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It will be my endeavor to execute all laws in | good faith, to collect all revenues assessed, and to have them properly accounted for and economically disbursed. I will, to the best of my ability, appoint to office those only who will carry out this design.

In regard to foreign policy, I would deal with nations as equitable law requires individuals to deal with each other, and I would protect the law-abiding citizen, whether of native or foreign birth, wherever his rights are jeopardized or the flag of our country floats. I would respect the rights of all nations, demanding equal respect for our own. If others depart from this rule in their dealings with us, we may be compelled to follow their precedent.

The proper treatment of the original occupants of this land, the Indians, is one deserving of careful study. I will favor any course toward them which tends to their civilization and ultimate citizenship.

The question of suffrage is one which is likely to agitate the public so long as a portion of the citizens of the nation are excluded from its privileges in any State. It seems to me very desirable that this question should be settled now, and I entertain the hope and express the desire that it may be by the ratification of the fifteenth article of amendment to the Constitution.

In conclusion, I ask patient forbearance one toward another throughout the land, and a determined effort on the part of every citizen to do his share toward cementing a happy Union, and I ask the prayers of the nation to Almighty God in behalf of this consummation.

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To the Senate and House of Representatives: While I am aware that the time in which Congress proposes now to remain in session is very brief, and that it is its desire, as far as is consistent with the public interest, to avoid entering upon the general business of legislation, there is one subject which concerns so deeply the welfare of the country that I deem it my duty to bring it before you.

I have no doubt that you will concur with me in the opinion that it is desirable to restore the States which were engaged in the rebellion to their proper relations to the Government and the country at as early a period as the people of those States shall be found willing to become peaceful and orderly communities, and to adopt and maintain such constitutions and laws as will effectually secure the civil and political rights of all persons within their borders. The authority of the United States, which has been vindicated and established by its military power, must undoubtedly be asserted for the absolute protec on of all its citizens in the full enjoyment of the freedom and security which is the object of a republican government. But whenever the people of a rebellious State are ready to enter in good faith upon the accomplishment of this object, in entire conformity with the consti tutional authority of Congress, it is certainly desirable that all causes of irritation should be

removed as promptly as possible, that a more perfect union may be established, and the country be restored to peace and prosperity.

The convention of the people of Virginia which met in Richmond on Tuesday, December 3, 1867, framed a constitution for that State, which was adopted by the convention on the 17th of April, 1868, and I desire respectfully to call the attention of Congress to the propriety of providing by law for the holding of an election in that State at some time during the months of May and June next, under the direction of the military commander of that district, at which the question of the adoption of that constitution shall be submitted to the citizens of the State; and if this should seem desirable, I would recommend that a separate vote be taken upon such parts as may be thought expedient, and that at the same time and under the same authority there shall be an election for the officers provided under such constitution, and that the constitution, or such parts thereof as shall have been adopted by the people, be submitted to Congress on the first Monday of December next for its consideration, so that if the same is then approved the necessary steps will have been taken for the restoration of the State of Virginia to its proper relations to the Union. I am led to make this recommendation from the confident hope and belief that the people of that State are now ready to co-operate with the national government in bringing it again into such relations to the Union as it ought as soon as possible to establish and maintain and to give to all its people those equal rights under the law which were asserted in the Declaration of Independence in the words of one of the most illustrious of its sons.

I desire also to ask the consideration of Congress to the question whether there is not just ground for believing that the constitution framed by a convention of the people of Mississippi for that State, and once rejected,* might not be again submitted to the people of that State in like manner, and with the probability of the same result. U. S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, D. C., April 7, 1869.

Final Certificate of Mr. Secretary Seward respecting the Ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, July 28, 1868. BY WILLIAM H. SEWARD, SECRETARY OF STATE OF

THE UNITED STATES.

To all to whom these presents may come, greeting: Whereas by an act of Congress passed on the 20th of April, 1818, entitled An act to provide for the publication of the laws of the United States and for other purposes," it is declared, that whenever official notice shall have been received at the Department of State that any amendment which heretofore has been and hereafter may be proposed to the Constitution of the United States has been adopted according to the provisions of the Constitution, it shall be the duty of the said Secretary of State forthwith to cause the said amendment to be published in the newspapers authorized to promulgate the laws,

*The vote was taken June 22, 1868, and, as transmitted

by Gen. Gillem, was as follows: For the constitution, 56,231; against it, 63,860. Number of registered voters, 155,351.

with his certificate, specifying the States by | neither the United States nor any State shall which the same may have been adopted, and assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred that the same has become valid to all intents in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the and purposes as a part of the Constitution of the United States, or any claim for the loss or emanUnited States; cipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

And whereas the Congress of the United States, on or about the 16th day of June, 1866, submitted to the legislatures of the several States a proposed amendment to the Constitution in the following words, to wit:

JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both Houses concurring.) That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by threefourths of said legislatures, shall be valid as part of the Constitution, namely:

ARTICLE XIV.

