LETTER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR, COMMUNICATING A letter of Major General Canby and its enclosures, relating to an ordinance of the South Carolina convention providing for the assembling of the general assembly, the temporary organization of each house, the installation of gov ernor and lieutenant governor, and the continuation of the president of the convention in office until after the installation for the purpose of administering oaths. MAY 8, 1868.-Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and ordered to be printed. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, May 9, 1868. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication of this date from the General of the army, forwarding letter of Major General Canby, and its enclosures, relating to an ordinance of the South Carolina convention providing for the assembling of the general assembly, the temporary organization of each house, the installation of governor and lieutenant governor, and the continuation of the president of the convention in office until after the installation for the purpose of administering oaths. Your obedient servant, EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. Hon. B. F. Wade, President of the Senate. HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, Washington, D. C., May 9, 1868. SIR: I have the honor to forward herewith General Canby's letter relating to an ordinance of the South Carolina convention, with enclosures, and to request that they be laid before Congress as matter of information. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War. U. S. GRANT, General. HEADQUARTERS SECOND MILITARY DISTRICT, SIR: On the 16th of March last the constitutional convention, then in session in this city, adopted an ordinance providing : First. That the general assembly, elected under the new constitution, should assemble on the 12th of May, instant. Second. That each house should be temporarily organized by the election of a presiding officer. Third. That as soon as the house is permanently organized by the election of a speaker, and shall have appointed a day for the purpose, the governor shall be installed into office, and the oath of office administered in the presence of both houses, and also to the lieutenant governor. Fourth. That for the purpose of administering these oaths of office the president of the convention shall be continued in the prerogatives of his office until that duty shall have been performed. While I regard it as, perhaps, unwise that any steps looking to the organization of the government under the new constitution should be taken before it had received the approval required by law, and which it must have before it becomes in any way effective, still, as I understood that the action of the legislature would be limited to passing upon the proposed constitutional amendment, article XIV, and that such action would probably facilitate and hasten the restoration of the State, I adopted in the General Order (No. 79) announcing the results of the election the provisions of the ordinance so far as it related to the meeting of the legislature, and provided, unless it should otherwise be directed by law, that the officers elect should enter upon their duties under the new constitution ten days after its approval by the Congress of the United States. That period was fixed as the shortest, in my judgment, that should be allowed the officers of the present provisional government to close up their business, setle their accountabilities, and be prepared to turn over to their successors the records, money, and property for which they are accountable. If Congress, in acting upon the question, fixes a different date, that action would, of course, control. Under the provisions of the fifth section of the law of March 2, 1867, Congress does not appear to contemplate that the new government shall go into full operation until after the constitution shall have been approved by Congress, and the legislature elected under the new constitution shall by vote have adopted the proposed constitutional amendment to the Constitution of the United States, (article XIV,) and that article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the United States; but, for reasons which I have heretofore reported, it is so important that its organization should be perfected as far as possible before military authority is withdrawn, that I have considered myself warranted in adopting it as the fundamental law of the State so soon as it is approved by Congress, and providing as soon as possible thereafter for the organization of the new government. It has been my wish, and the arrangements that have been made and are being made are in furtherance of that wish, that the transfer of authority should be regular and formal; that the line which fixes the official responsibilities of the old and of the new officers should be distinctly marked; that there should not be in any quarter an interregnum that might create confusion, avoid official responsibility, or endanger the safety or the proper transfer of the public records, money, or property of the State. There has been, and is, a strong disposition, both in this State and in North Carolina, on the part of subordinate officials, and in view of the approaching change, to tender their resignations and abandon their duties. This created the necessity for the General Order (No. 66) which I enclose herewith. That disposition will, no doubt, be increased now that the change is certain and near, unless it can be controlled, and subordinate officers, particularly those connected with the administration of justice, kept at their posts until their successors, elected under the new constitution, can be legally qualified and installed. The chances of confusion and disorder will be greatly multiplied if the legislature should attempt to put the new government into operation before the constitution, on which it is based, has been made an effective instrument by the approval of Congress. I enclose an extract from the General Order in relation to North Carolina, indicating the course it was intended to pursue with regard to the subordinate civil officers in that State, and to those of South Carolina when they are elected. I do not apprehend any trouble with the higher executive and judicial officers in either State, but it is my intention, if there should be, to see personally to the instalment of those elected under the new constitution, so soon as they may be legally qualified. This intention was based upon the contingency that Congress, in passing upon the question of approving these constitutions, might limit itself to the simple approval, without giving any directions as to the time or manner in which the new governments are to be organized. Of course, if such directions are given, they control the whole subject and remove all difficulties. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, CHIEF OF STAFF, ED. R. S. CANBY, Brevet Major General Commanding. Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D. C. