USA > Georgia > The Confederate records of the State of Georgia, Vol 4 > Part 15
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Roberts, of Dooly,
Roberts, of Echols, Robinson, of Early,
Robinson, of Laurens,
Rogers, of Gordon,
Rogers, of Milton, Rouse, Rumph,
Scruggs, Sharman,
Singleton, Sorrels,
Stephens,
Strickland,
Taliaferro, Thompson, of Gordon, Thompson, of Haralson, Thomas, Tison,
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Trice,
Williams, of Haralson,
Williams, of Harris,
Underwood,
Wikle,
Walker, of Carroll,
Womack,
Watkins,
Young,
Weaver,
Whelchel,
Zachery.
Williams, of Baker,
Those who voted in the negative are: Messrs.
Adair,
Cole,
Adams, of Putnam,
Colley,
Allen,
Cook,
Alexander, of Pike,
Covington,
Anderson, of Chatham,
Cutts,
Anderson, of Cobb,
Cureton,
Arnold, of Henry,
Dart,
Arnold, of Walton,
Davis, of Floyd,
Atkinson, of Troup,
Davis, of Jackson,
Atkinson, of Camden,
DeGraffenried,
Bagley,
Dickson,
Barksdale,
Dowda,
Bell, of Forsyth,
DuBose,
Blance,
Dupree,
Black, of Sereven, Blount,
England,
Brantley,
Edwards,
Burts,
Felton,
Cabaniss,
Floyd,
Callaway,
Gillis,
Cameron,
Gibson,
Candler,
Giles,
Chappell,
Goode, of Houston,
Christy,
Glover,
Cochran, of Wilkinson, Cohen,
Graham,
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Henry, Hill, of Morgan, Hill, of Troup, Holt, of Bibb, Hopkins, Humber, Hudson, of Brooks,
Hudson, of Wilkinson, Holmes, Harris, of Clarke,
Harris, of Worth,
Hammond, Howard, of Bartow, Hand, Hansell,
Jackson, Jenkins, Johnson, of Campbell,
Johnson, of Clark,
Johnson, of Heard,
Johnson, of Jefferson,
Johnson, of Wilcox,
Jones, of Columbia, Jones, M. D., of Burke. Jordan,
Kenan, King, of Greene, King, of Richmond, Knight,
Lawson, Lawrence, Logan, of Bibb, Lovett, Lloyd,
Moore, of Floyd, Manning, Marler,
Matthews, of Oglethorpe. McCrary, McDuffie, of Marion, McGregor, McLeod, McRae, of Telfair, Merrill.
Nichols,
Norman,
Parrott,
Park,
Patton,
.
Reese,
Ridley, of Troup, Roberts, of Warren,
Saffold,
Sale,
Scott,
Seward,
Scarlett,
Sharp,
Shannon,
Shockley,
Simmons, of Gwinnett,
Simmons, of Crawford, Skelton,
Smith, of Bryan,
Smith, of Coweta,
Solomon,
Stewart.
Thompson, of. Jackson, Turk,
Turner, of Campbell,
Turner, of Quitman,
Turnipseed,
Walker, of Richmond,
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Warren, of Pulaski,
Willingham,
Warren, of Houston,
Wimberly,
Ware,
Wootten, of DeKalb.
Watts,
Wootten, of Terrell,
Whitaker,
Wright, of Coweta,
Winn,
Wright, of Dougherty,
Williams, of Bryan.
Wright, of Emanuel,
Williams, of Muscogee,
Williams, of Ware,
And Mr. President, nay.
Yeas, 131; nays, 139.
So the motion did not prevail.
Mr. Matthews, of Oglethorpe, asked that the com- mittee of seventeen have leave to retire in order to trans- act the business of said committee. Granted.
Leaves of absence were granted to Messrs. Johnson, of Wilcox, and R. T. Jones, of Burke.
Mr. Solomon, of Twiggs, asked to be allowed to record his vote in the negative on the vote taken yesterday by yeas and nays upon the reduction of the General Assem- bly. Granted.
Mr. Jenkins, chairman of the committee of sixteen, reported the fifth article of the Constitution, as follows:
ARTICLE V.
SECTION I.
1. The electors of members of the General Assembly shall be free white male citizens of this State, and shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, and have paid all taxes which may have been required of them, and
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which they have had an opportunity of paying agreeable to law, for the year preceding the election, shall be citi- zens of the United States, and shall have resided six months either in the district or county, and two years within this State, and no person not qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly, shall hold any office in this State.
