, first of all, there is to be a registration of the voters. No one
whose name has not been admitted on the list is to be allowed to vote at
any of these elections. To ascertain who is entitled to registration,
reference is made necessary, by the express language of the supplement,
to the original act and to the pending bill. The fifth section of the
original act provides, as to voters, that they shall be "male citizens
of the State, 21 years old and upward, of whatever race, color, or
previous condition, who have been residents of said State for one
year." This is the general qualification, followed, however, by many
exceptions. No one can be registered, according to the original act,
"who may be disfranchised for participation in the rebellion"--a
provision which left undetermined the question as to what amounted to
disfranchisement, and whether without a judicial sentence the act
itself produced that effect. This supplemental bill superadds an oath,
to be taken by every person before his name can be admitted upon the
registration, that he has "not been disfranchised for participation in
any rebellion or civil war against the United States." It thus imposes
upon every person the necessity and responsibility of deciding for
himself, under the peril of punishment by a military commission if
he makes a mistake, what works disfranchisement by participation in
rebellion and what amounts to such participation. Almost every man--the
negro as well as the white--above 21 years of age who was resident in
these ten States during the rebellion, voluntarily or involuntarily, at
some time and in some way did participate in resistance to the lawful
authority of the General Government. The question with the citizen to
whom this oath is to be proposed must be a fearful one, for while the
bill does not declare that perjury may be assigned for such false
swearing nor fix any penalty for the offense, we must not forget that
martial law prevails; that every person is answerable to a military
commission, without previous presentment by a grand jury, for any charge
that may be made against him, and that the supreme authority of the
military commander determines the question as to what is an offense
and what is to be the measure of punishment.

The fourth section of the bill provides "that the commanding general of
each district shall appoint as many boards of registration as may be
necessary, consisting of three loyal officers or persons." T