The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.

Union States in 1865, Part 2: Maine through Michigan

MAINE. The Legislature of Maine convened at Augusta on January 4, 1865, and was organized by the choice of Republican officers in both branches. On the succeeding day Governor Cony was inaugurated, and delivered his message to the Legislature. Among the measures recommended by him, were the necessity of an organized State militia, the assumption by the United States of all the State debts incurred for the national defence, and the abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty with Great Britain, which he alleged had proved detrimental to the lumber and agricultural interests of the State.

The funded debt of Maine on January 1,1866, was $5,164,500, as against $699,500 on January 1, 1861, the increase, amounting to $4,465,000, being due altogether to extraordinary expenses growing out of the war. The expenditures for war purposes since 1861 amount to $7,357,572, of which the sum of $4,578,636 was paid for bounties. The amount advanced by cities and towns for aid to families of soldiers to January 1, 1865, was $1,599,536, which has been for the most part refunded by the State. To this is to be added the estimated sum of $400,000 advanced in 1865, which was provided for by the tax bill of that year. Deducting $320,000 refunded by the United States, the amount expended by the State for the support of the war, reaches $7,037,572. Large claims for money expended in behalf of the National Government are still outstanding, and will be pressed for settlement at an early day. Beyond the above amounts, the cities and towns of the State are in debt not less than $6,556,183 for bounties. The aggregate of expenditures by the people of Maine for the support of the national cause amounts to $14,093,572, for which they owe about $12,000,000. During 1805, bonds of the State to the amount of $100,500 were purchased for the sinking fund, at from four to five per cent, discount. The total outlay of the State in 1865 was $2,872,080, of which the sum of $325,113 represented the entire cost of the civil department. The Legislature adopted the policy in that year of resorting to heavy taxation instead of loans for meeting the annual expenditures. The result was, that the credit of the State remained unimpaired, and $1,000,000 borrowed in anticipation of the taxes was obtained on terms as favorable, within one or two per cent., as the United States 7.30 loan with its higher rate of interest and exemption from taxation. In accordance with a resolution of the Legislature of 1865, adopted before the conclusion of the war, the $355,000 of scrip for soldiers' bounties, payable February 1, 1807, was issued in the course of the year. The State tax for 1866, it was estimated, would be reduced $1,200,000, or about 50 per cent, as compared with 1865.

The troops furnished by Maine to the national forces during the late war comprised three regiments of cavalry, one regiment of heavy artillery, seven batteries of light artillery, thirty-one regiments of infantry, seven companies of sharpshooters, thirty companies of infantry mustered into regimental organizations, and seven companies Page 523 of coast guards. These, with the recruits constantly sent to reenforce the ranks in the field, and the naval enlistments, formed an aggregate of 71,558 men, being more than one tenth the population of the State. At the commencement of 1866, there still remained in the service five regiments and one battalion of infantry. Of the numbers above given 8,446, nearly one-eighth of the whole force, perished either on the battle field or from wounds or disease; and 6,642 were mustered out for disabilities resulting from casualties occurring in service or from sickness. No measures have yet been taken by the Legislature to afford permanent State aid to soldiers disabled in the Avar, although the subject has been recommended to its attention by the Governor.

The political campaign for 1865 opened on August 10th with the meeting of the Republican Convention at Portland. Samuel Cony was renominated for Governor by an almost unanimous vote, and a series of resolutions were adopted, of which the most important were the following:

Resolved, That the citizens of Maine renew their emphatic endorsement of the principles and measures of the administration of Abraham Lincoln, who was stricken down by assassination, for his signal devotion to human freedom and the American Union, and that this Convention expresses its entire confidence in the honesty, integrity, and patriotism of President Andrew Johnson, believing him to be sincerely desirous of restoring the just rights of all parties, and in behalf of the Union citizens of Maine we pledge to him our cordial support in the great work of securing national restoration and equality of human rights and an enduring peace.

Resolved, That if, in attempting to reorganize any State and restore it to the Union, it should be found that the character of the people is such as to render them unsafe depositors of a free republican Government, it is the duty of the United States to hold such State under a provisional government until all its inhabitants shall furnish satisfactory evidence of loyalty and attachment to free State institutions, and a sincere disposition to secure all loyal persons in their States equal political rights.

Resolved, That in reorganizing the States lately in rebellion, it is the right as well as the duty of the national authorities to demand as a condition precedent to their resuming the exercise of their political power, that they shall ratify the Constitutional Amendment abolishing slavery, that they shall remove all the disabilities which, under that system, attach to another class on account of color, and secure to all loyal persons perfect equality before the law.

Resolved, That we earnestly endorse the sentiment of President Johnson that the American people must be taught, if they do not already understand, that treason is a crime and must be punished, and we believe that now is the time, if ever, when the law against treason should be enforced; that those who have controlled that treasonable organization lately known as the "Confederate civil and military government," have committed that crime under circumstances of the most aggravated atrocity, and that they should be made an example of, which shall in all coming time deter others from committing the like crime Resolved, That in administering the law of treason, principals in crime should be made the first and prominent objects of punishment; and until Jefferson Davis and other rebel chiefs are tried and punished, little good will be accomplished by trying and punching the men who have been only their instruments.

Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States should be so amended as to secure equality and uniformity of the right of suffrage and representation of the several States in the National Congress.

Resolved, That the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, the enlistment and efficient service of more than 100,000 colored troops in the army of the United States, the good faith maintained by the whole race amidst treason and the most threatening dangers, the acts of Congress giving them pay and rank with white officers and soldiers, and the post of danger and honor assigned those troops in some of the most desperate battles fought against the rebels during the war, have pledged the national honor that these people shall be free in fact, as they are in name, and that there shall be conferred on them all the political rights of freemen, and that this great pledge, so officially and solemnly made by the Government, the people of these United States will redeem. The following additional resolution was proposed, but rejected:

Resolved, That all tests, disabilities, and discriminations based on color or race are unjust, anti-republican, and pernicious, and ought to be prohibited by a constitutional amendment. The Democratic Convention met at the same place on August 15th, and renominated for Governor Hon. James Howard, of Portland, who had been their candidate in the previous year. The following are the most important of the resolutions adopted:

Resolved, As within the scope of sound constitutional principles and to reestablish at the earliest practicable period, it is the duty of the Federal Government acting with as little executive and legislative interference as possible, to observe the true constitutional relations between itself and the revolted States, and to execute all legitimate power and influence to promote and perpetuate that universal harmony, fraternity, and unity, which are essential to the peace, happiness, and glory of the republic, now destined to be "one and indivisible" forever.

Resolved, That the Democracy of Maine do here reassert and declare their fundamental principles of action to be equal and exact justice to all men of whatever State or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none; the support of the State Governments in all their rights as the most competent administration of our domestic concerns and the honest bulwark against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and our safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people; a mild and safe correction of abuses which are left by the sword of revolution; where peaceable remedies are unprovided, absolute acquiescence in the precisions of the majority—the vital principle of republics, from which there is no appeal but to force—the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia our best reliance in peace and in the first moment of war; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority.

Resolved, That the ballot is the right of every American citizen, to be restricted only by limitations as the public safety may require, and that the Constitution recognizes the right of the people of each State to prescribe the qualifications of electors, "a power the people of the separate States comprising the Federal Union have rightfully exercised from Vis origin of the Government to the present time."

Resolved, That the sums advanced by States, and by county and by municipal organizations, to aid in suppressing the rebellion, are a legitimate and equitable charge upon the Federal treasury, to be borne Page 524 by the whole country, and the Democracy of Maine are in favor of their payment by the General Government.

Resolved, That banishing all minor party considerations, and acting in the spirit of an enlarged and generous patriotism, we will cordially support President Johnson in the policy which he has avowed, and in all such constitutional measures as he may inaugurate to harmonize the country and restore and cement the Union of the States to enable the States late in revolt to put their Governments in practical operation.

Resolved, That we congratulate the whole country that among the first acts of President Johnson's administration we return to the better days of the Republic in his declination to accept volunteered gratuities while holding office, and we regard it as a proof of integrity in marked contrast to the bribery and corruptions which have recently characterized and disgraced official station.

The election occurred on September 11th, with the following result:

Governor.                                   No. of Votes.

Samuel Cony, Republican ……….56.449

James Howard, Democrat. ………81,117

Majority for Cony………………. 22,382

This did not include the soldiers' vote, which, it was estimated, would increase Cony's majority to 23,000.

The Legislature chosen at this election stood:

                                  Senate       House.     Joint Ballot

Republicans,……………. 81   136   157

Democrats,……………….-      15      15

Republican majority,……..81 121 152

The Legislature of 1865 reelected Hon. "W. P. Fessenden United States Senator for the term ending March 4, 1871.

MARYLAND. The General Assembly met on the 4th of January, and continued in session till the 24th of March. The most important bill passed was one in accordance with the first article of the new Constitution, which directed that the General Assembly should provide by law for a uniform registration of the names of voters in the State, which registration should be evidence of their qualification to vote at any election thereafter held, after which no person should vote unless his name appeared on the register. According to this law, the following classes were excluded from the right of suffrage:

1st. Persons who are not white male citizens of the United States.

2d. Persons who are not twenty-one years of age.

3d. Persons who have not resided one year in the State and six months in the county.

4th. Persons who have been in armed hostility to the United States, or in any manner in the service of the so-called Confederate States.

5th. Persons who have left the State of Maryland and gone within the military lines of the so-called Confederate States, with the intention to adhere thereto.

6th. Those persons who have given aid, comfort, countenance, or support to those engaged in armed hostility to the United States, or in any manner adhered to the enemies of the United States.

The persons included in the sixth class were defined by the fourth section of the Constitution to be:

1st, Those contributing to the enemies of the United States, or unlawfully sending within the lines of such enemies money, or goods, or letters, or information.

2d. Those who have disloyally held communication with the enemies of the United States.

3d. Those who have advised any person to enter the service of the said enemies, or aided any person so to enter.

4th. Those who may have by any open deed or word declared their adhesion to the cause of the enemies of the United States.

5th. Those persons who have declared a desire for the triumph of said enemies over the arms of the United States.

At a State convocation of registers of voters held at Baltimore for the purpose of securing concert of action throughout the State, the following list of questions to persons applying for registration, was agreed upon:

1st. What is your full and true name?

2d. Do you consider the oath just taken as legally and morally binding as if administered by a judge of the court or a justice of the peace?

3d. Are you perfectly aware that any false statements made in said oath, or false answers given to any question which may be propounded to yon, renders you liable to indictment for perjury, and, if found guilty, to confinement in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than eight years, and forever disqualifies you from voting or holding office, in addition to the moral turpitude and future punishment due for false swearing?

4th. What is your age?

5th. Where were you born?

6th. How long have you resided in this State, and in this county, city, ward, or district?

7th. If naturalized, where ore your papers?

8th. Have you ever, since twenty-one years of age, been convicted of larceny or any infamous crime, and confined in the penitentiary and not pardoned out by the Governor?

9th. Have you at any time been in armed hostility to the United States or the lawful authorities thereof?

10th. Have you ever been in any manner in the service of the so-called "Confederate States of America"?

11th. Have you ever left this State and gone within the military lines of the so-called "Confederate States or armies" for the purpose of adhering to said States or armies?

12th. Have you ever given any aid, countenance, or support to those engaged in armed hostility to the United States or the so-called "Confederate States of America"?

13th. Have you ever, in any manner, adhered to the enemies of the United States or the so-called "Confederate States or armies"?

14th. Have you ever contributed money, goods, provisions, labor, or any such thing, to procure food, clothing, implements of war, or any such thing for the enemies of the United States or the so-called "Confederate States or armies"?

15th. Have you ever unlawfully sent within the lines of such enemies money, goods, letters, or information?

16th. Have you ever, in any manner, disloyally held communication with the enemies of the United States or the so-called "Confederate States or armies "?

17th. Have you ever advised any person to enter the service of the enemies of the United States, or these-called "Confederate States or armies," or advised any one so to enter?

18th. Have you ever, by any open word or deed, declared your adhesion to the cause of the enemies of the United States or the so-called "Confederate States or armies "?

19th. Have you ever declared your desire for the triumph of said enemies over the armies of the United States?

20th. Have you ever been convicted of giving or receiving bribes in elections, or of voting illegally, or of using force, fraud, or violence to procure yourself or any one else nominated for an office?

21st. Have you ever deserted the military service of the United States and not returned to the same, or reported yourself to the proper authorities within the time prescribed by the proclamations of the President of the United States and the Governor of this State?

22d. Have you, on any occasion, expressed sympathy with the Government of the United States?

23d. Have you voted at every election held in the State of Maryland since 1861, and if not, state your reasons for not doing so?

25th. During the rebellion, when the armies were engaged in battle, did you wish the success of the armies of the United States, or those of the rebels?

26th. Have you, in taking this oath, or in answering any question propounded to you, held any mental reservation or used any evasion whatever?