2. All elections by the General Assembly shall be viva voce and the vote shall always appear on the journal of the House of Representatives, and where the Senate and House of Representatives unite for the purpose of electing, they shall meet in the Representative chamber, and the President of the Senate shall in such cases pre- side and declare the person or persons elected.
3. In all elections by the people the electors shall vote by ballot until the General Assembly shall otherwise direct.
4. All civil officers heretofore commissioned by the Governor, or who have been duly appointed, or elected, since the first day of January last, but who have not received their commission and who have not resigned, nor been removed from office, and whose terms of office shall not have expired, shall continue in the exercise of the duties of their respective offices during the period for which they were duly appointed or duly elected as aforesaid, and commissioned, and until their successors shall be appointed under the provisions of this Constitu- . tion; unless removed from office as herein provided.
5. Laws of general operation now in force, in this State, are: 1st, as the supreme law, the Constitution of the United States; the laws of the United States in pur- suance thereof, and all treaties made under the authority
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of the United States; 2nd, as next in authority thereto, this Constitution; 3rd, in subordination to the aforegoing, all laws declared of force by an act of the General Assem- bly of this State, assented to December the 19th, A. D., 1860, entitled "An Act to approve, adopt and make of force, in the State of Georgia, a revised code of laws, prepared under the direction and by authority of the General Assembly thereof, and for other purposes there- with connected," an act of the General Assembly afore- said, assented to December 16th, A. D., 1861, amendatory of the aforegoing, and an act of the General Assembly aforesaid assented to December 13th, A. D., 1862, entitled "An Act to settle the conflicts between the code and the legislation of this General Assembly ;" also all acts of the General Assembly aforesaid, passed since the date last written, altering, amending, repealing, or adding to any portion of law hereinbefore mentioned (the latter enact- ments having preference in case of conflict), and also so much of the common and statute law of England, and of the statute law of this State of force in Georgia, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, as is not expressly superceded by, nor inconsistent with said codes, though not embodied therein; except so much of the law afore- said as may violate the supreme law, herein recognized, or may conflict with this Constitution, and except so much thereof as refers to persons held in slavery, and to free persons of color, which excepted laws shall hencefort !! be inoperative and void, and any future General Assem- bly of this State, shall be competent to alter, amend or repeal any portion of the law declared to be of force in this third specification of the fifth clause of this fifth article. If in any statute law herein declared of force, the word "Confederate" occurs before the word States,
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such law is hereby amended by substituting the word "United" for the word "Confederate."
6. Local and private statutes heretofore passed intended for the benefit of counties, cities, towns, corpora- tions, and private persons not inconsistent with the supreme law, nor with this Constitution, and which have neither expired by their own limitations nor been re- pealed, shall have the force of statute law, subject to judicial decision as to their validity when enacted, and to any limitations imposed by their own terms.
7. All judgments, decrees, orders, and other pro- ceedings of the several Courts of this State heretofore made, within the limits of their several jurisdictions, are hereby ratified and affirmed, subject only to past or future reversal, by motion for new trial, appeal, bill of review, or other proceedings, in conformity with the law of force when they were made.
8. All rights, privileges and immunities which may have vested in, or accrued to any person or persons, in his, her, or their own right, or in any fiduciary capacity, under and in virtue of any act of the General Assembly or of any judgment, decree, or order, or other proceeding of any court of competent jurisdiction in this State, since the first day of January, A. D., eighteen hundred and sixty-one, shall be held inviolate by all courts before which they may be brought in question.
9. The marriage relation between white persons and persons of African descent, is forever prohibited; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to enact laws for the punishment of any officer who shall issue a license for the celebration of such a marriage, and any officer or
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minister of the Gospel who shall marry such persons together.
10. All militia and county officers shall be elected by the people, under such regulations as have been or may be prescribed by law.
11. This Constitution shall be altered or amended only by a Convention of the people, called for that pur- pose by act of the General Assembly.
The report of the committee was received and the article having been read was taken up by sections and paragraphs.
The first paragraph being under consideration, Mr. Dupree moved to amend by striking out the word "six" before the word "months" and insert in lieu thereof the word "twelve." Lost.
The paragraph as reported was adopted.
The second paragraph was adopted.
