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1 Andrew Johnson, Message of the President of the United States, Returning Bill (S. 60) to Amend an Act Entitled an Act to Establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees, and for Other Purposes 1 (1866)

handle is hein.slavery/mpusbbf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 39TH CONGRESS, } SENATE. Ex. Doc. ls' Session. No. 25. MESSAGE OF THE . PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, RETURNING Bill (S. 60) to amend an act entitled An act (o establish a Bureaufor the relief of Freedmen and Refugees, und for other purposes, with his objections thereto. FEBRUARY 19, 1866.-Read and ordered to be printed. To the Senate of the United States: I have examined with care the bill which originated in the Senate, and has been passed by the two houses of Congress, to amend an act entitled An act to establish a Bureau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees, and for other purposes. Having, with much regret,.come to the conclusion that it would not be consistent with the public welfare to give my approval to the measure, I return the bill to the Senate with my objections to its becoming a law. I might call to mind, in advance of these objections, that there is no imme- diate necessity for the proposed measure. The act to establish a Bureau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees,. which was approved in the month of March last, has not yet expired. It was thought stringent and extensive enough for the purpose in viewi in time of war. Before it ceases to have effect, further experience may assist to guide us, to a wise conclusion as to the policy to be adopted in' time of peace. I share wiLh Congress the strorig~st desire to secure to the freedmen the full enjoyment of their freedom and property, and their entire independence and equality in making contracts for their labor; but the bill before me contains pro- visions which, in my opinion, are not warranted by the Constitution, and are not well suited to accomplish the end in view. The bill proposes to establish, by authority of Congress, military jurisdiction over all parts of the United States containing refugees and freedmen. It would, by its very nature, apply with most force to those parts of the United States in which the freedmen most abound; and it expressly extends the existing tem- povaryjurisdiction of the Freedmen's Bureau, with greatly enlarged powers, over those States in which the ordinary course of judicial proceedings has been in- terrupted by the rebellion. The source from which this military jurisdiction is to emanate is none other than the President of the United States, acting Reproduced with permission from the University of Illinois at Chicago

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