The effect of the law was the disfranchisement of a very large number of citizens. It was claimed to he unconstitutional; much opposition was manifested toward it, and in some parts of the State resistance was threatened. It was asserted that by its operation the dominant Page 527 party in the State represented a minority of the aggregate population. At a meeting of the citizens of Howard County on the 26th of August, in favor of supporting the policy of President Johnson, Montgomery Blair, alluding to the registration law, said:

By the terms of that law three members of the dominant party constitute a tribunal in each election district, clothed with absolute power to disfranchise whom they please. Thus, a penalty which has heretofore been inflicted only upon persons convicted of infamous crimes, after a fair and open trial by a court and jury, may be imposed by a secret inquisition. That multitudes of good citizens, against whom no one would dare publicly to make any dishonorable charge, will thus he branded as felons, is most probable. Men who are earnest in a cause, even when disinterested, are apt to doubt the patriotism of zealous opponents. But when they have a selfish motive to heat their passions, toleration is almost impossible. But many of our registers are expectant candidates for the suffrages they are deciding upon. They are generally, too, the nominees of the county committees, who are made up for the most part of standing candidates of the party. Nothing but a strong public sentiment can prevent a partisan enforcement of such a law. 1 have been against it from the beginning for this reason. Exasperation against the rebellion affected most of those who voted for it, but it was instigated, I fear, by partisanship. It bears the stamp of a disfranchising spirit which existed before the rebellion, the leaders in which taught the rebels how to organize in secret to carry elections against the public will. In my opinion, there never was any justification for such a law, and certainly there is none now. The ostensible reason has passed with the rebellion, and the maxim that the law ought to cease with the reason for it applies in such a case undoubtedly.

To test the constitutionality of the law, the case of "Thomas Anderson vs. the Board of Registration of the fourth district of Montgomery County " was made up. Mr. Anderson appeared before the registers of the district and demanded that his name be registered as a legal voter, at the same time refusing to take the oath required by the State Constitution, and upon the registers declining to do so, applied to the Circuit Court of the county for a writ of mandamus to compel them. Judge Berry deciding that there were not sufficient grounds for the interposition of the court, dismissed the petition for a mandamus, and Mr. Anderson appealed. The case was fully argued by Attorney-General Randall, Mr. Williams, and Reverdy Johnson, before the Court of Appeals, which sustained the action of the registers; Chief Justice Bowie, and Judges Cochran, Weisel, and Goldsborough affirming the constitutionality of the law, and Judge Bartol dissenting from their opinion. Governor Swann, in his message of January 11, 1866, said:

The act passed for the registration of voters, in furtherance of the requirements of the Constitution, has been threatened, I regret to say, with resistance in some parts of the State, chiefly among those who, in the face of the decision of our highest judicial tribunal, persist in denying its constitutionality, and object to the oath of allegiance which it imposes. I trust and believe that such threats are confined to a very small class of our citizens. The intention of both the Constitution and the registry law, was simply to protect the State against treason, and to show distrust of those who had been connected with it. Complaints have been made that abuses have arisen in the execution of this law, and that qualified voters as well as others have been arbitrarily disfranchised, upon frivolous and irrelevant issues, growing out of mistaken views of the purpose and meaning or that act. I am sure that the Legislature designed no more than that the provisions of the Constitution should be strictly complied with, without the remotest intention of interfering with any loyal citizen entitled to the right of suffrage. The law would have been less liable to abuse had it embodied the feature of appeal to some competent tribunal. The registration act was passed, as is well known, at a time when the ravages of civil war were desolating our State. Large numbers of our citizens, variously estimated at from ten to fifteen thousand, had loft their homes, taken up arms against their State, and subscribed to the most stringent oath of allegiance to the so-called "Confederate States." I do not propose at this time to discuss events that have passed, further than to refer to the acts of the Union men of that day in their praiseworthy efforts to save their State from the threatened ruin which hovered over it. I would rather forget the past than reopen afresh these fruitful sources of irritation, which should now be permitted to sleep. If these acts were radical and ultra, much more so was the attempt to revolutionize the State and break up the Union. Maryland, surely, could not have disregarded the first duty of self preservation. It has been alleged that the dominant party who now control the State represents a minority of her aggregate population. If it be so, it is the more to be regretted that so large a number of our citizens should so have identified themselves with the rebellion as to suffer the power which this minority controlled to pass into other hands. Small, however, as the minority may be, it cannot be denied that it is the fair and legitimate representative of whatever there is of loyalty among our people. They are the men to whom you are indebted for the safety of your State and the property which you now enjoy, and without whose uncompromising devotion to the Union Maryland would have been handed over to indiscriminate destruction.

The elective franchise is a function of the State. To confer or withhold it is the province of those who are entrusted with the formation of your organic law. Our citizens engaged in this rebellion have been received with kindness and toleration; they come back, however, to be dealt with as the people in their wisdom may deem most expedient. Threats of resistance to the Constitution and laws could hardly bo expected to facilitate them in resuming the privileges of citizenship which they have deliberately abandoned. Id the mean time, they have no just right, in any fail view of their existing relations, to complain of the hardships of a law which they have themselves deliberately provoked, and which intended no more than to place the government of the State, at a time of imminent danger, in the hands of its loyal defenders. Are they not the legitimate guardians and depositaries of its power?

The repeal of the registration act, in my judgment, will not materially benefit any class of voters who have been heretofore disfranchised under its provisions. The oath of allegiance prescribed by the Constitution makes it incumbent upon the judges of election to do substantially what the registers are required to do under a fair and proper interpretation of their powers. As the Executive of the State, I do not feel authorized to recommend a repudiation by the Legislature of the organic law of your State by any radical modification of the terms of the registration act. To alter or amend the Constitution, upon which this act rests, would require the sanction of the qualified voters of the State. The regular stated meeting of the General Assembly, under the Constitution, takes place in January next. The delegates Page 528 who will compose that body may be expected to represent the wishes of the people upon this subject, as the agitation now going forward will show its results in the ensuing fall elections. No other practical mode of dealing with this question occurs to my mind than by its reference to the representatives of the people who shall compose that body, who, coming fresh from their constituencies, will be prepared to reflect the public sentiment in any action which may be deemed prudent and advisable.

Among the other important bills passed by the Legislature were those allowing citizens in the army to vote; repealing nearly the whole of the "black code;" allowing the bankers of Maryland to accept the provisions of the national banking law, and providing for a uniform system of schools throughout the State. Many of the measures required by the new Constitution were not acted upon for want of time. A bill to provide for the general reassessment and valuation of property throughout the State was rejected in the Senate, after having passed the House by a large majority. A bill for the organization of the State militia was rejected, on the ground that its requirements would be too onerous upon the citizens. John A. J. Creswell was chosen Senator to fill the vacancy caused by the decease of Thomas H. Hicks.

There was received into the State treasury during the fiscal year ending September 30th, the sum of $2,681,692. Of this amount, $830,746 proceeded from a loan negotiated by the treasurer, and $248,742 from the public school tax, leaving $1,602,104 received from the ordinary sources of revenue, or $110,013 less than the receipts from similar sources during the previous year. The disbursements during the fiscal year were $3,125,566, principally for bounties to volunteers, interest on the public debt, and the expenses of the constitutional convention and the General Assembly. Certificates of indebtedness to the amount of $56,525, issued on account of the Annapolis and Elkridge Railroad, were redeemed during the year. The balance in the treasury at the close of the fiscal year appears from the following statement:

Receipts from all sources 12,681,892 20

Balance in Treasury 30th Sept, 1864 876,899 38

$3,559,491 58

 Disbursements 3,125,068 53

$482,926 00

Add amount to the credit of Free Schools Fund 43,778 84

Add amount to too credit of Sinking Fund ... 177,178 72

Total balance in Treasury 80th Sept, 1865.... $653,878 06

Deducting the balance to the credit of the "funds" and the public school tax from this amount, the balance in the treasury proper was only $184,184. The sum paid during the fiscal year, on account of bounties to volunteers and others, was $1,762,421, exceeding the amount realized from loans by $931,675, and the amount from both loans and county tax, by $666,378. The total amount paid for bounties by the State up to the end of the fiscal year was $3,044,090; the amount raised from loans was $1,356,930, and from the bounty tax $460,496, leaving $1,226,663 to be paid from the revenue derived from other and ordinary sources. The assessed value of the real and personal property in the State liable to direct taxation was $278,507,519, being a decrease from the assessment of 1864, of $7,234,836, owing to the fact that all assessments on account of slaves were deducted from the tax-books. The following statement shows the assessed value of real and personal property, with the amount of the levy thereon, in Baltimore city and each county in the State: Allegany County Anne Arundel County Baltimore City Baltimore County Calvert County Carroll County Caroline County Charles County Cecil County Dorchester County Frederick County Harford County Howard County Kent County Montgomery County Prince George's County Queen Anne's County Somerset County St Mary's County Talbot County. Washington County Worcester County […].

Comptroller Jump, urging the necessity of a reassessment, says:

According to the general assessment made in 1852, the value of real and personal property was $261,248,660, exhibiting an increase of $49,667,825 when compared with the year immediately preceding, and of $64,402,515, or nearly thirty-three per cent., when compared with the general assessment of 1841, only eleven years before.

When it is considered that more than thirteen years have elapsed since the assessment in 1852, and that the State has rapidly increased in population, wealth, and general prosperity, and that the assessment of the present year exceeds the general assessment of 1852 but in the sum of $17,263,859, or less than seven per cent., it is not unreasonable to suppose that a new assessment would insure a taxable basis of at least $350,000,000, notwithstanding the large investments by the people of the State in nontaxable Government securities.

If the result should prove the correctness of this estimate, a large increase of revenue will bo secured to the general treasury and to the schools.

A reassessment is necessary, also, that the burdens of taxation may be equally distributed. In some portions of the State property has greatly enhanced in value, in others only to an inconsiderable extent. Many persons, too, regardless of the moral and political obligation to bear their just proportion of the taxes necessary for the support and good credit of the State, secrete their securities, and perhaps other -property, when others, more honest, and the farmer, mechanic, and tradesman generally, are assessed to the full value of their estate. This Page 529 inequality is a heavy grievance, and is aggravated by the lapse of time.

The available assets of the Maryland Penitentiary, according to its annual report, were $6,269, and the entire debt $5,019, leaving a surplus of $1,250. The expenses for the year were $68,091, the average number of prisoners having been 406, and the cost per head $167.71. The highest number in confinement at any one time was 432, and the lowest 380. Of 50 prisoners pardoned during the year, 12 were undergoing imprisonment for assisting in the escape of slaves. There were received among the prisoners during the year an extraordinary number of colored women, boys, and men, for short terms. 

From the first annual report of the "Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People," it appears that on the 9th of January, 1865, the first free school was opened in Baltimore, and that since that time fifteen schools have been opened in different parts of the city, employing sixteen teachers, of whom thirteen were white and three colored. The average number of pupils in attendance was 1,206, and the total cost up to the time of the report $8,878. Eighteen schools had also been started in the county and were in successful operation. The number of pupils in attendance was 1,110, at a cost to the association of only $788, the balance of the expense being defrayed by the neighborhoods. The total receipts of the association were $14,960, and the total expenditures $13,492, 'leaving a balance in the hands of the treasurer on November 6th, of $1,468. To aid in the maintenance of these schools and the establishment of others, it is recommended that a committee bo appointed to memorialize the Legislature for an appropriation of $20,000, or that the colored schools may be included in the general school system of the State.

The State colored convention held at Baltimore, on the 29th of December, passed resolutions to solicit aid to rebuild the seven colored churches burned in the State " by rebels and malicious persons," and if successful, to request the Baltimore Association to establish day and night schools therein. Resolutions in relation to the death of President Lincoln were also passed, including the following:

Be it resolved. That the exalted public and private character of the late President, his freedom from selfish ambition, bis fear of God, his devotion to the eternal principles of liberty and justice, and the unsurpassed wisdom and magnanimity which he evinced in carrying out the principles of republican government, will cause his memory to be cherished with love and reverence by us as a people until the end of time.

An address to the "colored citizens of Maryland" was also agreed upon, containing the following advice:

Brethren and Fellow-Citizens; We; the delegates of the State of Maryland, in convention assembled, feel it to be our duty to address you on matters pertaining to our best interests. A very important period in our history has arrived. We have, by the votes of the loyal citizens of Maryland, been lifted from bondage to liberty, and thrown upon our own resources as men.

There are many things claiming our attention which heretofore we were unacquainted with, such as providing for ourselves and families, the education of our children, and other duties of life.

We would therefore advise you, 1st. To feel that you are free, and dependent upon yourselves for support.

2d. We advise you to become men of virtuous habits, disdaining to do any thing beneath the dignity of men.

3d. We advise you to be industrious in all the pursuits of life, purchase property and become men of wealth, owning the soil, for there is no class of men so independent as farmers.

4th. We advise you to educate your children, give them trades, and thereby qualify them for any position in life. For if ever we are raised to that elevated summit in life for which we are striving, it must be done by our individual exertion; no one can do it for us. It is no longer a question whether our race possess competency as soldiers; all we asked for was to give us a trial, and we have proven by many a hard-fought battle, and brilliant victory, that we were men of bravery. Now, we should show by frugality, that all we want is a chance, and we will become as good citizens as any are .

5th. We advise you to use every exertion to contradict the predictions of your enemies, which were uttered previous to the emancipation of the State— that if the slaves were freed they would become a pest to society, and paupers, dependent on public charities.

After instituting a "State league for the proper and perfect enforcement of the rights of the colored people of Maryland," the convention adjourned sine die.

Governor Swann, in his message of January 11, 1866, on the subject of the laws relating to negroes, said:

The system of negro slavery having been abolished throughout the country, it becomes a duty that the status of the freedmen in Maryland should now bo distinctly and clearly defined under our laws. From the origin of our State government slavery has been more or less interwoven with our whole domestic economy. The result has been that our statute books ore burdened with laws—some long since obsolete, but unrepealed—and mostly all calculated to confuse and lead to embarrassment, in the action of our courts. The relations existing in the past between master and slave being dissolved, the entire system of laws relating to the colored population should be carefully revised by some competent authority, and such changes and modifications recommended as may lead to the adoption of a defined and uniform system for their protection and guidance in the future. In proclaiming freedom to the colored race, the State of Maryland designed to confer upon the negro something more than a mere nominal benefit— she intended freedom in all that relates to person and property. This would not be accomplished, if, after being made free by the provisions of your organic law, the freedmen are left without proper direction under a system of just and equitable laws, or denied the fullest protection in their new relation. There should be entire conformity between these laws and the principles recognized and proclaimed in your free Constitution. In connection with this recommendation, I should hope that steps may be taken, at an early day, to confer upon the freedman the privilege of testifying in our courts—a right which has already been conceded in some of our sister States of the South, and which is urged by the strongest considerations of justice and fair dealing.