Mr. M. D. Jones, of Burke, moved to amend the third paragraph by striking out the words "by ballot" and inserting "viva voce." Lost.
The paragraph was adopted.
Paragraph fifth being under consideration, Mr. Jen- kins moved to amend it by striking out the words "and to free persons of color."
The amendment was agreed to, and the paragraph as amended was adopted.
Paragraphs six and seven were adopted.
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Mr. Hill, of Morgan, moved to amend the eighth para- graph by adding the following proviso :
"Provided, That all private contracts made and ex- ecuted in this State during the war, including marriage contracts not in violation of any law of this State, or of the United States, are hereby declared as binding and valid as if made during a state of peace-and that all contracts so made but not yet executed where notes or other obligations have been given for the payment of money, shall receive an equitable construction, and either party in any suit for the recovery of money upon such contract, may upon the trial, give in evidence the con- sideration for which such note or obligation was given -and the value of the same in good currency at the time of the making of the contract-and the value of Confed- erate States treasury notes if intended to be paid in that currency, and the judgment shall be made upon princi- ples of equity ; and in cases of judgments upon contracts payable in Confederate treasury notes, or for liabilities incurred while such notes were the common currency in this State, and such judgments have been rendered for the sum claimed by the plaintiff, the same may be opened by motion and a new trial had, and the recovery shall be only for the real value of the said treasury notes, at the time fixed for the execution of the contract-or when the liability of the defendant accrued, with interest of the same.
On motion of Mr. Dupree, the original paragraph and the amendment was recommitted to the committee of six- teen.
In the ninth paragraph Mr. Solomon moved to amend by inserting before the word "issue" the word "know- ingly." Agreed to.
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Mr. Merrill moved farther to amend the paragraph by inserting after the word "prohibited" the words "and such marriage shall be null and void." Agreed to, and the paragraph as amended was adopted.
The tenth paragraph was adopted.
Mr. Burts moved to amend the eleventh paragraph by striking out all after the word "amended" and inserting the words "by a two-thirds vote of both branches of the General Assembly of two concurrent sessions."
Mr. Hill, of Morgan, moved the following as a sub- stitute :
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"This Constitution shall be altered or amended only by a Convention of the people, called for that purpose. Such Convention may be called by an act of the General Assembly passed by the concurrent vote of two-thirds of the members of each house voting thereon."
Mr. Warren moved to amend so as to read as follows:
"This Constitution shall be altered or amended only by a Convention of the people called for that purpose, or by two-thirds of both branches of the General Assembly at two different and successive Legislatures."
Mr. Kenan moved the previous question, which being seconded the main question was put and the paragraph as originally reported was adopted.
Mr. Jenkins, chairman of the committee of sixteen, reported the following preamble to the Constitution re- ported by that committee.
The report was received and the preamble taken up, twice read and put upon its passage. It is as follows:
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CONFEDERATE RECORDS
We, the people of the State of Georgia, in Convention met, having humbly implored light from on High, and relying implicitly upon the favoring providence of Almighty God for the future, do make and ordain the following as the Constitution of the State of Georgia.
Mr. Davis, of Jackson, moved to amend the same by inserting after the words "Almighty God" the words "through Jesus Christ."
Mr. Dowda, of Cherokee, offered the following as a substitute for the preamble reported by the committee and the amendment proposed thereto:
PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION.
We, the people of the State of Georgia, in order to form a permanent government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity-acknowledging and invok- ing the guidance of Almighty God, the author of all good government, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the State of Georgia.
Mr. Jenkins accepted the substitute and it was adopted.
The Convention took a recess until 3:30 o'clock P. M
3:30 O'Clock P. M.
The Convention re-assembled.
Mr. Chappell laid upon the table the following
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ORDINANCE :
Be it ordained by the people of Georgia, in Conven- tion, That all debts contracted or incurred by the State of Georgia, either as a separate State, or as a member of the late partnership or confederacy of States, styled the Confederate States of America, for the purpose of carry- ing on the late war of secession against the United States of America, or for the purpose of aiding, abetting or pro- moting said war in any way, directly or indirectly, be, and the same are hereby declared null and void; and the Legislature is hereby forever prohibited from, in any way, acknowledging or paying said debts, or any part thereof, or from passing any law for that purpose, or to secure or provide for the said debts, or any part thereof, by any appropriation of money, property, stocks, funds, or assets of any kind to that object.