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT SOUTH CAROLINA, SIR: The constitution recently adopted by the the convention in Charleston, under the reconstruction act of Congress, has been ratified by a very decided majority of the qualified voters of the State, and will, doubtless, be promptly accepted by Congress. Under these acts, according to my interpretation, the proceedings are inchoate, and inoperative until the constitution is formally accepted and representation authorized by Congress. Hence the functions of the provisional government will continue in full force until that time. The object of this note is respectfully to inquire of you at what time, according to your construction of the law, the duties of the provisional officers of the executive department of the present State government will terminate, and when the officers elected under the new constitution will qualify and enter upon their duties? Your early attention to the subject is invoked, so that the answer may satisfy the inquiries of the public, and that all confusion or collision between the outgoing and incoming administrations may be avoided. You are respectfully requested to issue such orders as in your judgment may be necessary to carry into effect the laws of Congress on this subject. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, General E. R. S. CANBY, JAMES L. ORR, Governor of South Carolina. Commanding Second Military District. Official copy: LOUIS V. CAZIARC, A. D. C. and A. A. A. G. HEADQUARTERS SECOND MILITARY DISTRICT, Charleston, South Carolina, May 1, 1868. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 29th ultimo, making the inquiry as to the time when "the duties of the pro visional officers of the executive department of the present State government will terminate, and when the officers elected under the new constitution will qualify and enter upon their duties," and to state, in reply, that the fifth section of the law of March 2, 1867, "to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," directs that when the constitution shall have been ratified by the people of the State, and "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 the said constitution, shall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the United States proposed by the thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article 14; and when said article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the United States, said State shall be declared to be entitled to representation in Congress, and senators and representatives shall be admitted therefrom upon taking the oath prescribed by law." The sixth section of the same law enacts "that until the people of said rebel States shall be by law admitted to representation in the Congress of the United States, any civil government which may exist therein shall be 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 elec tions to any office under such provisional governments all persons shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who are entitled to vote under the fifth section of this act; and no person 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." It will be seen that the government organized under the new constitution remains provisional not only until Congress shall have approved that constitution, but until the legislature shall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, known as article 14, and that article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the United States, and the State shall by law be admitted to representation in Congress. It is very desirable that the organization of the new government should take place as soon as practicable after the approval of the constitution by Congress; that the retirement of the old and the installation of the new executive officers should take place at the same time, and in a formal and regular manner. It is presumed that Congress will act speedily upon the question of approving the constitution that has been submitted, and that it will fix the date when the executive officers elected under it shall enter upon their duties. If this should not be done, the duty of fixing the date will devolve upon the district commander, and I propose, in the order announcing the results of the election, to designate the tenth day after the approval of the constitution by Congress as the day on which the duties of the provisional officers of the executive district of the present State government will terminate, and when the corresponding officers elected under the new constitution will enter upon their duties. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, ED. R. S. CANBY, Brevet Major General, Commanding. His Excellency JAMES L. ORR, Official copy: LOUIS V. CAZIARC, A. D. C. and A. A. A. G. [General Orders No. 66.] HEADQUARTErs Second MILITARY DISTRICT, It is hereby ordered that all resignations of civil offices, tendered either to the military or civil authorities of North Carolina or South Carolina, shall not take effect or relieve the officer tendering the same from his responsibility for a due discharge of the duties of his office until the acceptance thereof is officially notified, and a successor to such office has been duly appointed and qualified. By command of Brevet Major General Ed. R. S. Canby: LOUIS V. CAZIARC, A. D. C. and A. A. A. G. * * 66 Under the provisions of the constitution, the general assembly of the State elected thereunder shall meet on the 15th day after the approval thereof (the constitution) by the Congress of the United States, if it fall not on Sunday; but if it should so fall, then on the next day thereafter." (Article II, section 29.) The officers of the executive department of the State, "first elected, shall assume their duties 10 days after the approval of this constitution by the Congress of the United States." (Article III, section 1.) (Arti The term of office of all officers of the judicial department "shall begin upon the approval of this constitution by the Congress of the United States." cle IV, section 32.) The county officers provided for and elected "shall enter upon their duties 10 days after the approval of this constitution by the Congress of the United States." (Article VII, section 10.) But in order that there may be no confusion, delay, or failure in the administration of justice or other governmental functions, and to insure the safety of public property, the solicitors of judicial circuits, clerks of courts, sheriffs, coroners, and other executive officers charged with active administration duties, or with the care of public records, or the custody of public moneys or public property, will not be relieved from responsibility for the due discharge of the duties of their offices until their successors are duly qualified. It is made the duty of commanders of posts, within the limits of their respective jurisdiction, to see that the officers elect who are able to qualify under the Constitution and laws of the United States and the constitution and laws of the State, and have so qualified, are duly installed in the offices to which they have been elected and as above prescribed. Under the requirements of the ninth section of the law of July 23, 1867, amendatory of the law of March 2, 1867, "to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," the officers elect, both of the legislative and executive departments, will, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of their offices, take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the law of July 2, 1862, "to prescribe an oath of office, and for other purposes." This oath will be taken in duplicate; one to be filed in the office of the secretary of state for the State of North Carolina, and the other to be forwarded to district headquarters. If any of the State officers elected under the new constitution are disqualified by the third section of the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, known as Article XIV, or are unable to take the oath prescribed by the |