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I would recommend that authority be given to appoint a commissioner, whose duty it shall be to revise all laws relating to the former status of the negro, and report at the regular session of your Honorable Body in January next, such modifications or additions in the present code as may be suggested by the provisions of the new Constitution abolishing slavery, and the changed relation in which we stand toward the colored race.

With regard to the question of negro suffrage he added:

Maryland has no interest in negro suffrage, beyond the effect which it is calculated to produce upon the general interest and welfare of the country and the negro himself. Her policy is already settled by her new Constitution. To withhold from other States the same power which she has exercised, to deal with this and other subjects of a like character, appertaining to their domestic governments, would be to let go the most popular feature which has heretofore contributed to-our bond of union.

The election in the Second Congressional district to till the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edwin H. Webster, took place on the 7th of November, and resulted in the success of the Union candidate, John L. Thomas, by 4,677 votes, the Democratic candidate, William U. Kimmell, receiving only 950.

MASSACHUSETTS. The Legislature of this State convened at Boston on January 4th, and was organized by the choice of Republican officers in both branches; and on the 6th Governor Andrew delivered his annual message. Among the measures recommended to the attention of the Legislature were the abolishment of the death penalty, modifications of the law of marriage and divorce, and of the usury laws, and an amendment to the Federal Constitution repealing the inhibition duties on exports. The Legislature was also requested to ask the President to convene an extra session of Congress, in case the Thirty-eighth Congress should fail to adopt an amendment abolishing slavery. In conclusion, he intimated that this was the last time he should assume the duties of Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth. The Legislature adjourned on the 17th of May, having passed two hundred and eighty-five bills and seventy-six resolves. The session was the longest sinco 1856.

The finances of the Commonwealth received a large share of attention from the Legislature, in view of the necessity of meeting the extraordinary liabilities incurred under the war. A "bounty fund" of ten millions, with interest at five per cent., payable in gold, had been created in 1864; but owing to the high premium on gold, which the State was obliged to purchase to meet the accruing interest, only a small part of the loan was put into the market, and the Treasurer of the State negotiated call loans to the amount needed at six per cent., which was one per cent, higher than the law allowed. To remedy these difficulties the Legislature of 1865 authorized a new loan of ten millions, at six per cent, interest, payable in currency, and raised the rate of interest on call loans to six per cent. Before the new currency loan could be negotiated the overthrow of the rebellion so enhanced the value of United States securities that those of the State stood no chance in com petition with them. An act was therefore passed late in the session of 1865 giving the Treasurer authority to borrow money, at such rate of interest as the Governor or Council might determine, until July, 1866, and authorizing a portion of the currency loan of ten millions to be issued, with interest in gold at five per cent. An act was also passed allowing a part of the loan of 1864 to be expressed in the sterling currency of Great Britain for more convenient sale abroad. To defray the current expenses of the State a tax of $4,700,000 was assessed upon the cities and towns, and a single commissioner was appointed in place of the former Board of Commissioners, consisting of the Treasurer and Auditor.

The coast defences of the Commonwealth received some share of attention, and a resolution was adopted referring to Congress the importance of fortifying Provincetown and of constructing a military road from Orleans to the extremity of Cape Cod. The act passed in 1864 making militia duty compulsory was suspended, and a now act was passed authorizing the militia force to bo composed entirely of volunteers, the infantry to consist of seventy companies, with artillery and cavalry in proportion. Provision was also made for a State census in 1865, and for a compilation of the industrial statistics of the Commonwealth, the same to be repeated once in ten years hereafter. An act was passed prohibiting a discrimination in to admission of colored people to theatres and other places of amusement, and a resolution that it is not "expedient or right in principle" to license the sale of intoxicating liquors. Committees were appointed to sit in the recess of the Legislature to consider the "financial condition of the Commonwealth," "what direction shall bo given to the liberality of the State in behalf of invalid soldiers," and other matters. Early in the session the Hon. Henry Wilson was reelected a United States Senator for six years from March 4, 1865.

The funded and unfunded debt of Massachusetts on January 1, 1866, amounted in the aggregate to $23,122,872, of which amount the portion which should be charged to the war account is $15,108,437. The funded debt was $19,131,435, of which $6,574,435 should be set aside, as having accrued from loans to railroad corporations, secured by mortgages and collateral securities in addition to the sinking funds established for the redemption of the scrip. Of the residue, namely, $12,557,000, all but $450,000 is provided for by sinking funds, which are supposed to be ample for the payment of the debts for which they are pledged at maturity. Of the total funded debt the amount of §7,170,000 will not mature until 1894, and this sum will be further increased by the issue of additional scrip for the bounty fund loan, authorized by the Legislature of 1864. This additional issue will Page 531 absorb or fund a large portion of the now outstanding temporary loan which has accrued in the payment of bounties. The remainder of the funded debt, amounting to $11,961,435, will mature in smaller instalments, commencing with $175,000 in 1866, and so on until 1894. The unfunded debt consists of temporary loans amounting to $3,991,437, of which the sum of $1,863,389 is payable on thirty days' notice, with interest at six per cent., and the residue of $2,128,048 is payable on six or twelve months' notice, with interest at seven and three-tenths per cent. To meet this unfunded debt, there was in the State treasury on January 1, 1866, a balance of $959,378.77, besides the sum of $2,000,000 negotiated in the latter part of 1865 on account of the bounty fund loan, and a further sum of $621,435.53 allowed on account of war claims and awaiting draft at Washington, making an aggregate of $3,580,798.30. These funds would far! short of extinguishing the unfunded debt by $410,638.70; but against this unliquidated balance there stands an unliquidated balance of war claims against the United States of $989,107.89, the greater part of which, it is supposed, will be allowed.

The gross amount of receipts into the State treasury in 1865 was $24,876,168.77, and the payments therefrom during the same period amounted to $23,916,790, leaving a balance of $959,373.77 on hand January 1, 1866. Of the total receipts the sum of $7,268,669.96 accrued on account of ordinary revenue; and $16,072,516.59 on account of trust and other funds, including deposit and temporary loans. Of the total payments there was disbursed, on account of expenses payable from the ordinary revenue, the sum of $6,604,127.91, and on account of various funds $17,312,662.09. Under the head of general expenses the principal items were:

Legislature $213,302

Public printing 64.818

Attorney-General's Department 174,468

Interest and premium on gold 195,410

Public charities 870,987

Reformatory and correctional purposes. 216,092

The extraordinary or exceptional expenses included the greater part of the military expenses incurred, and the chief items were:

 Quartermaster's and Ordnance Department $23,914

Surgeon-General's Department 12,612

Paymaster's Department 18,494

Agencies for sick and disabled soldiers 20,283

Coast defences 60,358

Arms and equipments 63,647

State militia 282,966

Bounties to volunteers 680,400

Monthly pay of volunteers 2,022,810

Home for discharged soldiers 16,000

Aid to families of volunteers 2,196,250

Interest, with premium on gold 1,172,211

The total military expenditures of the State in 1865 for other than purposes of an ordinary character, amounted to $6,244,933, of which sum $5,863,188.69 was in payment of bounties and other expenses growing out of the prosecution of the late war, and $381,744.99 accrued in the maintenance of the military departments of the State, including the purchase of uniforms, equipments, and other munitions for the use of the State Militia. The aggregate amount of claims presented against the United States is $3,501,766.50, of which $1,934,314 has been reimbursed, $621,435.53 is awaiting draft, and $989,107.89 remains unadjusted. A final account, amounting to $43,256.98, is yet to be presented, making the total outstanding claim of the State for advances to the General Government on account of the war amount to $1,032,364.87.

The following table indicates the total receipts and expenditures of Massachusetts for the period embraced between January 1, 1861, and January 1, 1866:

Cash on hand January 1,1861 $154,841 58

Receipts in revenue, during five years, 1661 to 1866 24,482,634 48 Receipts on account of sinking and other funds, loans, and other accounts 53,848,209 08 $77,935,685 09

Total payments on account of ordinary expenses 22,041,317 22

Total payments on account of sinking and other funds, and other accounts 54,934,404 10

Cash on hand January 1,1666 959,878 77 $77,935,6S5 09

During these five years $18,125,204.34 more were received into the State treasury than since the beginning of the present century to the year 1861, and the average payments of each year, amounting to $15,395,262.26, were two millions more than the annual expenditure for ordinary purposes for the whole United States during the administration of John Quincy Adams.

The receipts of ordinary income for 1866 are estimated at $1,400,000, and the ordinary expenses during the same period at $1,375,000. To meet the extraordinary expenses of the year, including the reimbursement to the towns for aid furnished to families of volunteers in 1865, the further sum of $2,700,000 will be required, making the aggregate expenses for the year amount to $4,075,000, and leaving the sum of $2,675,000 to be provided for.

The number of men furnished by Massachusetts to the army and navy during the late war (reckoning the nine months' men at one fourth of their actual number, and reducing the navel recruits to the same term of three years) was 131,116. The actual number of men furnished by her for all arms and all terms, including seamen and marines, was 159,165, which is 10,610 more than are now to bo found in the State between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. The whole number of colored troops was 6,089, and of foreign recruits 907; and the number of men furnished for different periods of service in the navy was 26,329. From a report of the Paymaster-General of the Commonwealth, brought down to December 81, 1865, it appears that the whole amount of State bounties paid from the beginning of the war to that date, was $12,808,600. The total expenditure incurred by Massachusetts on account Page 532 of the war, including only such expenses as have accrued under the direction and supervision of the several State departments, as authorized by legislative enactments, amounted to $27,705,109; and, as far as can be ascertained at present, the expenses incurred by cities and towns for bounties and other military purposes, have been not less than this sum. The militia of the State at the close of the year comprised eighty-eight companies of infantry, six companies of cavalry, four batteries of light artillery, and two companies of cadets. In view of what he considered defects in the militia law of 1865, Governor Andrew delayed the complete organization of the militia and the delivery of the uniforms prescribed by the act, until the Legislature could frame a better law.

At the close of 1865 only one bank of discount, organized on the old system, remained in Massachusetts; all the others had been converted into national banks. As one of the results of this change, the State Board of Bank Commissioners passed out of existence. The savings banks numbered on January 1, 1866, one hundred and two, having deposits amounting to nearly $60,000,000, a sum exceeding by $6,000,000 the combined capital of both classes of banks in 1851. The number of depositors in these banks amounted to nearly 300,000.

During 1865 the sum of $1,940,000 was expended on public schools, exclusive of buildings and books, which exhibits a considerable gain over any previous year. All the municipalities of the State except twenty-two raised by taxation double the sum required by law as a condition of receiving a share of the income of the general school fund. The latter has now reached the maximum of $2,000,000 fixed by the Legislature in 1864. It is estimated that the amount raised by taxation in 1866 will exceed the entire fund. Harvard University, which, since the adoption of the State Constitution, has been to a certain extent controlled by the Legislature, was, by an act passed in 1865, made an entirely independent institution. Hon. Board of Overseers, previously elected by the Legislature, are hereafter to be elected by the College Alumni.

The public charitable and correctional institutions of Massachusetts are under the control of a Board of State Charities, created by the Legislature in 1863. They report that for the year ending September 30, 1805, the average population of the State almshouses was 1,919, whose support cost in money drawn from the treasury $152,500. During the same period, 1,702 paupers and lunatics, belonging to other communities, were removed from the Commonwealth by this Board. Since September 30, 1857, 1,400 paupers, including more than 1,000 lunatics, have in like manner been removed. These removals have cost about $50,000, or $3.50 for each person sent. To support those who remain has cost, for the eight years, in round numbers, $1,100,000 for a constant average of 2,042 paupers, and $630,000 for an average of 550 lunatics. As the direct result of this action, no new pauper institution has been designed since 1857, and none appears likely to be required; the average number in the almshouses 13 less than ten years ago; and notwithstanding the increase of population, especially in that class whence State paupers are derived, the official returns indicate that their number has considerably decreased since 1855. The total expenditure for State paupers in three lunatic asylums, three State almshouses, and one general hospital, was $270,000. The schools at Westboro' and Lancaster, and the Nautical School Ship, constituting the three juvenile reformatories of the State, maintained during the year 625 inmates, at a cost of $100,900. The aggregate cost of all charities and reforms was half a million of dollars.

