There is little reason to doubt that in a short time all the States will be restored; and no other questions can be raised in relation to these Reconstruction Acts than these: 1st, whether Congress had authority under the Constitution to prescribe terms and conditions precedent to the restoration of the rebel States to representation; and, 2d, whether the terms and conditions of such re-admission are binding upon the States when once admitted?* These questions, which involve the old controversy about State rights, if not speedily and conclusively settled, will be very likely to lead to another rebellion or civil war."

In the winter following the publication from which the foregoing extract was made, the most important of the questions above indicated was brought before the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of the State of Georgia v. Stanton, and it was unanimously decided (December Term, 1868-9), "That the distinction between the judicial and political power is so generally acknowledged in the jurisprudence both of England and this country, that we need do no more than refer to some of the authorities on the subject. They are all in one direction." "That this Court has no jurisdiction over questions of political rights, rights of State sovereignty, of political jurisdiction, of government, of the question of corporate existence as a State;" and inasmuch as the complainants sought in this case to enforce or protect their alleged political rights, the judges refused to issue an injunction against Mr. Stanton (who, as Secretary of War, pro hæc vice, represented the Executive) to prevent him from causing these reconstruction laws to be enforced, and thereby destroying the so-called State government of Georgia. (See State of Georgia v. Stanton, 6 Wallace, 63.)

On the 24th of July, 1866, by joint resolution, No. 73, Congress declared Tennessee restored to the Union, that State having complied with the requisitions of previous legislation, and also declared that such restoration could be made only by the consent of the law-making power of the United States. On the 22d of June, 1868, an act (see Stat. 1868, Chap. 69) was passed to admit the State of Arkansas to representation in Congress, upon a fundamental condition therein stated; and this was followed on the 25th of June, 1868, by another act (Chap. 70) for admitting to representation in Congress the States of North and South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, upon the terms and conditions therein set forth.

On the 10th of April, 1869, an act was approved, "authorizing the submission of the constitutions of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas to a vote of the people, and authorizing the election of State officers, provided by said constitutions, and members of Congress." (Chap. 17.)

This act provides that the President may submit the constitution of Virginia to a vote of the people of that State, with a separate vote for its different provisions; that State officers and members of Congress may be voted for at the same election; that lists of voters shall be prepared and corrected, and elections held as provided by laws of Congress. Similar pro

* West Virginia was admitted as a State into the Union, on condition of changing her constitution. (See Act December 31, 1862. Proclamation, April 20, 1863.) All the subse quent acts for admission of rebel States contain conditions prescribed by Congress.

visions are made for Mississippi and for Texas; but no election is to be held in the latter State until directed by the President. If the constitution of either State shall be ratified therein, the legislatures thereof are to meet at the time and place prescribed. But before either State shall be admitted to representation in Congress, it shall ratify the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution. And it is further provided, that the proceedings in neither of these States shall be deemed final, and operate as a complete restoration thereof until approved by Congress. That approval having been given, these States have been restored to the Union.

MILITARY COURTS.

Most if not all of the acts of military courts of the United States, regularly constituted during the rebellion, have been confirmed by the laws of Congress; and jurisdiction over them has been denied to civil or judicial courts by the statute of March 2, 1867. (Chap. 155, Stat. p. 432.) CHAP. CLV. - An Act to declare valid and conclusive certain Proclamations of the President, and Acts done in Pursuance thereof, or of his Orders, in the Suppression of the late Rebellion against the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all acts, proclamations, and orders of the President of the United States, or acts done by his authority or approval after the fourth of March, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and before the first day of July, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-six, respecting martial law, military trials by courts martial or military commissions, or the arrest, imprisonment, and trial of persons charged with participation in the late rebellion against the United States, or as aiders or abettors thereof, or as guilty of any disloyal practice in aid thereof, or of any violation of the laws or usages of war, or of affording aid and comfort to rebels against the authority of the United States, and all proceedings and acts done or had by courts martial or military commissions, or arrests and imprisonments made in the premises by any person by the authority of the orders or proclamations of the President, made as aforesaid, or in aid thereof, are hereby approved in all respects, legalized and made valid, to the same extent and with the same effect as if said orders and proclamations had been issued and made, and said arrests, imprisonments, proceedings, and acts had been done under the previous express authority and direction of the Congress of the United States, and in pursuance of a law thereof previously enacted and expressly authorizing and directing the same to be done. And no civil court of the United States, or of any State, or of the District of Columbia, or of any district or territory of the United States, shall have or take jurisdiction of, or in any manner reverse any of the proceedings had or acts done as aforesaid, nor shall any person be held to answer in any of said courts for any act done or omitted to be done in pursuance or in aid of any of said proclamations or orders, or by authority or with the approval of the President within the period aforesaid, and respecting any of the matters aforesaid; and all officers and other persons in the service of the United States, or who acted in aid thereof, acting in the premises, shall be held prima facie to have been authorized by the President; and all acts and parts of acts heretofore passed, inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. Approved March 2, 1867.

