This artful trick rendered it necessary to summon Congress to meet on the 4th of July, 1867, and they promptly passed another supplementary Reconstruction Act, in terms so plain and unmistakable that even the Attorney-General could not subvert its meaning, and the execution of the act was conferred on the General-in-chief and the commanders of the military districts, instead of the President. This act was passed July 13, in the Senate by a vote of 31 to 6; in the House by 111 to 23. Mr. Johnson vetoed it (of course) on the 19th of July, and it was at once passed over the veto; in the Senate by a vote of 30 to 6, in the House by 100 to 22. The bill was as follows:—
“Sec. 1. That it is hereby declared to have been the true intent and meaning of the Act of the 2d day of March, 1867, entitled ‘An Act to provide for the more efficient Government of the Rebel States,’ and the act supplementary thereto, passed the 23d of March, 1867, that the governments then existing in the Rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas, were not legal State governments; and that thereafter said governments, if continued, were to be continued subject in all respects to the military commanders of the respective districts, and to the paramount authority of Congress.
“Sec. 2. That the commander of any district named in said act shall have power, subject to the disapproval of the General of the army of the United States, and to have effect until disapproved, whenever, in the opinion of such commander, the proper administration of said act shall require it, to suspend or remove from office, or from the performance of official duties, and the exercise of official powers, any officer or person holding or exercising, or professing to hold or exercise, any civil or military office or duty in such district, under any power, election, appointment, or authority derived from, or granted by, or claimed under, any so-called State, or the government thereof, or any municipal or other division thereof; and upon such suspension or removal such commander, subject to the approval of the General as aforesaid, shall have power to provide from time to time for the performance of the said duties of such officer or person so suspended or removed, by the detail of some competent officer or soldier of the army, or by the appointment of some other person to perform the same, and to fill vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise.
“Sec. 3. That the General of the army of the United States shall be invested with all the powers of suspension, removal, appointment, and detaching, granted in the preceding section to district commanders.
“Sec. 4. That the acts of the officers of the army, already done in removing in said districts persons exercising the functions of civil officers, and appointing others in their stead, are hereby confirmed; provided that any persons heretofore or hereafter appointed by any district commander to exercise the functions of any civil office may be removed either by the military officer in command of the district, or by the general of the army, and it shall be the duty of such commander to remove from office, as aforesaid, all persons who are disloyal to the government of the United States, or who use their official influence in any manner to hinder, delay, prevent or obstruct the due and proper administration of this act and the acts to which it is supplementary.
“Sec. 5. That the boards of registration provided for in the act entitled ‘An Act supplementary to an Act entitled “An Act to provide for the more efficient Government of the Rebel States,” passed March 2, 1867, and to facilitate Restoration,” passed March 23, 1867, shall have power, and it shall be their duty, before allowing the registration of any person, to ascertain, upon such facts or information as they can obtain, whether such person is entitled to be registered under said act, and the oath required by said act shall not be conclusive on such question; and no person shall be registered unless such board shall decide that he is entitled thereto; and such board shall also have power to examine under oath, to be administered by any member of such board, any one touching the qualification of any person claiming registration; but in every case of refusal by the board to register an applicant, and in every case of striking his name from the list, as hereinafter provided, the board shall make a note or memorandum, which shall be returned with the registration list to the commanding general of the district, setting forth the ground of such refusal or such striking from the list: Provided, that no person shall be disqualified as a member of any board of registration by reason of race or color.
“Sec. 6. That the true intent and meaning of the oath presented in said supplementary act is (among other things), that no person who has been a member of the legislature of any State, or who has held any executive or judicial office in any State, whether he has taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States or not, and whether he was holding such office at the commencement of the rebellion or had held it before, and who has afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof, is entitled to be registered or vote; and the words ‘executive or judicial’ office in any State, in said oath mentioned, shall be construed to include all civil offices created by law for the administration of any general law of a State, or for the administration of justice.
“Sec. 7. That the time for completing the original registration provided for in any act may, in the discretion of the commander of any district, be extended to the 1st day of October, 1867; and the board of registration shall have power, and it shall be their duty, commencing fourteen days prior to any election under said act, and upon reasonable public notice of the time and place thereof, to revise for a period of five days the registration lists, and upon being satisfied that any person not entitled thereto has been registered, to strike the name of such person from the list, and such person shall not be allowed to vote. And such board shall also, during the same period, add to each registry the names of all persons who at that time possess the qualifications required by said act, who have not been already registered, and no person shall at any time be entitled to be registered or to vote by reason of any executive pardon or amnesty, for any act or thing which, without such pardon or amnesty, would disqualify him from registration or voting.
“Sec. 8. That all members of said boards of registration, and all persons hereafter elected or appointed to office in said military districts under any so-called State or municipal authority, or by detail or appointment of the district commander, shall be required to take and subscribe to the oath of office prescribed by law for the officers of the United States.
“Sec. 9. That no district commander or member of the board of registration, or any officer or appointee acting under them, shall be bound in his action by any opinion of any civil officer of the United States.