretofore held in involuntary servitude shall be recognized or enforced by any court or officer in such state, and the laws for the trial and punishment of white persons shall extend to all persons, and jurors shall have the qualifications of voters under this law for delegates to the convention. The President shall appoint such officers provided for by the laws of the state when its government was overthrown as he may find necessary to the civil administration of the state, all which officers shall be entitled to receive the fees and emoluments provided by the state laws for such officers. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That until the recognition of a state government as aforesaid, the provisional governor shall, under such regulations as he may prescribe, cause to be assessed, levied, and collected, for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and every year thereafter, the taxes provided by the laws of such state to be levied during the fiscal year preceding the overthrow of the state government thereof, in the manner prescribed by the laws of the state, as nearly as may be; and the officers appointed, as aforesaid, are vested with all powers of levying and collecting such taxes, by distress or sale, as were vested in any officers or tribunal of the state government aforesaid for those purposes. The proceeds of such taxes shall be accounted for to the provisional governor, and be by him applied to the expenses of the administration of the laws in such state, subject to the direction of the President, and the surplus shall be deposited in the treasury of the United States to the credit of such state, to be paid to the state upon an appropriation therefor, to be made when a republican form of government shall be recognized therein by the United States.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That all persons held to involuntary servitude or labor in the states aforesaid are hereby emancipated and discharged therefrom, and they and their posterity shall be forever free. And if any such persons or their posterity shall be restrained of liberty, under pretence of any claim to such service or labor, the courts of the United States shall, on habeas corpus, discharge them.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That if any person declared free by this act, or any law of the United States, or any proclamation of the President, be restrained of liberty, with intent to be held in or reduced to involuntary servi

tude or labor, the person convicted before a court of competent jurisdiction of such act shall be punished by fine of not less than fifteen hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not less than five nor more than twenty years.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That every person who shall hereafter hold or exercise any office, civil or military, except offices merely ministerial, and military offices below the grade of colonel, in the rebel service, state or confederate, is hereby declared not to be a citizen of the United States.

A JOINT resolution declaring certain States not eligible to representation in the electoral college was presented in the House, December 19, 1864, by Wilson of Iowa, and passed the House January 30, 1865. The resolution was reported in the Senate February 1, with an amendment to the preamble. An amendment to strike out Louisiana from the list of States named was rejected, and on the 4th, by a vote of 29 to 10, the amended resolution passed the Senate. The House concurred in the Senate amendment. In his message of approval, February 8, Lincoln disclaimed "all right of the Executive to interfere in any way in the matter of canvassing or counting electoral votes," and further disclaimed "that by signing said resolution he has expressed any opinion on the recitals of the preamble or any judgment of his own upon the subject of the resolution."

REFERENCES.

Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIII, 567, 568. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe.

Joint Resolution declaring certain States not entitled to Representation in the Electoral College.

WHEREAS the inhabitants and local authorities of the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee rebelled against the government of the United States, and were in such condition on the eighth day of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, that no valid election for electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, accord

ing to the constitution and laws thereof, was held therein on

said day: Therefore, Be it resolved . . ., That the states mentioned in the preamble to this joint resolution are not entitled to representation in the electoral college for the choice of President and Vice-President of the United States, for the term of office commencing on the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-five; and no electoral votes shall be received or counted from said states concerning the choice of President and Vice-President for said term of office.

APPROVED, February 8, 1865.

No. 44.

Freedmen's Bureau

March 3, 1865

A BILL "to establish a bureau of emancipation" was reported in the House, December 22, 1863, by Eliot of Massachusetts, from the Select Committee on Emancipation, and recommitted. The bill was reported with amendments January 13, 1864, and March I passed the House by a vote of 69 to 67. In the Senate the bill was referred to the Select Committee on Slavery and Freedmen, of which Sumner was chairman. A bill to establish a bureau of freedmen was reported from the committee April 12. May 25 the committee reported the House bill with a substitute amendment, and the bill thus amended passed the Senate June 29 by a vote of 21 to 9. The select committee of the House recommended that the amendments of the Senate be disagreed to. Further action was postponed until December. December 20 a conference committee was appointed. The report of the committee was accepted by the House, February 9, 1865, by a vote of 64 to 62, 56 not voting, but rejected by the Senate on the 22d by a vote of 14 to 24. March 3 the report of a second conference committee was agreed to by both houses. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIII, 507-509. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., 1st and 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. On the work of the bureau see Senate Exec. Doc. 28, 38th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Exec. Docs. 11, 70, and 120, 39th Cong., Ist Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 7, 39th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Report 30, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 329, ibid.; House Exec. Doc. 142, 41st Cong., 2d

K

Sess.; House Misc. Doc. 87, 42d Cong., 3d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 10, 43d Cong., Ist Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 144, 44th Cong., Ist Sess. On the condition of freedmen see Senate Exec. Doc. 53, and Senate Report 25, 38th Cong., Ist Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 118, 39th Cong., 1st Sess. Southern State legislation respecting freedmen is summarized in McPherson, Reconstruction, 29-44. See also Cox, Three Decades, chap. 25.

An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and

Refugees.

Be it enacted. That there is hereby established in the War Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, and for one year thereafter, a bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands, to which shall be committed, as hereinafter provided, the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states, or from any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The said bureau shall be under the management and control of a commissioner to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, . . . And the commissioner and all persons appointed under this act, shall, before entering upon their duties, take the oath of office prescribed in . . . [the act of July 2, 1862]. .

...

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct.

SEC. 3.

And be it further enacted, That the President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for each of the states declared to be in insurrection, not exceeding ten in number, who shall, under the direction of the commissioner, aid in the execution of the provi

sions of this act; ... And any military officer may be detailed and assigned to duty under this act without increase of pay or allowances. The commissioner shall, before the commencement of each regular session of congress, make full report of his proceedings with exhibits of the state of his accounts to the President, who shall communicate the same to congress, and shall also make special reports whenever required to do so by the President or either house of congress; and the assistant commissioners shall make quarterly reports of their proceedings to the commissioner, and also such other special reports as from time to time may be required.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioner, under the direction of the President, shall have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land, and the person to whom it was so assigned shall be protected in the use and enjoyment of the land for the term of three years at an annual rent not exceeding six per centum upon the value of such land, as it was appraised by the state authorities in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, for the purpose of taxation, and in case no such appraisal can be found, then the rental shall be based upon the estimated value of the land in said year, to be ascertained in such manner as the commissioner may by regulation prescribe. At the end of said term, or at any time during said term, the occupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and receive such title thereto as the United States can convey, upon paying therefor the value of the land, as ascertained and fixed for the purpose of determining the annual rent aforesaid.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.