2. Be it further ordained, That inasmuch as the annual income of the State, before and during said war. from taxation and other sources of revenue, was amply sufficient for the support of the ordinary civil government of the State, and for the payment of all its expenses, incident to a state of peace; and as the extraordinary expenses which led to the creation of a debt were the off- spring and results of the war, it is therefore the judgment. ordinance and decree of this Convention, that all debts of the State incurred during said war, shall be considered, held, and treated as debts incurred for carrying on the war except in cases where it shall be satisfactory shown by impartial and disinterested proof that any particular debt or debts were incurred for other purposes than that of carrying on, aiding or abetting the war, directly or indirectly.
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3. Be it further ordained, That all bills, bonds, notes or other evidences of debt whatsoever, issued by the State, payable only in Confederate currency, or on a contingency or contingencies which have never happened, and can now never happen, have ceased to be debts at all, either in whole or part, and are hereby wholly prohibited from being paid, even though originally issued for other purposes than that of carrying on the said war, or aiding and abetting it, directly or indirectly.
Be it further ordained, That this ordinance shall be part of the Constitution and fundamental law of the State.
Which ordinance was read twice and on motion made the special order for tomorrow morning.
Mr. Cutts offered the following ordinance, which was taken up, read twice and put upon its passage :
AN ORDINANCE
Making it the duty of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, to provide for the support of indigent widows and orphans of deceased soldiers of this State, and for other purposes therein named:
Be it ordained by the people of the State of Georgia, in Convention assembled, That it shall be the duty of the General Assembly of this State, at its first session under this Constitution, and annually thereafter, to make such appropriations and provisions as may in their judgment be necessary for the support and maintenance of the indigent widows and orphans of this State.
Be it further ordained, That disabled soldiers who are without means of support and whose disability is such as
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to render them incompetent or unable to earn a living by their own exertions, shall be entitled to the benefits of the provisions of the foregoing ordinance.
Be it further ordained, That the inferior courts of each county in this State shall immediately on the passage of this ordinance levy a tax and purchase provisions by the aid of the loans and amply relieve the suffering poor of their respective counties, for which alone the said taxes shall be levied.
Be it further provided, That the authority invested in said inferior court for the above purposes shall not ex- tend beyond the period of one year from this date unless otherwise provided by the General Assembly.
Mr. Brewer moved to amend the first paragraph by adding the words "and also all other widows and their families who are in like condition." Lost.
Mr. Harris, of Worth, moved to amend the same para- graph by striking out the words "it shall be the duty of the General Assembly" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "the General Assembly is respectfully requested." Agreed to.
Mr. Moore, of Webster, moved to amend by striking out the third and fourth paragraphs. Agreed to.
The ordinance as amended was read the third time and passed.
Mr. McDuffie, of Pulaski, was granted leave of absence for the balance of the session.
Mr. Lawson, of Burke, introduced the following ord :- nance :
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AN ORDINANCE
To legalize the contracts made by guardians, adminis- trators, executors and trustees, with freedmen, for the benefit of their wards and estates, and to author- ize said guardians, etc., to make such contracts until provided for by the Legislature.
Be it ordained by the people of Georgia, in Conven- tion assembled, That all contracts made by guardians, administrators, executors and trustees, with the freedmen and freedwomen for the benefit of their wards, and the estates be and the same are hereby legalized; and that they be authorized to make such contracts until provided for by the Legislature.
On motion of Mr. Lawson, the ordinance was twice read and put upon its passage.
Mr. Roberts, of Warren, moved to lay it on the table for the balance of the session. Lost.
The ordinance was read the third time and passed.
Mr. Kirkland, of Clinch, introduced the following resolutions :
Resolved, That no more new matter shall be intro- duced into this Convention, except such as may be intro- duced by the several committees.
Resolved, That we finish the business on our table and adjourn subject to the call of the President of this Con- tion.
The Convention refused to take up the resolutions.
Mr. Robinson, of Early, introduced the following resolution :
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Resolved, That this Convention recommend to the next General Assembly the propriety of abolishing the penitentiary system and adopting some other mode of punishment better adapted to the wants of the country in its present condition.
Mr. Adair offered the following as a substitute for the resolution :
Resolved, That this Convention recommend to the next General Assembly to enquire into the practicability of purchasing or leasing for a long term of years the stone mountain in DeKalb County of this State for the purpose of building a penitentiary at that point, to the end that convict labor may be employed in quarrying granite under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, provided the penitentiary system be continued as a mode of punishment for crime.
