any
manner with any officer of said election in the discharge of his duties,
shall for any such offense be liable to indictment as for a misdemeanor
in any court of the United States having jurisdiction to hear, try, and
determine cases of misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall pay a
fine of not exceeding $5,000 and suffer imprisonment in the penitentiary
not exceeding five years, at the discretion of the court trying the
same; and any person convicted as aforesaid shall, moreover, be
disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust under
the Government of the United States.

By command of General Grant:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
_Washington City, November 4, 1868_.

By direction of the President, Brevet Major-General E.R.S. Canby is
hereby assigned to the command of the Fifth Military District, created
by the act of Congress of March 2, 1867, and of the Military Department
of Texas, consisting of the State of Texas. He will, without unnecessary
delay, turn over his present command to the next officer in rank and
proceed to the command to which he is hereby assigned, and on assuming
the same will, when necessary to a faithful execution of the laws,
exercise any and all powers conferred by acts of Congress upon district
commanders and any and all authority pertaining to officers in command
of military departments.

Brevet Major-General J.J. Reynolds is hereby relieved from the command
of the Fifth Military District.

J.M. SCHOFIELD,

_Secretary of War_.

FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

WASHINGTON, _December 9, 1868_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

Upon the reassembling of Congress it again becomes my duty to call your
attention to the state of the Union and to its continued disorganized
condition under the various laws which have been passed upon the subject
of reconstruction.

It may be safely assumed as an axiom in the government of states that
the greatest wrongs inflicted upon a people are caused by unjust and
arbitrary legislation, or by the unrelenting decrees of despotic rulers,
and that the timely revocation of injurious and oppressive measures is
the greatest good that can be conferred upon a nation. The legislator or
ruler who has the wisdom and magnanimity to retrace his steps when
convinced of error will sooner or later be rewarded with the respect and
gratitude of an intellige