"AN ACT

"TO AMEND THE ACT PASSED MARCH TWENTY-THREE, Eighteen hundred AND SIXTY-SEVEN, ENTITLED 'AN ACT SUPPLEMENTARY TO "AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE MORE EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT OF THE REBEL STATES," PASSED MARCH two, eighteEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN, AND TO FACILITATE THEIR RESTORATION.'

"Be it enacted, etc., That hereafter any election authorized by the aet passed March 23, 1867, entitled 'An Act supplementary to "An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," passed March 2, 1867, and to facilitate their restoration,' shall be decided by a majority of the votes actually cast; and at the election in which the question of the adoption or rejection of any constitution is submitted, any person duly registered in the State may vote in the election district where he offers to vote when he has resided therein for ten days next preceding such election, upon presentation of his certificate of registration, his affidavit, or other satisfactory evidence, under such regulations as the district commanders may prescribe.

"SEC. 2. That the constitutional convention of any of the States mentioned in the acts to which this is amendatory may provide that at the time of voting upon the ratification of the constitution, the registered voters may vote also for members of the House of Representatives of the United States, and for all elective officers provided for by the said constitution; and the same election officers, who shall make the return of the votes cast on the ratification or rejection of the constitution, shall enumerate and certify the votes cast for members of Congress."

The first of these bills the President vetoed, and Congress then passed it over his veto, and the other became a law by his neglect to notice it.

CHAPTER XV.

TENURE-OF-OFFICE ACT-OPINIONS FOR AND AGAINST THE PRESIDENT-RECONSTRUCTION STRUGGLES THE PARTIES THE OLD CAST-MERE FOLITICIANS COME TO THE FRONT.

THE

HE following is the famous Civil Tenure Bill, vetoed by President Johnson in a characteristic message, dated March 2, 1867

"AN ACT REGULATING THE TENURE OF CERTAIN CIVIL OFFICES.

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That every person holding any civil office to which he has been appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and every person who shall hereafter be appointed to any such office, and shall become duly qualified to act therein, is, and shall be, entitled to hold such office until a successor shall have been in like manner appointed and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise provided: Provided, that the Secretaties of State, of the Treasury, of War, of the Navy, and of the Interior, the Postmaster-General, and the Attorney-General, shall hold their offices respectively for and during the term of the President by whom they may have been appointed, and for one month thereafter, subject to removal by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

ex

"SEC. 2. That when any officer appointed as aforesaid, cepting judges of the United States courts, shall, during the recess of the Senate, be shown, by evidence satisfactory to the President, to be guilty of misconduct in office, or crime, or for any reason shall become incapable or legally disqualified to perform its duties, in such case, and in no other, the President may

suspend such officer, and designate some suitable person to perform temporarily the duties of such office until the next meeting of the Senate, and until the case shall be acted upon by the Senate; and such person, so designated, shall take the oaths. and give the bonds required by law to be taken and given by the person duly appointed to fill such office; and in such case it shall be the duty of the President, within twenty days after the first day of such next meeting of the Senate, to report to the Senate such suspension, with the evidence and reasons for his action in the case, and the name of the person so designated to perform the duties of such office. And if the Senate shall concur in such suspension, and advise and consent to the removal of such officer, they shall so certify to the President, who may thereupon remove such officer, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint another person to such office. But if the Senate shall refuse to concur in such suspension, such officer so suspended shall forthwith resume the functions of his office, and the powers of the person so performing its duties in his stead shall cease, and the official salary and emoluments of such officer shall, during such suspension, belong to the person so performing the duties thereof, and not to the officer so suspended: Provided, however, that the President, in case he shall become satisfied that such suspension was made on insufficient grounds, shall be authorized, at any time before reporting such suspension to the Senate as above provided, to revoke such suspension and reinstate such officer in the performance of the duties of his office.

"SEC. 3. That the President shall have power to fill all vacancies which may happen during the recess of the Senate, by reason of death or resignation, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session thereafter. And if no appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall be made to such office so vacant or temporarily filled as aforesaid during such next session of the Senate, such office shall remain in abeyance without any salary, fees, or emoluments, attached thereto, until the same shall be filled by appointment thereto, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and during such time all the powers and duties belonging to such office shall be exercised by such other officer

as may by law exercise such powers and duties in case of a vacancy in such office.

"SEC. 4. That nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to extend the term of any office the duration of which is limited by law.

"SEC. 5. That if any person shall, contrary to the provisions of this Act, accept an appointment to or employment in any office, or shall hold or exercise, or attempt to hold or exercise, any such office or employment, he shall be deemed, and is hereby declared to be, guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon trial and conviction thereof, he shall be punished therefor by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by impris onment not exceeding five years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.

"SEC. 6. That every removal, appointment, or employment made, had, or exercised, contrary to the provisions of this Act, and the making, signing, sealing, countersigning, or issuing of any commission or letter of authority for or in respect to any such appointment or employment, shall be deemed, and are hereby declared to be, high misdemeanors, and, upon trial and conviction thereof, every person guilty thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court: Provided, that the President shall have power to make out and deliver, after the adjournment of the Senate, commissions for all officers whose appointment shall have been advised and consented to by the Senate.

"SEC. 7. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Senate, at the close of each session thereof, to deliver to the Secretary of the Treasury, and to each of his assistants, and to each of the Auditors, and to each of the Comptrollers in the Treasury, and to the Treasurer, and to the Register of the Treasury, a full and complete list, duly certified, of all persons who shall have been nominated to and rejected by the Senate. during such session, and a like list of all the offices to which nominations shall have been made and not confirmed and filled at such session.

"SEC. 8. That whenever the President shall, without the advice and consent of the Senate, designate, authorize, or employ

any person to perform the duties of any office, he shall forthwith notify the Secretary of the Treasury thereof, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury thereupon to communicate such notice to all the proper accounting and disburs ing officers of his Department.

"SEC. 9. That no money shall be paid or received from the treasury, or paid or received from or retained out of any public moneys or funds of the United States, whether in the treasury or not, to or by or for the benefit of any person appointed to, or authorized to act in, or holding or exercising the duties or functions of any office contrary to the provisions of this Act; nor shall any claim, account, voucher, order, certificate, warrant, or other instrument, providing for or relating to such payment, receipt, or retention, be presented, passed, allowed, approved, certified, or paid by any officer of the United States, or by any person exercising the functions or performing the duties of any office or place of trust under the United States, for or in respect to such office, or the exercising or performing the functions or duties thereof; and every person who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon trial and conviction thereof, shall be punished therefor by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court."

On the same day the President vetoed this bill, it was repassed and became a law. This remarkable piece of legislation was necessary now, after all that had been done, to prevent any vicious act on the part of the Executive toward obstructing the plans of Congress in the work of reconstruction. It certainly had no other object, and denoted how clearly were separated these two chief branches of the Government, and how little confidence Congress had in the President. This was the most humiliating thrust yet made at Mr. Johnson, but his mes