Mr. Dupree moved to postpone the original resolution and substitute indefinitely. Agreed to.
Mr. Barnes, of Columbia, introduced the following resolutions, which were read and lie over under the rule :
Whereas, the war recently waged by a portion of the States and the people thereof against the peace and authority of the United States, has finally terminated in the triumph of the National arms and the restored su- premacy of the Constitution and laws; and whereas, there are everywhere manifestations of a general, sincere and cordial acceptance of the result and a return to allegiance to the Government, Constitution and laws of the United States, thus showing that danger no longer exists, and that the utmost magnanimity and liberality may be safely shown to the States and people recently in arms, such
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.
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action on one side securing confidence and affection on the other; and whereas, the innocent should not suffer for the acts of the guilty. Therefore,
Resolved, That in the opinion of this Convention the time has arrived when the President of the United States in the exercise of that sublime attribute of mercy with which he is clothed, may without detriment to the public good and with a prospect of the most benign results declare a general amnesty.
Resolved further, That justice and sound policy re- quire that although slavery as an institution must neces- sarily cease to exist, having been adjudged the great disturbing element in the Union, yet every widow and femme sole minor and cestue que trust who, incapable of engaging in arms has not aided and abetted the same should be compensated for their late slaves from the treasury of the United States at the rate of the value of such late slaves during the year 1864, and for that pur- pose and to determine speedily and correctly and cheaply the rights of the parties claimant, Congress should enact a law authorizing the President to appoint commissioners of compensation, one for each Congressional District, whose decisions should be final.
Resolved further, That a copy of this preamble and resolutions signed by the President of the Convention and attested by the Secretary, be transmitted to the President of the United States.
On motion of Mr. Dupree the Convention proceeded to the consideration of an ordinance to provide for the payment of officers and members of the Convention, which was read the third time.
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Mr. Moore, of Webster, moved to amend by striking out the word "six" and inserting the word "eight" for compensation of members.
Mr. Dorsey moved to amend by adding 50 per cent. on the amount of per diem pay to each officer and mem- ber of the Convention, nominated in the ordinance.
Mr. Matthews, of Washington, moved the previous question, which being seconded, the vote was taken on the main question and the ordinance was adopted.
Mr. Jenkins, chairman of the committee of sixteen, to whom was recommitted the 5th article of the Constitu- tion, reported the 8th paragraph as follows :
8th. All rights, privileges and immunities which may have vested in, or accrued to any person or persons, in his, her or their own right, or in any fiduciary capacity, under and in virtue of any act of the General Assembly, or of any judgment, decree or order, or other proceeding of any court of competent jurisdiction in this State, since the first day of January A. D., eighteen hundred and sixty-one, shall be held inviolate, by all courts before ยท which they may be brought in question.
Mr. Floyd moved to amend the paragraph as reported by the committee, by adding the words "unless attacked for fraud." Agreed to.
The paragraph as amended was adopted.
Mr. Jenkins offered the following resolution, which was taken up, read and adopted:
Resolved, That as soon as the Convention have passed the Constitution of the State, one thousand copies of the
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same be printed for the use of the members of the Con- vention.
Mr. Jenkins, chairman of the committee of sixteen, reported the following ordinance and recommended its adoption :
AN ORDINANCE
To ratify certain acts, judgments and other proceedings therein mentioned.
Be it ordained by the people of Georgia in Conven- tion assembled, That all acts and sales of executors, administrators, trustees and guardians, and of judicial and ministerial officers had, done and performed and made bona fide in pursuance of and under color of law since the 19th day of January, 1861, which are not in conflict with the Constitution of the United States, and of the Constitution of this State, be and the same are hereby ratified and confirmed, subject, however, to the right of appeal and supercedures according to law : Provided, That in all cases in which judgments or de- crees have been rendered in all courts of record in this State since the 19th day of January, 1861, and prior to this date the party against whom such judgment has been rendered shall be entitled to a new trial or appeal on affidavit that he was unavoidably absent from the court at the time of the rendition of the judgment, and that he had no attorney present in the court; Provided, The court shall be satisfied, from all the facts which may be submitted by affidavit by both parties, that such good and meritorious defence exists, and that such application for a new trial or appeal shall be made within twelve months after the adoption of this ordinance.
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