The following table exhibits the condition of the steam railroads of Massachusetts and their operations in 1865:

Capital stock $78,075,405

Capital paid In 65,565,489

Debt 25,068,218

Cost of roads and equipment 72,115,091

Total income in 1865 13,974,914

Working expenses 12,801,757

Net earnings 8,178,157

Interest paid 1,164,179

Amount of dividends paid 8,S72,817

Surplus, November 30, 1865 5,562,436

Total length of rail (as single track) In miles 1,975

Tons of freight carried 5,277,568

Number of passengers carried 20,278,055

Number of passengers killed 21

Number of men employed, exclusive of those engaged in construction 7,977 Number of employes killed 26

Number of persons killed while walking or lying upon the track 45

Number of engines owned 471

Number of passenger cars 578

Number of merchandise cars 8,612

The number of passengers carried over all the roads in 1865 was 20,278,455, which was 2,072,032 more than in 1864. Of the fatal accidents to passengers, twenty-one in number, not one was caused through any negligence on the part of employes of the railroad companies. From the report of the Commissioners of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel, work on both enterprises appear to be making satisfactory progress. The payments for the year were $531,416, and the commissioners held a balance at the close of the year of $12,491. Of the amount expended, $241,600 was for the Deerfield dam and for buildings and machinery; $235,542 for work on the tunnel; $6,000 for commissioners' salaries; $2,435 for surveys and estimates. The progress of tunneling the Hoosac Mountain for the last six months has averaged forty-one feet, and for the last three months forty-seven feet per month, which is more by several feet than the estimate of the commissioners. A difficulty has been experienced in excavating the west end of the tunnel, in consequence of a great flow of water from a spring about ten feet below the grade, which for some time interrupted the work. This has been in a measure surmounted, and there is no reason to apprehend that the work will henceforth be materially delayed from any Page 533 similar cause. The amount appropriated by the Legislature for the enterprise, including $800,000 granted in 1865, is $3,000,000, and the total expenditures down to the commencement of 1866 were $2,484,943. The commissioners feel confident that an outlay of about half a million of dollars per annum is all that is now required, and expect ere long greater results from such an expenditure than can at the present time be obtained. Much of the labor and expense has thus far been in the nature of preparation, looking to a period, now very near at hand, when the work will progress in a manner entirely satisfactory to the people of the Commonwealth. The commissioners give statistics of transportation between the East and West, to show the necessity for the completion of the tunnel and its road. The practicability of the tunnel having been doubted by many persons, a survey for a railroad around and over the Hoosac Mountain has been completed, and estimates made, by which it is computed that, instead of tunneling the mountain, the State may relinquish the tunnel to the Troy and Greenfield Company, and proceed to build the new road for a much less amount of money than has already been sunk in the bore. It is said that the road over the mountain could be completed within a year. The plan contemplates going nearly to the top of the mountain, and then by switches making a detour of five miles.

The manufacture of paper is carried on to a greater extent in Massachusetts than in any other State. The following table shows the operations of her paper-mills for the year ending May 1, 1865:

Number of mills 77

Tons of stock consumed 84,165

Value of do. $5,881,671

Tons of printing paper made 6,077

Value of do. 11,922,526

Tons of wrapping paper made 4,202

Value of do. $1,157,190

Reams of writing paper made 608,989

Value of do. $2,531.004

Tons of other paper made 8,221

Value of do. 3,397,501

Capital Invested $1,875.8(10 Males employed 1,831

Females employed 1,928

The total value of the paper manufactured during the year was $9,008,521.

With a view of repeopling the waters of the Connecticut and Merrimac Rivers with salmon., the taking of which was formerly a lucrative branch of industry, a commission was appointed in 1865 to investigate the matter of obstructions to the passage of fish up those rivers by the construction of dams and other artificial obstacles. The commissioners, in their report rendered at the close of the year, arrive at the conclusion that in order to restock the Connecticut and Merrimac with fish, fishways must be built, the pollution of the water prevented, salmon must be bred at the head of the rivers in New Hampshire, and the use of weirs and nets bo forbidden in Connecticut. They think that the fishways would always more or less seriously injure manufacturers. Under these conditions a moderate supply might reasonably be anticipated, but nothing like the primitive abundance.

Governor Andrew having, in his inaugural ad dress of 1865, called the attention of the Legislature to the excess of females over males in Massachusetts, amounting, according to the census of 1860, to 37,517, a special committee was appointed to consider that part of the address relating to the emigration of young women to the West. The report of the committee shows that there is abundance of occupation in the State for all females willing and having the capacity to work, and that during 1864 and the early part of 1865, the demand for female labor in the large manufacturing towns was always in advance of the supply, notwithstanding the introduction of large numbers of young women into the country from Europe. The committee accordingly discouraged any project for sending the surplus female population to such Western States as have an excess of moles.

The registration report, showing the vital statistics of Massachusetts for the year 1863, was laid before the Legislature of 1865. The general statistics for 1863 were—30,314 children born alive, of whom 15,692 were males and 14,579 females; 10,873 couples married, and 27,751 persons died. Compared with the year 1862, the number of births was less by 1,961, and less than in 1861 by 5,181; the number of couples married was less by 141, and the number of deaths greater by 4,777, or 3,666 greater than in 1861. Compared with the annual average for the five preceding years, there was a decrease of 4,423 births, or 5,737 less than in 1860; a diminution of 405 marriages, or 1,529 less than in 1860, and an increase of 5,552 deaths. The natural increase to the population of the State, that is, the excess of births over deaths, was, therefore, 2,563, which is 6,738 less than in 1862, and 10,420 less than in the year 1861. Compared with the returns in 1860, before the breaking out of the war, there were 5,737 fewer births, 1,531 marriages, and 4,683 more deaths. Then the natural increase of population, the excess of births over deaths, was 12,988, and in 1863 it was only 2.563, with a probable increase of at least 25,000 inhabitants. It will be thus seen that the ordinary relation of births, marriages, and deaths, had become altogether deranged during those three years, in consequence, doubtless, of war influences. The number of deaths in the State in 1863 largely exceeded that of any previous year, as is shown in the following table: 

Deaths 27,751 22,093 24,085 28,068 20,976 Stillborn 908 974 1,017 1,062 789

This increase was of course owing to the war. The number of male largely exceeds the number of female deaths. In 1863 it was 109 moles to 100 females, which is a very unusual excess for any country. Previous to 1860 the proporportion had been about 100 males to 101 females. Page 534 The average of the twelve years ending in 1863, was one death to 52 persons living. In 1863 it was one to 45 persons. The deaths in 1863 were distributed rather uniformly through the catalogue of diseases. There was, however, considerable increase of deaths from dysentery, diarrhoea, and diphtheria. The most fatal disease was consumption, which carried off 4,667 persons, being 398 more than in 1862. A general view of the geographical distribution of the more important classes of diseases shows that miasmatic diseases have a marked predominance in the interior counties. Diseases of the digestive organs and bowels are distributed over the State apparently with no geographical distinctions. For diseases of the respiratory organs the most fatal vicinity is Barnstable County, and next Nantucket and Dukes, Hampden, Plymouth, Essex, Berkshire, Bristol, Hampshire, Middlesex. Franklin, Worcester, Norfolk, Suffolk. While Suffolk County is more exposed to acute diseases of the lungs, in tubercular diseases it holds a more favorable position, the series being: Hampden, Franklin, Worcester, Norfolk, Hampshire, Barnstable, Middlesex, Suffolk, Nantucket and Dukes, Essex, Bristol, Plymouth. In developmental diseases, the county of Franklin stands at the head of exemptions, while Hampden, its neighbor, is least exempt. Compared with the number of inhabitants, there was one death in 1,636 in Barnstable, and one in 452 in Hampden, the average for the State being one in 794. In general, the asthenic diseases, characterized by inflammation or fever, prevail more in the interior and elevated lands than on the seaboard; while those of the asthenic type are found in largest proportion in the lowland counties.

The report of the Liquor Commissioner for 1865, shows that in most of the towns of the State supplied with liquors from the State agency, there has been more care manifested in the appointment of the agent and the regulation of the agencies than in former years. The amount of sales from September 30, 1864, to October 1, 1865, including analyzation and charges for trucking and package, was $239,714 25; commissions $14,504.44; total $254,218.69. The office and travelling expenses amounted to $8,345.23, and the profits of the commissioner to $6,159.21. A conflict has recently arisen between the liquor dealers and the State, on the question whether the former are not protected against prohibitory State legislation, by having taken out a license to sell under the internal revenue act of the United States. The Supreme Court of Massachusetts decided that they were not, and the question has been carried before the Supreme Court of the United States.

The annual political canvass commenced with the meeting of the Republican convention at Worcester, on September, 14th, Governor Andrew having declined, after five years' service in the executive chair, to be again a candidate, the Hon. Alexander H. Bullock, late Speaker of the House of Representatives, was nominated in his place. A special series of resolutions were unanimously adopted, declaring "that in the death of Richard Cobden, late a member of the British House of Commons, we feel that our country has lost one of its most earnest and devoted friends, and we mourn his loss as that of a great benefactor of the human race," expressing joy that he, having done so much in our great cause, had lived long enough to be assured of its certain and glorious triumph; and recognizing how much we owe to his coadjutor, John Bright, who stood as a fearless friend of our country and its cause. Among the regular resolutions adopted were those ex pressing confidence in President Johnson, agreeing with him that treason is the greatest of crimes, and deserves condign punishment; and the following:

Resolved, That the entire pacification of the country and the restoration of order is an object of the first importance, and one which requires the exercise of the most deliberate and cautious wisdom, in order that there may be no necessity of retracing our steps; and we agree with the Republicans of Pennsylvania, who, in their recent State convention, declared that "the people lately in rebellion cannot be safely intrusted with the political rights which they forfeited by their treason, until they have proved their acceptance of the results of the war by incorporating them in constitutional provisions, and securing to all within their borders 'the inalienable right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'" And we call upon Congress, before whom must speedily come the whole question of reorganizing the Southern communities, to see to it that the loyal people, white or black, shall have the most perfect guarantees for safety before any final steps are taken toward the readmission of the revolted people of the South to their forfeited rights.

Resolved, That we stand by the pledge given by the convention which nominated Lincoln and Johnson in 1864, and will not only "maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Government in self-defence has aimed a death-blow at the gigantic evil" of slavery, but will continue to ask for such amendments of the Constitution as will prohibit the existence of that institution in every part of the country; that we claim that no slaveholding constitution, law, or custom broken up or placed at the mercy of the Government by the act of rebellion, shall be repaired or reinstated for the purpose or with the tendency of practically reenslaving the enfranchised blacks, and leaving loyal men under the control of rebel power. And we warn the people that the purpose and intent of the party which plunged the country into war in 1660 and declared it a failure in 1864, is to sacrifice alt which has been secured to liberty by a four years' contest, by repudiating its former demands for universal suffrage, and au for the sake of place and power.

Resolved, That so long as any important political questions crowing out of the war remain unadjusted, no part of the powers of the Government can be safely committed to any political party composed of Southern men who were lately rebels in arms and Northern men who in national convention, only a year ago, declared that "after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretence of military necessity, a war power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public and private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, an j the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be Page 535 made for a cessation of hostilities." And further, resolved, that no confidence ought to be placed in the professions of an organization that declared the necessary protection of the polls from the assaults of ruffians and traitors to be "a shameful violation of the Constitution," which ought to be "held as revolutionary and resisted," and that now seeks to reinstate itself in power by nominating soldiers and provost marshals, and passing resolutions of convenes in a Republican administration.

Resolved, That we have no theories to promulgate in relation to the right of suffrage. But as a practical question we declare that so long as the grand issues of the day are the maintenance of the Government, the completed integrity of the Union, the preservation of the national credit and the national faith, and the extirpation of slavery, no test can be made or encouraged which will admit to the elective franchise rebel soldiers and traitorous politicians, and at the same time will exclude loyal men of equal intelligence, thousands of whom have borne arms and shed their blood in the nation's defence, and whose votes may be indispensable hereafter, as President Lincoln said, in his letter to Governor Halm, of Louisiana, "to keep the jewel of liberty in the family of freedom." Such tests cannot stand the scrutiny of the loyal American people. If incorporated into the new constitutions of the Southern States, Congress should rectify the abuse and maintain the public faith toward the freedmen, while it provides for the peace, solvency, and security of the country.

The Democratic committee met at "Worcester, on September 28th, and nominated for Governor, General Darius N. Conch. Among the resolutions adopted, wore the following: Resolved, That the people regard the subordination of military to civil rule, the restoration of the authority of the courts, with trial by jury, and of the writ of habeas corpus, an economical administration of the Government, and the recognition of the equality of the States, as essential to the peace and wellbeing of the nation; and all efforts to force any rule of suffrage upon any State against the will of the people thereof are subversive of the principles of our Government.

Resolved, That we recognize the obligations by which the whole resources of the country are pledged to the payment of the public debt; and that we Relieve the burden of the debt should be borne equally by all classes of the people, and the whole property oi the country, real and personal, should be subject to all needful regulations; but we do not believe in a system of taxation which places the burden l of the debt upon the shoulders of the producing classes.

Resolved, That in order that the public debt may more justly and easily be met, we earnestly desire the speedy restoration of all the States to their proper position in the Union, so that a standing army and its expense may be avoided, and the industry of the whole country have every advantage, and its wealth thereby be rapidly increased.

Resolved. That in the plan of President Johnson to restore the States lately in rebellion to their proper position in the Union, leaving each State to regulate the question of suffrage for itself, "a power the people of the several States comprising the Federal  Union have rightly exercised from the origin of the Government to the present time," we recognize a just appreciation of the Constitutional relations of the several States to the Federal Government, and that enlarged statesmanship which looks to the permanent peace and happiness of a great people; and in the prosecution of that plan we pledge to him our rigorous and hearty support.

The election took place on November 6th, with the following result for Governor:

A. H. Bollock, Republican 69,812

D. N. Couch, Democrat 21,245

Majority for Bollock 48,681

The following was the result of the election for members of the Legislature:

                                    Senate.      House.      Joint ballot.

Republicans                    89            221                260

Democrats                        1              19                  20

Republican majority,      38            202                240

An election was also held in the Sixth Congressional district to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of D. W. Gooch, member elect of the Thirty-ninth Congress. General N. P. Banks, Republican, was returned by 8,128 votes to 1,988 for Thomas J. Greenwood, Democrat.