SEC. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the States wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. SEC. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

SEC. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President. or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrec. tion or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House remove such disability.

SEC 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But

SEC. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. SCHUYLER COLFAX,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.
LA FAYETTE S. FOSTER,
President of the Senate pro tempore.

Attest:

EDWD. MCPHERSON,

Clerk of the House of Representatives. J. W. FORNEY,

Secretary of the Senate.

And whereas the Senate and House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, on the 21st day of July, 1868, adopted and transmitted to the Department of State a concurrent resolution, which concurrent resolution is in the words and figures following, to wit:

IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, July 21, 1868. Whereas the Legislatures of the States of Connecticut, Tennessee, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, West Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Maine, Iowa, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina, and Louisiana, being three-fourths and more of the several States of the Union, have ratified tha fourteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States, duly proposed by two-thirds of each House of the Thirty-Ninth Congress; therefore,

Resolved by the Senate, (the House of Repre sentatives concurring.) That said fourteenth article is hereby declared to be a part of the Constitution of the United States, and it shall be duly promulgated as such by the Secretary of State. GEORGE C. GORHAM, Secretary.

Attest:

And whereas official notice has been received at the Department of State that the legislatures of the several States next hereinafter named have, at the times respectively herein mentioned, taken the proceedings hereinafter recited upon or in relation to the ratification of the said proposed amendment, called article fourteenth, namely:

The Legislature of Connecticut ratified the amendment June 30, 1866; the Legislature of New Hampshire ratified it July 7, 1866; the Legislature of Tennessee ratified it July 19, 1866; the Legislature of New Jersey ratified it September 11, 1866, and the Legislature of the same State passed a resolution in April, 1868, to withdraw the consent to it; the Legislature of Oregon ratified it September 19, 1866; the Legislature of Texas rejected it November 1, 1866; the Legislature of Vermont ratified it on or previous to November 9, 1866; the Legislature of Georgia rejected it November 13, 1866, and the Legisla

ture of the same State ratified it July 21, 1868;| the Legislature of North Carolina rejected it December 4, 1866, and the Legislature of the same

Done at the city of Washington, this 28th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1868, and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety

third.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State. [For previous certificates see Manual of 1868, p. 121, or Hand-Book of Politics, p. 379.]

President Johnson's Proclamation of General
Amnesty, December 25, 1868.

Whereas the President of the United States

has heretofore set forth several proclamations, offering amnesty and pardon to persons who had been or were concerned in the late rebellion against the lawful authority of the Government of the United States, which proclamations were severally issued on the 8th day of December, 1863, on the 26th day of March, 1864, on the 29th day of May, 1865, on the 7th day of September, 1867, and on the 4th day of July, in the present year;

State ratified it July 4, 1868; the Legislature of [SEAL.] South Carolina rejected it December 20, 1866, and the Legislature of the same State ratified it July 9, 1868; the Legislature of Virginia rejected it January 9, 1867; the Legislature of Kentucky rejected it January 10, 1867; the Legislature of New York ratified it January 10, 1867; the Legislature of Ohio ratified it January 11, 1867, and the Legislature of the same State passed a resolution in January, 1868, to withdraw its consent to it; the Legislature of Illinois ratified it January 15, 1867; the Legislature of West Virginia ratified it January 16, 1867; the Legislature of Kansas ratified it January 18, 1867; the Legislature of Maine ratified it January 19, 1867; the Legislature of Nevada ratified it January 22, 1867; the Legislature of Missouri ratified it on or previous to January 26, 1867; the Legislature of Indiana ratified it January 29, 1867; the Legislature of Minnesota ratified it February 1, 1867; the Legislature of Rhode Island ratified it February 7, 1867; the Legislature And whereas the authority of the federal govof Delaware rejected it February 7, 1867; the ernment having been re-established in all the Legislature of Wisconsin ratified it February 13, States and Territories within the jurisdiction of 1867; the Legislature of Pennsylvania ratified the United States, it is believed that such it February 13, 1867; the Legislature of Michi- prudential reservations and exceptions as of gan ratified it February 15, 1867; the Legisla- the dates of said several proclamations were ture of Massachusetts ratified it March 20, 1867; deemed necessary and proper may now be wisely the Legislature of Maryland rejected it March and justly relinquished, and that a universal 23, 1867; the Legislature of Nebraska ratified it amnesty and pardon for participation in said June 15, 1867; the Legislature of Iowa ratified rebellion extended to all who have borne any it April 3, 1868; the Legislature of Arkansas rati-part therein will tend to secure permanent peace, fied it April 6, 1868; the Legislature of Florida ratified it June 9, 1868; the Legislature of Louisiana ratified it July 9, 1868; and the Legislature of Alabama ratified it July 13, 1868.