Such have been the principal measures of the government, from the beginning of the war down to the present time, relating to the questions of military or provisional government and reconstruction, or restoration of rebel States to their normal relations to the Union. They have fully embodied and practically and successfully applied the war powers claimed in this essay. Peace has been restored, slavery has been destroyed, liberty has been established on firm foundations; the authority of the Constitution and laws is now acknowledged in every part of the country. It is possible, even now, to estimate, in the light of our recent history, the weight of those objections against the war powers, which, in the early years of our conflict, were urged with much plausibility and force. No military dictator has seized the reins of power, or destroyed republican government. The rights to life, liberty, and property have not grown obsolete; but in more than one half of our country, the day has but just dawned when these rights have been, for the first time, secured to four millions of slaves, now made freemen and citizens. Every movement throughout the war, in relation to the rights of the people, has resulted in a more perfect, practical development, application, and establishment of the principles of freedom announced by our ancestors in the Declaration of Independence, and in the Constitution. The loyal people of the United States have ratified the use of the amplest war powers by their government for the preservation of the life of the nation when assailed by rebellion, and of these powers none rest upon a firmer foundation than that which authorizes Congress to provide laws for the military government of subjugated enemies, and laws for the restoration of rebel States to the Union, on such terms and conditions as it shall deem expedient.

MILITARY COURTS OF THE CONFEDERATES.

The following statutes passed by the Congress of the Confederate States will give an idea of the construction put by them upon the Constitution, so far as it relates to the power of instituting military courts by the legislature : CHAP. XXXVI. An Act to organize Military Courts to attend the Army of the Confederate States in the Field, and to define the Powers of said Courts.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That courts shall be organized, to be known as military courts, one to attend each army corps in the field, .nder the direction of the President. Each court shall consist of three me abers, two of whom shall constitute a quorum, and each member shall be er titled to the rank and pay of a colonel of cavalry, shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall hold his office during the war, unless the court shall be sooner abolished by Congress. For each court there shall be one Judge Advocate, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, with the rank and pay of a captain of cavalry, whose duties shall be as prescribed by the rules and articles of war, except as enlarged or modified by the purposes and provisions of this act, and who shall also hold his office during the war, unless the court shall be sooner abolished by the Congress; and in case of the absence or disability of the Judge Advocate,

upon the application of the court, the commander of the army corps to which such court is attached may appoint or detail an officer to perform the duties of Judge Advocate during such absence or disability, or until the vacancy, if any, shall be filled by the President.

SEC. 2. Each court shall have the right to appoint a Provost Marshal, to attend its sittings, and execute the orders of the court, with the rank and pay of a captain of cavalry; and also a clerk, who shall have a salary of one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month, who shall keep the record of the proceedings of the court, and shall reduce to writing the substance of the evidence in each case, and file the same in court. The Provost Marshal and the clerk shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the court. Each member and officer of the court shall take an oath well and truly to discharge the duties of his office to the best of his skill and ability, without fear, favor, or reward, and to support the Constitution of the Confederate States. Each member of the court, the Judge Advocate, and the clerk shall have the power to administer oaths.

SEC. 3. Each court shall have power to adopt rules for conducting business, and for the trial of causes, and to enforce the rules adopted, and to punish for contempt, and to regulate the taking of evidence, and to secure the attendance of witnesses, and to enforce and execute its orders, sentences, and judgments, as in cases of courts martial.