MICHIGAN. The Legislature of Michigan convened at Lansing on January 4, 1865, and was organized by the choice of Republican officers in both houses. Gilbert E. Reed was elected speaker of the House of Representatives. Austin Blair, the retiring Governor, delivered his valedictory message, and Henry H. Crapo, the Governor elect, was inaugurated. Among the acts passed by this Legislature was one submitting to the people at the fall election of 1866 an amendment to the State Constitution allowing colored men to vote, and one authorizing a loan of $1,000,000 for the purpose of paying a State bounty of $150 each to volunteers enlisting in the service of the United States subsequent to February 15, 1865.

The receipts and expenditures of Michigan for the fiscal year ending November 30, 1865, are exhibited in the following table:

Balance In treasury November 30,1864 $440,047 27

Receipts for fiscal year 1865 1,954.318 68

Total available funds for 1863 $2,894,868 43

Total payments for fiscal year 1865 1,925,964 14

Balance In treasury December 1, 1605 468,899 29

The number of men entitled to the bounty of $150 was estimated at 5,000; and with a view of raising the required sum, about $750,000, the Treasurer of the State visited New York in May, and offered at private sale the bonds authorized to be issued in payment of the bounties. Public attention being then absorbed in investments in national securities, he met with no success; and upon advertising proposals for the bonds in Michigan soon after, he received bids for only $41,000, the greater part of which were considerably below par. Under these circumstances he adopted the expedient of exchanging the bonds for the bounty certificates given to the recruits upon enlisting, and in this way disposed of $345,000, which is 8om6what less than half the amount required. By the provisions of an "act authorizing a war bounty loan," approved February 5,1864, a loan of $500,000 was authorized for bounty purposes. The money arising from this loan was applicable to bounties to fill the quotas of 1864, Under the provisions of this act the Treasurer issued the balance of these bonds to the amount of $270,000, all of which was purchased by the treasury office for the sinking fund. The war fund account stands as follows:

Amount received for bonds under act No. 24, 1864 $270,000 00

Amount received for bonds under act No. 85, 1865. 845,000 00

Accrued interest received of buyers of above bonds 8,293 79

Of the amount levied in 1864, taxes for Interest on War Loan, the amount actually paid is credited to this fund 66,555 00

Received for a coupon paid by mistake 8 50

$704,857 29

The War Fund was overdrawn at the close of the fiscal year 1804 78,218 48

The pavements on account of this fund for the fiscal year 1865, were 617,91117

Leaving a balance to the credit of the fund of... 18,727 69

$704,857 29

During the fiscal year 1865, the sum of $279,591 was set apart for the several sinking funds authorized by law. The funded interest-bearing debt of the State is as follows:

Renewed Loan Bonds. 6's, due January 1,1878, $216,000 00

Two Million Loan Bonds, 7's," " 1, 186S, 250.000 00 » " » 6's," " 1, 1873, 500,000 00

6's, 1, 1878, 500,000 00

6's, 1,1883, 750.000 00

War Loan Bonds, 7's, due January 1,8888. 1,122,000 00

Ste. Marie Canal Bonds,

6's, due January 1,1878, 100.000 00

War Bounty Loan, 7's, due May 1,1890 845,000 00

Total $3,758,000 00 the amount of non-interest bearing debt is— Adjusted bonds, past due 4,000 00 Full paid $5,000,000 Loan Bonds, past due 12,000 00

War Loan Bonds, $100 and $50, called in 400 00 $140,000 unrecognized 6,000,000

Loan Bonds, adjustable for 80,999 80

Making a total of funded and fundable debt, of. $8,880,899 80 Increase since 1864 $839,250 80

The Trust Fund debt is made up of the following amounts and funds respectively, to wit:

Primary School Fund $1,144,289 50

University Fund 264.871 47 Normal School Fund 89,204 28

Railroad Deposits 2,157 82

Total $1,450,472 52

The charges of the State against the General Government, from the commencement of the war to May 1, 1865, amount to $723,318.42. This includes clothing, equipage, pay, transportation, food, etc., and every thing under instructions of the Treasury Department chargeable; and the proper accounts and vouchers have been forwarded to the Secretary of the Treasury. The war tax apportioned to this State, by act of Congress, was $501,763.33. Fifteen per cent, of this tax, under instructions of Secretary Chase, was deducted, and $92,000 has been paid to the State by the General Government, leaving the claim of the State $204,819.58 subject to adjustment.

The number of troops raised by the State under all calls was, according to the report of the United States Provost Marshal General, 90,119, or, reduced to a three years' standard, 80,865. Page 567

The population of Michigan, according to the State census of 1864, was given in our volume for last year. From the statistics of the census published early in 1865 by the Secretary of State, it appears that Michigan contains 35,995,520 acres of land, of which but 3,647,645 acres are improved, and but 12,086,660 returned as taxable. There are, if equally apportioned, about 4£ acres of improved land for every man, woman, and child in the State. The following table gives the amount of the crops raised in the State in the two years immediately preceding the censuses of 1854 and 1864: Wheat, acres Wheat, bushels Corn, acres Corn, bushels Other grain, bushels. Potatoes, bushels.... Hay, tons Pork, pounds Butter, pounds Cheese, pounds Sugar, pounds Horses Work oxen Milk cows Other neat cattle sheep Swine Mules [..].

The wheat crop of Michigan for 1863 averaged but Hi bushels to the acre, being much below the ordinary yield. The hay crop is the next in value, being worth more than $15,000,000 for 1863. The average amount of butter made per cow in 1863 was 59 lbs. 9 oz., and of cheese 6 lbs. 13 oz. Sorghum and imphee are not mentioned in the table, but the total manufacture of sugar in 1864 was 4,044,399 lbs., or more than five pounds for each inhabitant.

The number of sheep in Michigan has nearly doubled since the taking of the last State census, and in 1863 the average yield per head was 8 lbs. 8J oz., or nearly one pound greater than in the whole country in 1859. There were, in 1863, 2,053,363 sheep in the State, the clip from which amounted to 7,294,934 pounds, or nearly one-tenth of the whole quantity produced in the United States. This shows an annual increase of 796,769 pounds since 1859. The clip of 1864 was estimated at 1,000,000 pounds more than that of 1863. From these data it would seem that Michigan is destined to become one of the leading, if not the first, wool growing State in the Union.

The following table exhibits the lumber product, which is one of the chief sources of wealth possessed by the State: 1854. 1864.

Number of sawmills, 922 1,078

Persons employed... 4,579 7,747

Feet of lumber sawed 392.920.714 621,477,904 increase. 228.557,190 16.4 60.2 58.2 150.5

Capital Invested $2,442,578 $6,109,070 $3,608,492

Value of product.... $3,278,036 $8,863,550

A number of mills made no returns. Adding the number of feet sawn by these to the above figures, the annual amount of lumber produced in Michigan is estimated by the Secretary of State at nearly 8,000,000 feet. Of this amount upward of 3,000,000 feet came from the Saginaw River district.

The statistics of mining products are incomplete. It appears, however, that 273,000 tons of iron ore were produced in 1868, an amount only exceeded by Pennsylvania in 1860. Between 1854 and 1864 the number of copper mines increased nearly 120 per cent., and the amount of copper mined over 180 per cent. The following is a statement of the shipments of copper during 1865: Tons. Lbs.

Tonnage Lake district 4.596 856

Keweenaw district 8,284 1,678

Ontonagon district 2,140 845

Total shipments 9,971 8.874 Or within twenty-eight tons of a grand total of 10,000 tons. In each district there has been a considerable increase over the product of 1864, the greatest being in Keweenaw district. The following are the amounts of increase, as near as can bo ascertained: Tons. Lbs.

Keweenaw district 775 1,598

Ontonagon district 420 ....

Portage Lake district 850 1,481

Total Increase 1,546 1,027

[…].

An impulse is likely to be given to the production of copper in Michigan by the building of a harbor and ship canal at Portage Lake, Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior, in aid of which Congress in 1865 granted a large tract of land. Whenever the State shall bo fully reimbursed for advances in this work, such tolls only are to be charged as shall pay the expenses of the canal.

Michigan promises to become" one of the chief apple-raising States of the Union. The shipments in 1865 were estimated at 410,000 barrels, which, at an average price of $3.50 per barrel, were worth nearly $1,500,000. They were sent to all parts of the country, the winter fruit going principally to the Eastern and Middle States. Connected with this subject is the new method of preserving fruit in storehouses, from which the natural dampness of the atmosphere has been eliminated, and in which the proportion of oxygen has been diminished. A model building of this description has recently been erected in Detroit, having a capacity of storing 80,000 bushels of fruit. In the gradual ripening of fruit hydrogen and carbon are constantly given off; the former unites with the oxygen of the air and forms water—the latter carbonic acid. This process in any confined vessel filled with fruit, consumes all the oxygen, especially if the fruit be ripe and the air warm, Page 568 in about forty-eight hours. […].