order, and prosperity throughout the land, and to renew and fully restore confidence and fraternal feeling among the whole people, and their respect and attachment to the national government, designed by its patriotic founders for general good:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, William H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, in execution of the aforesaid act, and of Now, therefore, be it known that I, ANDREW the aforesaid concurrent resolution of the 21st JOHNSON, President of the United States, by virof July, 1868, and in conformance thereto, do tue of the power and authority in me vested by hereby direct the said proposed amendment to the Constitution, and in the name of the soverthe Constitution of the United States to be pub-eign people of the United States, do hereby prolished in the newspapers authorized to promul- claim and declare unconditionally, and without gate the laws of the United States, and I do reservation, to all and to every person who dihereby certify that the said proposed amend-rectly or indirectly participated in the late insurment has been adopted in the manner hereinbefore mentioned by the States specified in the said concurrent resolution, namely, the States of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Tennessee, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, New York, Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and also by the Legislature of the State of Georgia; the States thus specified being more than three-fourths of the States of the United

States.

And I do further certify, that the said amendment has become valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitution of the United States.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Department of State to be affixed.

rection or rebellion, a full pardon and amnesty for the offence of treason against the United States, or of adhering to their enemies during the late civil war, with restoration of all rights, privileges, and immunities under the Constitution and the laws which have been made in pursuance thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed these presents with my hand, and have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Done at the city of Washington, the 25th day of December, in the year of our Lord United States of America the ninety1868, and of the independence of the

[SEAL.]

third.

By the President:

F. W. SEWARD,

ANDREW JOHNSON.

Acting Secretary of State.

[For previous proclamations of amnesty, see Manual of 1867, p. 9; Manual of 1868, pp. 82-84, or Hand-Book of Politics, pp. 9, 342-344.]

Message Respecting this Proclamation, January | bellion against the same, or given aid or com

19, 1869.

To the Senate of the United States:

The resolution adopted on the 5th instant, requesting the President to transmit to the Senate a copy of any proclamation of amnesty made by him since the last adjournment of Congress, and also to communicate to the Senate by what authority of law the same was made," has been received.

I accordingly transmit herewith a copy of a proclamation dated the 25th day of December last. The authority of law by which it was made is set forth in the proclamation itself, which expressly affirms that it was issued "by virtue of the power and authority in me vested by the Constitution and in the name of the sovereign people of the United States," and proclaims and declares "unconditionally, and without reservation, to all and to every person who directly or indirectly participated in the late insurrection or rebellion, a full pardon and amnesty for the offence of treason against the United States, or of adhering to their enemies during the late civil war, with restoration of all rights, privileges, and immunities under the Constitution, and the laws which have been made in pursuance thereof."

The federal Constitution is understood to be, and is regarded by the Executive, as the supreme law of the land. The second section of article second of that instrument provides that the President "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." The proclamation of the 25th ultimo is in strict accordance with the judicial expositions of the authority thus conferred upon the Executive, and, as will be seen by reference to the accompanying papers, is in conformity with the precedent established by Washington in 1795, and followed by President Adams in 1800, Madison in 1815, and Lincoln in 1863, and by the present Executive in 1865, 1867, and 1868.

ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, D. C., January 18, 1869. President Grant's Proclamation for the Election in Virginia, May 14, 1869.

In pursuance of the provisions of the act of Congress approved April 10, 1869, I hereby designate the 6th day of July, 1869, as the time for submitting the constitution passed by the convention which met in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday, the 3d day of December, 1867, to the voters of said State registered at the date of such submission, viz., July 6, 1869, for ratification or rejection.

And I submit to a separate vote the fourth clause of section 1, article III, of said constitution, which is in the following words:

Every person who has been a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of President or Vice-President, or who held any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, shall have engaged in insurrection or re

fort to the enemies thereof. This clause shall include the following officers: Governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of State, auditor of public accounts, second auditor, register of the land office, State treasurer, attorney general, sheriffs, sergeant of a city or town, commissioner of the revenue, county surveyor, constables, overseers of the poor, commissioner of the board of public works, judges of the supreme court, judges of the circuit court, judge of the court of hustings, justices of the county courts, mayor, recorder, aldermen, councilmen of a city or town, coroners, escheators, inspectors of tobacco, flour, &c., and clerks of the supreme, district, circuit, and county courts, and of the court of hustings, and attorneys for the Commonwealth; provided that the legislature may, by a vote of three-fifths of both houses, remove the disabilities incurred by this clause from any person included therein by a separate vote in each case.