SEC. 4. The jurisdiction of each court shall extend to all offences now cognizable by courts martial under the rules and articles of war and the customs of war, and also to all offences defined as crimes by the laws of the Confederate States, or of the several States, and when beyond the territory of the Confederate States, to all cases of murder, manslaughter, arson, rape, robbery, and larceny, as defined by the common law, when committed by any private or officer in the army of the Confederate States, against any other private or officer in the army, or against the property or person of any citizen or other person not in the army: Provided, Said courts shall not have jurisdiction of offenders above the grade of colonel. For offences cognizable by courts martial, the court shall, on conviction, inflict the penalty prescribed by the rules and articles of war, and in the manner and mode therein mentioned; and for offences not punishable by the rules and articles of war, but punishable by the laws of the Confederate States, said court shall inflict the penalties prescribed by the laws of the Confederate States; and for offences against which penalties are not prescribed by the rules and articles of war, nor by the laws of the Confederate States, but for which penalties are prescribed by the laws of a State, said court shall inflict the punishment prescribed by the laws of the State in which the offence was committed: Provided, That in cases in which, by the laws of the Confederate States, or of the State, the punishment is by fine or by imprisonment, or by both, the court may, in its discretion, inflict any other punishment less than death; and for the offences defined as murder, manslaughter, arson, rape, robbery, and larceny, by the common law, when committed beyond the territorial limits of the Confederate States, the punishment shall be in the discretion of the court. That when an officer under the grade of brigadier general or private shall be put under arrest for any offence cognizable by the court herein provided for, notice of his arrest and of the offence with which he shall be charged shall be given to the Judge Advocate by the officer ordering said arrest, and he shall be entitled to as speedy a trial as the business before said court will allow.

SEC. 5. Said courts shall attend the army, shall have appropriate quarters within the lines of the army, shall be always open for the transaction of business, and the final decisions and sentences of said courts on convictions shall

be subject to review, mitigation, and suspension, as now provided by the rules and articles of war in cases of courts martial.

SEC. 6. That during the recess of the Senate the President may appoint the members of the courts and the Judges Advocate provided for in the previous sections, subject to the confirmation of the Senate at its session next ensuing said appointments.

Approved October 9, 1862.

CHAP. XLIX.

An Act to punish and represss the Importation, by our enemies, of Notes purporting to be Notes of the Treasury of the Confederate States.

Whereas, Manifestly with the knowledge and connivance of the Federal Government, and for the purpose of destroying the credit and circulation of the treasury notes of this government, immense amounts of spurious or counterfeit notes, purporting to be such treasury notes, have been fabricated and advertised for sale in the enemy's country, and have been brought into these States, and put in circulation by persons in the service of the enemy:

The Congress of the Confederate States [of America] do enact, [That] every person in the service of, or adhering to, the enemy, who shall pass, or offer to pass, any such spurious or counterfeit note or notes, as aforesaid, or shall sell or attempt to sell the same, or shall bring any such note or notes into the Confederate States, or shall have any such note or notes in his possession, with intent to pass or sell the same, shall, if captured, be put to death by hanging; and every commissioned officer of the enemy who shall permit any offence mentioned in this section to be committed by any person under his authority, shall be put to death by hanging. Every person charged with an offence punishable under this act shall be tried by a military court in such manner, and under such regulations, as the President shall prescribe; and, after conviction, the President may commute the punishment to imprisonment in such manner, and for such time, as he may deem proper, and may pardon the offender on such conditions as he may deem proper, or unconditionally.

Approved October 13, 1862.

CHAP. LXXVII. An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to organize Military Courts to attend the Army of the Confederate States in the Field, and to define the Powers of said Courts," approved October 9, 1862. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That in addition to one military court to attend each army corps in the field, as now authorized by an act entitled "An Act to organize military courts to attend the army of the Confederate States in the field, and to define the power of said courts," approved October ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, one military court shall be organized in each of such military departments as, in the judgment of the President, the public exigencies may require; to be organized in the manner and with powers prescribed in the act of which this is amendatory.

Approved May 1, 1863.

Joint Resolution on the subject of Retaliation.

Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, In response to the message of the President, transmitted to Congress at the commencement of the present session, that, in the opinion of Congress, the