Page 569

Government, Mr. Randolph, then Attorney-General, said: "The law of nations, although not specifically adopted by the Constitution, is especially a part of the law of the land. Its obligation commences and runs with the existence of a nation, subject to modification on some points of indifference.'' (See opinion, Attorney-General, vol. i., page 27.) The framers of the Constitution knew that a nation could not maintain an honorable place among the nations of the world, that does not regard the great and essential principles of the law of nations as a part of the law of the land. Hence Congress may define those laws, but cannot abrogate them, or, as Mr. Randolph says, may "modify on some points of indifference." That the laws of nations constitute a part of the laws of the land is established from the face of the Constitution upon principle and by authority. But the laws of war constitute much the greater part of the law of nations. Like the other laws of nations, they exist and are of binding force upon the departments and citizens of the Government, though not defined by any law of Congress. No one that has ever glanced at the many treatises that have been published in different ages of the world by great, good, and learned men, can fail to know that the laws of war constitute a part of the law of nations, and that those laws have been prescribed with tolerable accuracy. Congress can declare war. When war is declared, it must be, under the Constitution, carried on according to the known laws and usages of war among civilized nations. Under the power to define those laws, Congress cannot abrogate them or authorize their infraction. The Constitution does not permit this Government to prosecute a war as an uncivilized and barbarous people. As war is required by the framework of our Government to be prosecuted according to the known usages of war among the civilized nations of the earth, it is important to understand what are the obligations, duties, and responsibilities imposed by war upon the military. Congress not having defined, as under the Constitution it might have done, the laws of war, we must look to the usage of nations to ascertain the powers conferred in war, on whom the exercise of such powers devolve, over whom, and to what extent do those powers reach, and in how far the citizen and the soldier arc bound by the legitimate use thereof. The power conferred by war is, of course, adequate to the end to be accomplished, and not greater than what is necessary to be accomplished. The law of war, like every other code of laws, declares what shall not be done, and does not say what may be done. The legitimate use of the great power of war, or rather the prohibitions upon the use of that power, increase or diminish, as the necessity of the case demands. Where a city is besieged and hard pressed, the commander may exert an authority over the noncombatants which he may not when no enemy is near. All wars against a domestic enemy or to repel invasions are prosecuted to preserve the Government. If the invading force can be overcome by the ordinary civil policy of a country, it should be done without bringing upon the country the terrible scourge of war; if a commotion or an insurrection can be put down by the ordinary process of law, the military should not be called out. A defensive foreign war is declared and carried on because the civil police is inadequate to repel it; a civil war is waged because the laws cannot be peacefully enforced Dy the ordinary tribunals of the country through civil process and by civil officers. Because of the utter inability to keep the peace and maintain order by the customary officers and agencies in time of peace, armies are organized and put into the field. They are called out and invested with the powers of war to prevent total anarchy, and to preserve the Government. Peace is the normal condition of a country, and war abnormal, neither being without law, but each having laws appropriate to the condition of society. The maxim inter arma silent leges is never wholly true. The object of war is to bring society out of its abnormal condition; and the laws of war aim to have that done with the least possible injury to persons or property. Anciently, when two nations were at war, the conqueror had or asserted the right to take from his enemy his life, liberty, and property; if either was spared, it was as a favor or act of mercy. By the laws of nations, and of war as a part thereof, the conqueror was deprived of this right. When two governments, foreign to each other, are at war, or when a civil war becomes territorial, all of the people of the respective belligerents become by the law of nations enemies of each other. As enemies they cannot hold intercourse, but neither can kill or injure the other except under a commission from their respective governments. So humanizing have been and are the laws of war, that it is a high offence against them to kill an enemy without such commission. The laws of war demand that a man shall not take human life except under a license from his government; and under the Constitution of the United States no license can be given by any department of the Government to take human life in war, except according to the law and usages of war. Soldiers regularly in the service have the license of the Government to deprive men, the active enemies of their Government, of their liberty and lives. Their commission so to act is as perfect and legal as that of a judge to adjudicate, but the soldier must act in obedience to the laws of war, as the judge must in obedience to the civil law. A civil judge must try criminals in the mode prescribed in the Constitution and the law; so soldiers must kill or capture according to the laws of war. Non-combatants are not to be disturbed or interfered with by the armies of either party except in extreme cases. Armies are called out and organized to meet and overcome the active, acting public enemies. But enemies with whom an army have to deal are of two classes: 1st. Open, active participants in hostilities, and soldiers who wear the uniform, move under the flag, and hold the appropriate commission from their Government. Openly assuming to discharge the duties and meet the responsibilities and dangers of soldiers, they are entitled to all belligerent rights, and should receive all the courtesies due to soldiers. The true soldier is proud to acknowledge and respect those rights, and ever cheerfully extends those courtesies. 2d. Secret but active participants, as spies, brigands, bushwhackers, jayhawkers, war rebels, and assassins. In all wars, and especially in civil wars, such secret, active enemies rise up to annoy and attack an army, and they must be met and put down by the army. When lawless wretches become so impudent and powerful as not to be controlled and governed by the ordinary tribunals of a country, armies are called out and the laws of war invoked. Wars never have been and never can be conducted upon the principle that an army is but a posse comitatus of a civil magistrate. An army, like all other organized bodies, has a right, and it is its first duty to protect its own existence, and the existence of all its parts, by the means and in the mode usual among civilized nations when at war. Then the question arises, do the laws of war authorize a different mode of proceeding and the use of different means against secret active enemies from those used against open active enemies? As has been said, the open enemy or soldier in time of war may be met in battle and killed, wounded or taken prisoner, or so placed by the lawful strategy of war as that he is powerless. Unless the law of self-preservation absolutely demands it, the life of a wounded enemy or a prisoner must be spared. Unless pressed thereto by the extremest necessity, the laws of war condemn and punish with great severity Page 570 harsh or cruel treatment to a wounded enemy or a prisoner. Certain stipulations and agreements, tacit or express, betwixt the open belligerent parties are permitted by the laws of war, and are held to be of very high and sacred character. Such is the tacit understanding, or it may be usage of war, in regard to Sags of truce. Flags of truce are resorted to as a means of saving human life, or alleviating human suffering. When not used with perfidy, the laws of war require that they should be respected. The Romans regarded ambassadors betwixt belligerents as persons to be treated with consideration and respect. Plutarch, in his Life of Caesar, tells us that the barbarians in Gaul having sent some ambassadors to Caesar, he detained them, charging fraudulent practices, and led his army to battle, obtaining a great victory. When the Senate decreed festivals and sacrifices for the victory, Cato declared it to be his opinion that Caesar ought to be given into the hands of the barbarians, that so the guilt which this breach of faith might otherwise bring upon the State might be expiated by transferring the curse on him who was the occasion of it. Under the Constitution and laws of the United States, should a commander be guilty of such a flagrant breach of law as Cato charged upon Cesar, he would not be delivered to the enemy, but would be punished after a military trial. The many honorable gentlemen who hold commissions in the army of the United States, and have been deputed to conduct war according to the laws of war, would keenly feel it as an insult to their profession of arms for any one to say that they could not or would not punish a fellow-soldier who was guilty of wanton cruelty to a prisoner, or perfidy toward the bearers of a nag of truce. The laws of war permit capitulations of surrender and paroles. They are arguments betwixt belligerents, and should be scrupulously observed and performed. They are contracts wholly unknown to civil tribunals. Parties to such contracts must answer any breaches thereof to the customary military tribunal's in time of war. If un officer of rank, possessing the pride that becomes a soldier and a gentleman, who should capitulate to surrender the forces and property under his command and control, be charged with a fraudulent breach of the terms of surrender, the laws of war do not permit that he should be punished without a trial, or, if innocent, that he shall have no means of wiping out the foul imputation. If a paroled prisoner is charged with a breach of his parole, he may be punished if guilty, but not without a trial. He should be tried by a military tribunal constituted and proceeding as the laws and usages of war prescribe. The laws and usage of war contemplate that soldiers have a high sense of personal honor. The true soldier is proud to feel and know that bis enemy possesses personal honor, and will conform and be obedient to the laws of war. In a spirit of justice, and with a wise appreciation of such feelings, the laws of war protect the character and honor of an open enemy. When, by the fortunes of war, one open enemy is thrown into the hands and power of another, and is charged with dishonorable conduct and a breach of the laws of war, he must be tried according to the usages of war. Justice and fairness say that an open enemy, to whom dishonorable conduct is imputed, has a right to demand a trial. If such a demand can bo rightfully made, surely it cannot be rightfully refused. It is to be hoped that the military authorities of this country will never refuse such a demand, because there is no act of Congress that authorizes it. In time of war the law and usage of war authorize it, and they are part of the law of the land. One belligerent may request the other to punish for breaches of the laws of war, and, regularly, such a request should be made before retaliatory measures are taken. Whether the laws of war have been infringed or not, is of necessity a question to be decided by the laws and usages of war, and is cognizable before a military tribunal. When prisoners of war conspire to escape, or are guilty of a breach of appropriate and necessary rules of prison discipline, they may be punished, but not without trial. The commander who should order every prisoner charged with improper conduct to be shot or hung, would be guilty of a high offence against the laws of war, and should be punished therefor, after a regular military trial. If the culprit should be condemned and executed, the commander would be as free from guilt as if the man had been killed in battle. It is manifest, from what has been said, that military tribunals exist under and according to the laws and usages of war in the interests of justice and mercy. They are established to save human life, and to prevent cruelty as far as possible. The commander of an army in time of war has the same power to organize military tribunals and execute their judgments that he has to set his squadrons in the field and fight battles. His authority in each case is from the law and usages of war. Having seen that there must be military tribunals to decide questions arising in time of war betwixt belligerents who are active and open enemies, let us next see whether the laws of war do not authorize such tribunal to determine the fate of those who are active, but secret, participants in the hostilities. In Mr. Wheaton's " Elements of International Law" he says: "The effect of a state of war, lawfully declared to exist, is to place all the subjects of each belligerent power in a state of mutual hostility. The usage of nations has modified this maxim by legalizing such acts of hostility only as are committed by those who are authorized by the express or implied command of the State; such are the regularly commissioned naval and military forces of the nation and all others called out in its defence, or spontaneously defending themselves, in case of necessity, without any express authority for that purpose. Cicero tells us in his 'Offices,' that by the Roman feudal law no person could lawfully engage in battle with the pubic enemy without being regularly enrolled and taking the military oath. This was a regulation sanctioned both by policy and religion. The horrors of war would indeed be greatly aggravated if every individual of the belligerent States were allowed to plunder and slay indiscriminately the enemy's subjects without being in any manner accountable for his conduct. Hence it is that, in land wars, irregular bands of marauders are liable to be treated as lawless banditti, not entitled to the protection of the mitigated usages of war, as practised by civilized nations."—(Wheaton's "Elements of International Law," page 406, 3d edition.) In speaking upon the subject of banditti, Patrick Henry said, in the Virginia Convention: "The honorable gentleman has given you an elaborate account of what he judges tyrannical legislation, and an ex pod facto law (in the case of Josiah Phillips); he has misrepresented the facts. That man was not executed by a tyrannical stroke of power, nor was he a Socrates; he was a fugitive murderer and an outlaw; a man who commanded an infamous banditti, and at a time when the war was at the most perilous stage he committed the most cruel and shocking barbarities; he was an enemy to the human name. Those who declare war against the human race may be struck out of existence as soon as apprehended. He was not executed according to those beautiful legal ceremonies which are pointed out by the laws in criminal cases. The enormity of his crimes did not entitle him to it. I am truly a friend to legal forms and methods, but, in the occasion warranted the measure. A pirate, an outlaw, or a common enemy to all mankind, may be put to death at any time. It is justified by the law of nature and Page 571 nations."—(3d volume Elliott's "Debates on the Federal Constitution," page 140.) No reader, not to say student, of the law of nations can doubt but that Mr. Wheaton and Mr. Henry hare fairly stated the laws of war. Let it be constantly borne in mind that they are talking of the law in a state of war. These banditti that spring up in time of war are respecters of no law, human or divine, of peace or of war; are hotUs humani generit, and may be hunted down like wolves. Thoroughly desperate and perfectly lawless, no man can be required to peril his life in venturing to take them prisoners—as prisoners, no trust can be reposed in them. But they are occasionally made prisoners. Being prisoners, what is to be done with them? If they are public enemies, assuming and exercising the right to kill, and are not regularly authorized to do so, they must be apprehended and dealt with by the military. No man can doubt the right and duty of the military to make prisoners of them, and, being public enemies, it is the duty of the military to punish them for any infraction of the laws of war. But the military cannot ascertain whether they are guilty or not without the aid of a military tribunal. In all wars, and especially in civil wars, secret but active enemies are almost as numerous as open ones. That fact has contributed to make civil wars such scourges to the countries in which they rage. In nearly nil foreign wars the contending parties speak different languages, and have different habits and manners; but in most civil wars that is not the case, hence there is a security in participating secretly in hostilities that induces many to thus engage. War, prosecuted according to the most civilized usage, is horrible; but its horrors are greatly aggravated by the immemorial habits of plunder, rape, and murder practised by secret but active participants. Certain laws and usages have been adopted by the civilized world in wars between nations that are not of kin to one another, for the purpose and to the effect of arresting or softening many of the necessary cruel consequences of war. How strongly bound are we, then, in the midst of a great war, where brother and personal friend are fighting against brother and friend, to adopt and be governed by those laws and usages 1 A public enemy must or should be dealt with in all wars by the same laws. The fact that they are pubic enemies, being the same, they should deal with each other according to those laws of war that are contemplated by the Constitution. Whatever rules have been adopted and practised by the civilized nations of the world in war to soften its harshness and severity should be adopted and practised by us in this war. That the laws of war authorized commanders to create and establish military commissions, courts, or tribunals, for the trial of offenders against the laws of war, whether they be active or secret participants in the hostilities, cannot be denied. That the judgments of such tribunals may have been sometimes harsh, and sometimes even tyrannical, does not prove that they ought not to exist, nor does it prove that they are not constituted in the interest of justice and mercy. Considering the power that the laws of war give over secret participants in hostilities, such as banditti, guerrillas, spies etc., the position or a commander would be miserable indeed, if he could not call to his aid the judgments of such tribunals; he would become a mere butcher of men, without the power to ascertain justice, and there can bo no mercy where there is no justice. War, in its mildest form, is horrible; but take away from the contending armies the ability and right to organize what is now known as a Bureau of Military Justice, they would soon become monster savages, unrestrained \ty any and all ideas of law and justice. Surely no lover of mankind, no one that respects law and order, no one that has the instinct of justice, or that can be softened by mercy, would in time sf war take away from the commanders the right to organize military tribunals of justice, and especially such tribunals for the protection of persons charged or suspected with being secret foes and participants in the hostilities. It would be a miracle if the records and history of this war do not show occasional cases in which those tribunals have erred ; but they will show many, very many cases in which human life would have been taken, but for the interposition and judgments of those tribunals. Every student of the laws of war must acknowledge that such tribunals exert a kindly and benign influence in time of war. Impartial history will record the fact that the Bureau of Military Justice, regularly organized during this war, has saved human life and prevented human suffering. The greatest suffering patiently endured by our soldiers, and the hardest battles gallantly fought during this protracted struggle, are not more creditable to the American character than the establishment of this bureau. This people have such an educated and profound respect for law and justice—such a love of mercy—that they have, in the midst of this greatest of civil wars, systematized and brought into regular order tribunals that before this war existed under the law of war, but without general rule. To condemn the tribunals that have been established under this bureau is to condemn and denounce the war itself, or, justifying the war, to insist that it shall be prosecuted according to the harshest rules, and without the aid of the laws, usages, and customary agencies for mitigating those rules. If such tribunals had not existed before, under the laws and usages of war, the American citizen might as proudly point to their establishment as to our inimitable and inestimable constitutions. It must be constantly borne in mind that such tribunals and such a bureau cannot exist except in time of war, and cannot then take cognizance of offenders or offences where the civil courts are open, except offenders or offences against the laws of war. But it is insisted by some, and doubtless with honesty, and with a zeal commensurate with their honesty, that such military tribunals can have no constitutional existence. The argument against their constitutionality may be shortly, and I think fairly, stated thus: Congress alone can establish military or judicial tribunals. As Congress has not established military tribunals, except such as have been created under the articles of war, and which articles are made in pursuance of that clause in the Constitution which gives to Congress the power to make rules for the government of the army and navy, any other tribunal is and must be plainly unconstitutional, and all its acts void. This objection thus stated, or stated in any other way, begs the question. It assumes that Congress alone can establish military or judicial tribunals. Is that assumption true? We have seen that when war comes, the laws and usages of war come also, and that during the war they arc part of the laws of the land. Under the Constitution, Congress may define and punish offences against those laws, but in default of Congress's defining those laws and prescribing a punishment for their infraction, and the mode of proceeding to ascertain whether an offence has been committed, and what punishment is to be inflicted, the army must be governed by the laws and usages of war as understood and practised by the civilized nations of the world. It has been abundantly shown that these tribunals are constituted by the army in the interest of justice and mercy, and for the purpose and to the effect of mitigating the horrors of war. But it may bo insisted that though the laws of war being a part of the law of nations, constitute a part of the laws of the land, those laws must be regarded as modified so far and whenever they come m direct conflict with plain constitutional provisions. The following clauses of the Constitution are principally relied upon to show the conflict betwixt the laws of war and the Constitution: Page 572 "The trial of all crimes except in cases of impeachment, shall be by the jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crime shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed."—(Art. III. of the original Constitution, sec. 2.) "No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual Service, in time of war or of public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."—(Amendments to the Constitution, Art. V.) "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence."—(Art. VI. of Amendments to the Constitution.) These provisions of the Constitution are intended to fling around the life, liberty, and property of a citizen all the guaranties of a jury trial. These constitutional guaranties cannot be estimated too highly or protected too sacredly. The reader of history knows that for many weary ages the people suffered for the want of them; it would not only be stupidity, but madness, in us not to preserve them. No man has a deeper conviction of their value, or a more sincere desire to preserve and perpetuate them, than I have. Nevertheless, these exalted and sacred provisions of the Constitution must not be read alone and by themselves, but must be read and taken in connection with other provisions. The Constitution was framed by great men, men of learning and large experience, and it is a wonderful monument of their wisdom. Well versed in the history of the world, they know that the nation for which they were forming a government would, unless all history was false, have wars, foreign and domestic. Hence the Government framed by them is clothed with the power to make and carry on war. As has been shown, when war comes, the laws of war come with it. Infractions of the laws of nations are not denominated crimes, but offences. Hence the expression in the Constitution that " Congress shall have power to define and punish  offences against the laws of nations. Many of the offences against the law of nations for which a man may, by the laws of war, lose his life, his liberty, or his property, are not crimes. It is an offence against the law of nations to break a lawful blockade, and for which a forfeiture of the property is the penalty, and yet the running a blockade has never been regarded as a crime. To hold communication or intercourse with the enemy is a high offence against the laws of war, and for which those laws prescribe punishment, and yet it is not a crime; to act as a spy is an offence against the laws of war, and the punishment for which, in all ages, has been death, and yet it is not a crime; to violate a flag of truce is an offence against the laws of war, and yet is not a crime of which a civil court can take cognizance; to unite with banditti, jayhawkers, guerrillas, or any other unauthorized marauders, is a high offence against the laws of war; the offence is complete when the band is organized or joined. The atrocities committed by such a band do not constitute the offence, but make the reasons, and sufficient reasons they are, why such banditti are denounced by the laws of war. Some of the offences against the laws of war are crimes, and some are not. Because they are not crimes they do not cease to be offences against those laws; nor because they are not crimes or misdemeanors do they fail to be offences against the laws of war. Murder is a crime, and the murderer, as such, must be proceeded against in the form and manner prescribed in the Constitution. In committing the murder an offence may also have been committed against the laws of war; for that offence he must answer to the laws of war, and the tribunals legalized by that law. There is, then, an apparent but no real conflict in the constitutional provisions. Offences against the laws of war must be dealt with and punished under the Constitution as the laws of war, they being a part of the law of nations, direct; crimes must be dealt with and punished as the Constitution, and laws made in pursuance thereof, may direct. Congress has not undertaken to define the code of war, nor to punish offences against it. In the case of a spy, Congress has undertaken to say who shall be deemed a spy, and how he shall be punished. But every lawyer knows that a spy was a well-known offender under the laws of war, and that under and according to those laws he could have been tried and punished without an act of Congress. This is admitted by the act of Congress when it says that he shall suffer death "according to the law and usages of war." The act is simply declaratory of the law. That portion of the Constitution which declares that "no person shall be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," has such direct reference to, and connection with, trials for crime or criminal prosecutions, that comment upon it would seem to be unnecessary. Trials for offences against the laws of war are not embraced or intended to be embraced in those provisions. If this is not so, then every man that kills another in battle is a murderer, for he deprived "a person of life without that due processor law" contemplated by this provision; ?very man who holds another as a prisoner of war is i able for false imprisonment, as he does so without that due process of law contemplated by this provision; every soldier that marches across a field in battle array is liable to an action of trespass, because he does it without that same due process. The argument that flings around offenders against the laws of war these guaranties of the Constitution would convict all the soldiers of our army of murder; no prisoners could be taken or held; the army could not move. The absurd consequences that would of necessity flow from such an argument show that it cannot be the true construction—it cannot be what was intended by the framers of the instrument. One of the prime motives for the Union and a Federal Government was to confer the powers of war. If any of, the provisions of the Constitution are so in conflict with the power to carry on a war as to destroy and make it valueless, then the instrument, instead of being a great and wise one, is a miserable failure, a fdo de ss. If a man should sue out his writ of habeas corpus, and the return shows that he belonged to the army or navy, and was held to be tried for some offence against the rules and articles of war, the writ should be dismissed, and the party remanded to answer the charges. So, in time of war, if a man should sue out a writ of habeas corpus, and it is made to appear that he is in the hands of the military as a prisoner of war, the writ should be dismissed, and the prisoner remanded to be disposed of as the laws and usages of war require. If the prisoner be a regular unoffending soldier of the opposing party to the war he should be treated with all the courtesy and kindness consistent with his safe custody; if he has offended against the laws of war, he should have such trial and be punished as the laws of war require. A spy, though a prisoner of war, may be tried, Page 573 condemned, and executed by a military tribunal without a breach of the Constitution. A bushwhacker, a jayhawker, a bandit, a war rebel, an assassin, being public enemies, may be tried, condemned, and executed as offenders against the laws of war. The soldier that would fail to try a spy or bandit after his capture would be as derelict in his duty as if he were to fail to capture; he is as much bound to try and execute, if guilty, as he is to arrest: the same law that makes it his duty to pursue and kill or capture, makes it bis duty to try according to the usages of war. The judge of a civil Court is not more strongly bound under the Constitution and the law to try a criminal than is the military to try an offender against the laws of war. The fact that the civil courts are open does not affect the right of the military tribunal to hold as a prisoner and to try. The civil courts have no more right to prevent the military, in time of war, from trying an offender against the laws of war, than they have a right to interfere with and prevent a battle. A battle may be lawfully fought in the very view and presence of a court: bo a spy, a bandit, or other offender against the laws of war, may be tried, and tried lawfully, when and where the civil courts are open and transacting the usual business. The laws of war authorize human life to be taken without legal process, or that legal process contemplated by those provisions in the Constitution that are relied upon to show that military judicial tribunals are unconstitutional. Wars should be prosecuted justly as well as bravely. One enemy in the power of another, whether he be an open or a secret one, should not be punished or executed without a trial. If the question bo one concerning the laws of war, he shall be tried by those engaged in the war; they and they only are his peers. The military must decide whether he is or not an active participant in the hostilities. If he is an active participant in the hostilities, it is the duty of the military to take him a prisoner without warrant or other judicial process, and dispose of him as the laws of war direct. It is curious to see one and the same mind justify the killing of thousands in battle because it is done according to the laws of war, and yet condemning the same law when, out of regard for justice and with the hope of saving life, it orders a military trial before the enemy are killed. The love of law, of justice, and the wish to save life and suffering, should impel all good men in time of war to uphold and sustain the existence and action of such tribunals. The object of such tribunals is obviously intended to save life, and when their jurisdiction is confined to offences against the laws of war, that is their effect. They prevent indiscriminate slaughter; they prevent men from being punished or killed upon mere suspicion. The law of nations, which is the result of experience and wisdom of ages, has decided that jay hawkers, banditti, etc., are offenders against the laws of nature and of war, and as such amenable to the military. Our Constitution has made those laws a part of the law of the land. Obedience to the Constitution and the law, then, requires that the military should do their whole duty; they must not only meet and first the enemies of the country in open battle, but they must kill or take the secret enemies of the country, and try and execute them according to the laws of war. The civil tribunals of the country cannot rightfully interfere with the military in the performance of their high, arduous, and perilous but lawful duties. That Booth and his associates were secret, active public enemies, no mind that contemplates the facts can doubt. The exclamation used by him when he escaped from the box on the stage, after he had fired the fatal shot, "Sic semper tyrannis" and his dying message, " Say to my mother that I die for my country, show that ne was not un assassin from private malice, but that he acted as a public foe. Such a deed is expressly laid down by Vattel in bis work on the law of nations, as an offence against the laws of war, and a great crime. "I give, then, the name of assassination to a treacherous murder, whether the perpetrators of the deed be the subjects of the party whom we cause to be assassinated or of our own sovereign, or that it be executed by any other emissary introducing himself as a suppliant, a refugee, or a deserter, or, in fine, as a stranger."—(Vattel, 339.) Neither the civil nor the military department of the Government should regard itself as wiser and better than the Constitution and the laws that exist under or are made in pursuance thereof. Each department should, in peace and in war confining itself to its own proper sphere of action, diligently and fearlessly perform its legitimate functions, and in the mode prescribed by the Constitution and the law. Such obedience to and observance of law will maintain peace when it exists, and will soonest relieve the country from the abnormal state of war. My conclusion, therefore, is, that if the persons who are charged with the assassination of the President committed the deed as public enemies, as I believe they did—and whether they did or not is a question to be decided by the tribunal before which they arc tried—they not only can, but ought to be, tried before a military tribunal. If the persons charged have offended against the laws of war, it would bo as palpably wrong for the military to hand them over to the civil courts, as it would be wrong in a civil court to convict a man of murder who had, in time of war, killed another in battle. I am, sir, most respectfully,