And I also submit to a separate vote the 7th section of article III of the said constitution, which is in the words following:

In addition to the foregoing oath of office, the governor, lieutenant governor, members of the General Assembly, Secretary of State, auditor of public accounts, State treasurer, attorney general, and all persons elected to any convention to frame a constitution for this State, or to amend or revise this constitution in any manner, and the mayor and council in any city or town shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe to the following oath or affirmation, provided the disabilities therein contained may be individually removed by a three-fifths vote of the General Assembly: "I, -, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have never sought or accepted, or attempted to exercise, the functions of any office whatever under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power or constitution within the United States hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that to the best of my knowledge and ability I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God." The above oath shall also be taken by all the city and county officers before entering upon their duties, and by all other State officers not included in the above provision.

I direct the vote to be taken upon each of the above-cited provisions alone, and upon the other portions of the said constitution in the following manner, viz.:

Each voter favoring the ratification of the con

stitution (excluding the provisions above quoted) | do hereby declare and proclaim, that on and

as framed by the convention of December 3, 1867, shall express his judgment by voting

FOR THE CONSTITUTION.

Each voter favoring the rejection of the constitution (excluding the provisions above quoted) shall express his judgment by voting

AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION.

Each voter will be allowed to cast a separate ballot for or against either or both of the provisions above quoted.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 14th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1869, [SEAL.] and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety-third. U. S. GRANT.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.

Respecting Wages of Labor, May 19, 1869. Whereas the act of Congress, approved June 25, 1868, constituted on and after that date eight hours a day's work for all laborers, workmen, and mechanics employed by or on behalf of the Government of the United States, and repealed all acts and parts of acts inconsistent therewith: Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby direct that, from and after this date, no reduction shall be made in the wages paid by the Government by the day to such laborers, workmen, and mechanics on account of such reduction of the hours of labor. In testimony whereof I have hereto set my

hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of May, in the year of Lord 1869, and [SEAL.] of the independence of the United States the ninety-third.

By the President:

U. S. GRANT.

HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.

Relative to Duties upon Merchandize in French Vessels, June 12, 1869.

Whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by me from his majesty the Emperor of France, through the Count Faverney, his chargé d'affaires, that on and after this date the discriminating duties heretofore levied in French ports upon merchandize imported from the countries of its origin in vessels of the United States are to be discontinued and abolished:

Now, therefore, I, U. S. Grant, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by an act of Congress of the 7th day of January, 1824, and by an act in addition thereto of the 24th day of May, 1828,

after this date, so long as merchandize imported from countries of its origin into French ports in vessels belonging to citizens of the United States is admitted into French ports on the terms aforesaid, the discriminating duties heretofore levied upon merchandize imported from the countries of its origin into ports of the United States in French vessels shall be, and are hereby, discontinued and abolished.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1869, and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety-third. U. S. GRANT.

[SEAL.]

By the President:

HAMILTON FISI,

Secretary of State.

The following is the official notification containing the evidence upon which the foregoing proclamation was issued:

[Translation.]

LEGATION OF FRANCE TO THE U. S.,

WASHINGTON, June 12, 1869. MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: In conformity with the desire expressed in the note addressed by you to M. Berthemy, of the 19th of March last, I have requested of the Emperor's government to be informed by telegraphic dispatch of the abolition of discriminating duties on merchandize imported into France from the countries of its origin in American vessels.

I have the honor to send you herewith a copy of the notice which I have just received on this subject from his excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This shows that discriminating duties upon merchandize imported into the empire under the American flag have been abolished from and after the 12th of June, 1869. Consequently, pursuant to what has been agreed between us, I pray your excellency to have the goodness to take the necessary measures in order that reciprocal treatment may at once be granted France by the Government of the United States. Accept, Mr. Secretary of State, the assurances of my high consideration.

To Hon. HAMILTON FISH,

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COUNT DE FAVERNEY. Secretary of State.

[Translation.]

RECEIVED IN WASHINGTON JUNE 12.

To the Chargé d'Affaires of France, Washington: Discriminating duties on merchandize imported from the countries of its origin in American vessels have this day been discontinued in the ports of the empire. Ask for reciprocity.

PARIS.

THE MINISTER for Foreign Affairs.

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