Doc. 90.-Emancipation in Missouri.
Jefferson City, Mo., Wednesday, July 1.
The following ordinance of emancipation was passed by the Convention this morning, by a vote of 81 ayes against 30 noes:
section 1.
The first and second clauses of the twenty-sixth section of the third article of the Constitution is hereby abrogated.
Sec. 2. That slavery, or involuntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, shall cease to exist in Missouri on the fourth of July, 1870, and all slaves within the State on that day are hereby
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declared to be free.
Provided, however, that all persons emancipated by this ordinance shall remain under the control and be subject to their late owners, or their legal representatives, as servants during the following period, to wit: Those over twenty years of age, for and during their lives; those under twelve, until they arrive at the age of twenty-three; and those of all other ages, until the fourth of July, 1876.
The persons, or their legal representatives, who, up to the moment of emancipation, were owners of slaves hereby freed, shall, during the period for which the services of such freedmen are reserved to them, have the same authority and control over the said freedmen for the purpose of receiving the possessions and services of the same that are now held by the master in respect of his slaves: provided, however, that after the said fourth of July, 1870, no person so held to service shall be sold to non-residents, or removed from the State by authority of his late owner, or his legal representative.
Sec. 3. All slaves hereafter brought into the State, and not now belonging to citizens of the State, shall thereupon be free.
Sec. 4. All slaves removed by consent of their owners to any seceded State after the passage by such State of an act or ordinance of secession, and thereafter brought into this State by their owners, shall thereupon be free.
Sec. 5. The General Assembly shall have no power to pass laws to emancipate slaves without the consent of their owners.
Sec. 6. After the passage of this ordinance, no slave in this State shall be subject to State, county, or municipal taxes. 