Your obedient servant, JAMES SPEED,

Attorney-General.

To the President. Having received this opinion, the following order was issued for the trial of the assassins: Executive Chamber, Washington City, May 1,1865.

Whereas, the Attorney-General of the United States has given his opinion that the persons implicated in the murder of the late President Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of the Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State, and an alleged conspiracy to assassinate other officers of the Federal Goverment at Washington City, and their aiders and abettors, are subject to the jurisdiction of, and legally triable before, a military commission, it is ordered: First. That the Assistant Adjutant-General detail nine competent military officers to serve as a commission for the trial of said parties, and that the Judge Advocate General proceed to prefer charges against said parties for their alleged offences, and bring them to trial before said military commission; that said trial or trials be conducted by the said Judge Advocate-General as recorded thereof in person, aided by such assistant or special judge advocates as he may designate, and that said trials be conducted with all diligence consistent with the ends of justice, and said commission to sit without regard to hours. Second. That Brevet Major-General Hartranft be assigned to duty as special Provost Marshal General for the purpose of said trial and attendance upon said commission and the execution of its mandates. Third. That the said commission establish such order or rules of proceeding as may avoid unnecessary delay, and conduct to the ends of public justice. (Signed) ANDREW JOHNSON. Adj't.-General's Office, Washington, D. C, May 16, 1865. (Official copy).

(Signed) W. A. NICHOLS, A. A.

Gen In compliance with this order, the following officers were detailed as members of the military commission: President, Maj-General David Hunter. Members.—Major-General Lew Wallace, Brevet Major-General August V. Kautz, Brigadier-General Albion Page 574 Howe, Brigadier-General Robert S. Foster, Brigadier-General James A. Ekin, Brigadier-General Thos. M. Harris, Colonel Chas. H. Tompkins, Brevet Colonel 1). R. Clendenin. The prosecution was conducted by Brigadier-General Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General; assisted by Brevet Colonel H. L. Burnett, of Indiana, and Hon. John A. Bingham, of Ohio, Assistant Judge Advocates. The prisoners selected for their counsel, Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland; Thomas Ewing, of Kansas; W. E. Doster, of Penn; Fred. A. Aikin, District of Columbia; Walter S. Cox, John W. Clainpit, and F. Stone, of Maryland. The Commission having organized, the following charges and specifications were presented:

Charge 1.—For maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously, and in aid of the existing armed rebellion against the United States of America, on or before the 6th of March, a. d. 1865, and on divers other days between that day and the 15th day of April, a. d. 1865, combining, confederating, and conspiring together with one John 11. Surratt, John Wilkes Booth, Jefferson Davis, George N. Sanders, Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson, William C. Cleary, Clement C. Clay, George Harper, George Young, and others unknown, within the military department of Washington, and within the fortified and intrenched lines thereof, to kill and murder Abraham Lincoln, late, and at the time of the combining, confederating, and conspiring, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-chief of the army and navy thereof; Andrew Johnson now President of the United States aforesaid; Win. H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States aforesaid; and Ulysses S. Grant, Lieutenant-General of the army of the United States aforesaid, then in command of the armies of the United States, under the direction of the said Abraham Lincoln, and in pursuance of and in prosecuting said malicious, unlawful, and traitorous conspiracy, aforesaid, and in aid of said rebellion, afterwards—to wit: on the 14th day of April, a. d. 1865—within the military department of Washington aforesaid, and within the fortified and intrenched lines of said military department, together with the said John Wilkes Booth and John H. Surratt, maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously murdering the said Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States and Commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, as aforesaid, and maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously assaulting, with intent to kill and murder, the said Wm. H. Seward, then Secretary of State of the United States, as aforesaid; end lying in wait, with intent maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously to kill and murder the said Andrew Johnson, then being Vice-President of the United States; and the said Ulysses S. Grant, then being Lieutenant-General, and in command of the armies of the United States, as aforesaid. Specification 1.—In this that they, the said David E. Harold, Edward Spangler, Lewis Payne, John H. Surratt, Michael O'Lauglilin, Samuel Arnold, Marv E. Surratt, George A. Atzerott, and Samuel A. Mudd, incited and encouraged thereunto by Jefferson Davis, George N. Sanders, Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson, William C. Cleary, Clement C. Clay, George Young, and others, unknown citizens of the United States aforesaid, and who were engaged in armed rebellion against the United States of America within the limits thereof, did, in aid of said armed rebellion, on or before the 6th day of March, a. d. 1865, and on divers other days or times between that day and the 15th day of April, A. D. 1865, combine, confederate, and conspire together, at Washington City, within the military department, and within the intrenched fortifications and military lines of the said United States, there combine unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously, to kill and murder Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States aforesaid, and Commander-in-chief of the army and navy thereof, and unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously to kill and murder Andrew Johnson, then Vice-President of the United States, upon whom, on the death of the said Abraham Lincoln, aft er the 1th day of March, a. d. 1865, the office of President of the said United States, and Commander-in-chief of the army and navy thereof, would devolve; and to unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously kill and murder U. S. Grant, then Lieutenant-General, under the direction of said Abraham Lincoln, in command of the armies of the United States aforesaid; and unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously to kill and murder William H. Seward, then Secretary of Stats of the United States aforesaid, whose duty it was by law, upon the death of said President and Vice-President of the United States aforesaid, to cause an election for electors of President of the United States. The conspirators aforesaid designing or intending by the killing and murder of the said Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant and William H. Seward as aforesaid, to deprive the army and navy of the United States of a constitutional commander-in-chief, and to deprive the armies of the United States of their lawful commander, und to prevent a lawful election of President and Vice-President of the United States aforesaid; and by the means aforesaid to aid and comfort the insurgents engaged in armed rebellion against the said United States aforesaid, and thereby to aid in the subversion and overthrow of the said United States; and being so combined, confederated, and conspiring together in the prosecution of said unlawful and traitorous conspiracy on the night of the 14th day of April, a. d. 1865, at the hour of about ten o'clock and fifteen minutes p. k., at Ford's Theatre, on Tenth Street, in the city of Washington, and within the military department and military lines aforesaid, John Wilkes Booth, one of the conspirators aforesaid, in pursuance of said unlawful and traitorous conspiracy, did then and there, unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously, and with intent to kill and murder the said Abraham Lincoln, discharge a pistol then held in the hands of him, the said Booth, the same being then loaded with powder and a leaden ball, against and upon the left and posterior side of the head of the said Abraham Lincoln, and did thereby there and then inflict upon him, the said Abraham Lincoln, then President of the said United States, and Commander-in-chief of the army and navy thereof, a mortal wound, whereof afterwards, to wit, on the 15th day of April, a. d. 1865, at Washington City aforesaid, the said Abraham Lincoln died; and thereby, then and there, in pursuance of said conspiracy, the said defendant, and the said John Wilkes Booth, did, unlawfully, traitorously, and maliciously, and with the intent to aid the rebellion as aforesaid, kill the President of the United States as aforesaid; and further, in prosecution of the unlawful traitorous conspiracy aforesaid, and of the murderous and traitorous intent of the said conspiracy, the said Edward Spangler, on the said 14th day of April, a. d. 1805, at about the same hour of the day aforesaid, within the military department and the military lines aforesaid, did aid and assist the said John Wilkes Booth to obtain entrance to the box in the theatre in which the said Abraham Lincoln was sitting at the time he was assaulted and shot as aforesaid by John Wilkes Booth, and also did then and there aid said Booth in barring and obstructing the door of the box of said theatre so as to hinder and prevent any assistance to a rescue of the said Abraham Lincoln against the murderous assault of the said John Wilkes Booth, and did aid and abet him in making his escape after the said Abraham Lincoln had been murdered in manner aforesaid. And in further prosecution of said unlawful, murderous, and traitorous conspiracy, and in pursuance Page 575 thereof, and with the intent as aforesaid, the said David E. Harold did, on the night of the 14th of April, A. d. 1865, within the military department and military lines aforesaid, aid, abet, and assist the said John Wilkes Booth in the killing and murder of the said Abraham Lincoln, and did then and there aid and abet and assist him, the said John Wilkes Booth, in attempting to escape through the military lines aforesaid, and did accompany and assist the said J. Wilkes Booth in attempting to conceal himself and escape from justice after killing and murdering said Abraham Lincoln, as aforesaid; and, in further prosecution of said unlawful and traitorous conspiracy, and of the intent thereof as aforesaid, the said Lewis Payne did, on the same night of the 14th day of April, a. D. 1865, about the same hour of 10 o'clock and 15 minutes p. h., at the city of Washington, and within the military department and military lines aforesaid, unlawfully and maliciously make an assault upon the said William H. Seward, Secretary of State aforesaid, in the dwelling-house and bed-chamber of him, the said William IH. Seward; and there, with a large knife held in his hand, unlawfully, traitorously, and in pursuance of the said conspiracy, strike, stab, cut, and attempt to kill and murder the said William II. Seward, and did, thereby, then and there, and with the intent aforesaid, with said knife, inflict upon the face and throat of the said William H. Seward divers grievous wounds; and the said Lewis Payne, in further prosecution of the said conspiracy, at the same time and place last aforesaid, did attempt, with the knife aforesaid, and a pistol held in his hand, to kill and murder Frederick W. Seward, Augustus W. Seward, Emerick W. Hansell, and George F. Robinson, who were then striving to protect and rescue the said William H. Seward from murder by the said Lewis Payne; and did then and there, with the said knife and pistol held in his hands, inflict wounds upon the head of the said Frederick W. Seward and upon the persons of the said Augustus W. Seward, Emerick W. Hansell, and George F. Robinson. And in the further prosecution of the said conspiracy, and its traitorous and murderous designs, the said George A. Atzerott did, on the night of the 14th of April, a. d. 1865, and about the same hour of the night aforesaid, within the military department and the military lines aforesaid, lie in wait for Andrew Johnson, then Vice-President of the United States aforesaid, with the intent unlawfully and maliciously to kill and murder him, the said Andrew Johnson. And in the further prosecution of the conspiracy aforesaid, and of its murderous and treasonable purposes aforesaid, on the night of the 13th and 14th of April, 1865, at Washington City, and within the military department and military lines aforesaid, the said Michael O'Laughlin did then and there he in wait for Ulysses S. Grant. And in the further prosecution of the said conspiracy, the said Samuel Arnold did, within the military department and military lines aforesaid, on or before the 6th day of March, a. d. 1865, and on divers other days and times between that day and the 15th of April, a. d. 1865, combine, conspire with, and aid, counsel, and abet, comfort, and support the said John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Payne; George A. Atzerott, Michael O'Laughlin, and their confederates in the said unlawful, murderous, and traitorous conspiracy, and in the execution thereof, as aforesaid; and, in the further prosecution of the said conspiracy, Mary E. Surratt did, at Washington City, and within the military department and military lines aforesaid, on or before the 6th day of March, a. d. 18G5, and on divers other days and times between that day and the 20th day of April, a. d. 1865, receive, entertain, harbor, and conceal, aid and assist the said John Wilkes Booth, David E. Harold, Lewis Payne, John H. Surratt, Michael O'Laughlin, George A. Atzerott, Samuel Arnold, and their confederates, with a knowledge of the murderous and traitorous conspiracy aforesaid, and with intent to aid, abet, and assist them in the execution thereof, and in escaping from justice after the murder of the said Abraham Lincoln, as aforesaid, with intent to aid, abet, and assist them in the execution thereof, and in escaping from justice, after the murder of the said Abraham Lincoln, in pursuance of the said conspiracy in the manner aforesaid. By order of the President of the United States. J. HOLT, Judge Advocate General. The Commission commenced the trial May 13th, and wore engaged on it until the 29th of June. A great number of witnesses were examined, and the testimony taken is very voluminous. On the last day named their finding was made, and transmitted to the President for approval. On the 6th of July the following order was issued, approving of the findings and sentences: War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, July 5, 1865.

To Major-General W. S. Hancock, United States Volunteers, commanding the Middle Military Division, Washington, D. C.

Whereas, by the Military Commission appointed in paragraph 4, Special Orders, No. 211, dated War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, May 6,1865, and of which Major-General David Hunter, United States Volunteers, was president, the following named persons were tried, and, after mature consideration of evidence adduced in their cases, were found and sentenced as hereinafter stated, as follows: First. David E. Harold.—Finding of the specification, guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler, as to which part thereof, not guilty; of the charge guilty, except the words of the charge, that he combined, confederated, and conspired with Edward Spangler; as to which part of the charge, not guilty. Sentence.—And the Commission does, therefore, sentence him, the said David E. Harold, to be hanged by the neck until he be dead, at such time and place as the President of the United States shall direct, two-thirds of the Commission concurring therein. Second. George A. Atzerott.—Finding of the specification, guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. Of the charge, guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. Sentence.—Ana the Commission does, therefore, sentence him, the said George A. Atzerott, to be hung by the neck until he be dead, at such time and place as the President of the United States shall direct, two-thirds of the Commission concurring therein. Third. Lewis Payne.—Finding of the specification, guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. Of the charge, guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. Sentence.—And the Commission does therefore sentence him, the said Lewis Payne, to be hung by the neck until be be dead, at such time and place as the President of the United States shall direct, two-thirds of the Commission concurring therein. Fourth. Mary E. Surratt.—Finding of the specification guilty, except as to receiving, sustaining, harboring, and concealing Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlin, and except as to combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. Of the charge guilty, except as to combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. Sentence.—And the Commission docs, therefore, sentence her, the said Mary E. Surratt, to be hung by the neck until she be dead, at such time and place as the President of the United States shall direct, two-thirds of the members of the Commission concurring therein.

Page 576

And whereas, the President of the United States has approved the foregoing sentences in the following order, to wit: Executive Mansion, July 5,1865.

The foregoing sentences in the cases of David E. Harold, G. A. Atzerott, Lewis Payne, Mary E. Surratt, are hereby approved: and it is ordered that the sentences in the cases of David E. Harold, G. A. Atzerott. Lewis Payne, and Mary E. Surratt, be carried into execution by the proper military authority, under the direction of the Secretary of War. on the 7th day of July, 1865, between the hours of 10 o'clock a. m. and 2 o'clock p. m. of that day.

ANDREW JOHNSON, President Therefore you are hereby commanded to cause the foregoing sentences, in the cases of David E. Harold, G. A. Atzerott, Lewis Payne, and Mary E. Surratt, to be duly executed In accordance with the President's order. By command of the President of the United States.

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General In the remaining cases of O'Laughlin, Spangler, Arnold, and Mudd, the findings and sentences are as follows: , Fifth.—Michael O'Laughlin.—Finding of the specification guilty, except the words thereof as follows: And in the further prosecution of the conspiracy aforesaid, and of its murderous and treasonable purposes aforesaid, on the night? of the 13th and 14th of April, 1865, at Washington City, and within the military department and military lines aforesaid, the said Michael O'Laughlin did there and then lie in wait for Ulysses S. Grant, then Lieut.-General and commander of the armies of the United States, with intent then and there to kill and murder the said Ulysses S. Grant—of said words not guilty; and except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; on this, not guilty. Of the charge—guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. /Sentence.—The Commission sentence O'Laughlin to be imprisoned at hard labor for life. Sixth. Finding—Edward Spangler, of the specification, not guilty, except as to the words " the said Edward Spangler, on said 14th day of April, a. d. 1805, at about the same hour of that day, as aforesaid, within said military department and the military lines aforesaid, did aid and abet him (meaning John Wilkes Booth) in making hi3 escape after the said Abraham Lincoln had been murdered in manner aforesaid," and of these words, guilty. Of the charge not guilty, but guilty of having feloniously and traitorously aided and abetted John Wilkes Booth in making his escape after having killed and murdered Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, he, the said Edward Spangler, at the time of aiding and abetting as aforesaid, well knowing that the said Abraham Lincoln, President as aforesaid, bad been murdered by the said John Wilkes Booth as aforesaid. The Commission sentenced Spangler to hard labor for six years. Seventh. Samuel Arnold.—Of the specifications, guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. Of the charge, guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. The Commission sentenced him to imprisonment at hard labor for life. Eighth. Samuel A. Mudd.—Of the specification, guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty; and excepting receiving, and entertaining, and harboring, and concealing said Lewis Payne, John H. Surratt, Michael O'Laughlin, George A. Atzerott, Mary E. Surratt, and Samuel Arnold; of this, not guilty. Of the charge guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this part guilty. The Commission sentenced Mudd to bo imprisoned at hard labor for life. The President's order in these cases is as follows: It is further ordered, that the prisoners, Samuel Arnold, Samuel A. Mudd, and Michael O'Laughlin, be confined at hard labor in the penitentiary at Albany, New York, during the period designated in their respective sentences.

ANDREW JOHNSON, President.

Efforts were subsequently made to review the proceedings, by bringing up the case of Mrs. Surratt, on habeas corpus; but the writ, although allowed, was suspended by order of the President, and those who had been condemned to death were executed in accordance with the order issued—those who were sentenced to imprisonment were transported to Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, to serve out the period of their incarceration. The trial of Captain Henry "Wirz was second in importance and interest to that of the assassins. Captain Wirz had been in charge of the Confederate prison at Andersonville, and it was alleged that through his cruelty thousands of Union prisoners of war had lost their lives. The Commission before which he was tried was convened by order of August 19, 1805, directing the officers detailed for that purpose to meet as a special military Commission on the 21st of August, for the trial of such prisoners as might be brought before it. The Commission assembled on the day named, and Wirz was arraigned on the charges and specifications. The first charge was for traitorously conspiring with others to injure the health and destroy the lives of soldiers in the service of the United States, held and being at the time prisoners of war. The second charge was for murder, in violation of the laws and customs of war, with thirteen specifications. After argument on a motion to quash the charges and specifications as too general and uncertain, and that the offences charged were cognizable by civil and not by military courts, which motion was overruled by the court, the prisoner pleaded not guilty and on suggestion of the Judge Advocate, Wii i was remanded to prison, and the court adjourned sine die. On the 23d of August, at a meeting of the Commission, the Judge Advocate read an order from the War Department, dated August 22d, directing that the Commission convened on the 20th, by the order of the President, be dissolved, and another order convening a special Commission to assemble on the 23d, for the trial of Henry Wirz, and such other prisoners as might be brought before it, the detail of officers being the same as that of the previous commission. The charges and specifications against the prisoner were substantially the same as those on which he was at first arraigned. The trial was very lengthy and tedious*— large numbers of witnesses being examined, and the Commission found Wirz guilty, and he was, in accordance with the sentence of the Commission, executed on the 10th day of November. An additional interest is given to trials by military Commissions in consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, holding that they had no jurisdiction in the case known as the Indiana conspirators.


Source: The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.