The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-16 00:00:00

politics. The substance of the report is, however,
in harmony with probabilities, and should the pro-
posed scheme prove to be bona fide, it will have a
fair chance of success if moderate counsels prevail.
President JOHNSON and the members of his
Cabinet have, it is said, held consultations with
the Governors of several Southern States, and
have resolved upon a new plan of reconstruction.
The right of secession is to be renounced ; Con-
gress is to have no right to expel a State from the
Union ; the national debt is to be held sacred ; and
the rebel debt repudiated. All males of legal age,
whether native or naturalised, are to be allowed to
vote for the State elections if able to read and write,
or if holding taxable property worth $250, the
sole exception being untaxed Indians. These pro-
ositions are, it will be seen, pretty fairly balanced
between the rival parties. The two first clauses,
the renunciation of the right of secession,
and the denial of the right of Congress
to expel States, are about evenly matched.
The provisions respecting the debts are not equally
just, since the repudiation of the Southern debt is
insisted on, while the Northern faith is kept invio-
late. The difficulty about the suffrage is ingeni-
ously got over, since no distinction of race is made,
while the stipulation as to some amount of property
or education will prevent the immediate introduc-
tion of the whole negro element. The educational
clause is fully in accordance with American views
in general, as they boast with reason of the
great extent to which the rudiments at least
of learning are diffused among their peo-
ple. The theory of such a stipulation
should commend itself to the Radicals, since it by
no means forbids the negro suffrage which they
profess to desire, while in practice it will at least
allow some years to elapse, and the passions of the
moment to die away before the right to vote is
absolutely unrestricted. The Government, should
they bring forward this scheme, will have at least
the advantage of a clear stage before them. The
Radicals, notwithstanding their predominance in
Congress, have failed to propose a successful
scheme, while had they even succeeded in getting
either of their bills through the Houses, and
in carrying it over the PRESIDENT'S inevitable
veto, they would have scarcely been able to force it
upon the country. Mr. ASHLEY'S bill, indeed, would
very likely have been the signal for a fresh out-
break of civil war; while Mr. STEVENS'S, though
rejected partly for its moderation, would have been
too intolerable to be long submitted to. The
Southern States could not be expected to sign their
own political death-warrant, and if they had been
forcibly reduced from States of the Union to Terri-
tories, governed by martial law, it is not likely
that even outward order, much less internal
tranquillity, could have been maintained. The
Radicals are certain to oppose the new
scheme, whatever its merits, more particularly if it
be introduced by the PRESIDENT or his advisers. It
is possible, however, that their day of power is on
the wane. Should the new Tariff effect a breach,
as it most likely will do, between the represen-
tatives of the Western States and the New Eng-
landers, the South may find some powerful and
unexpected allies. The Southern representatives,
who would be mostly of the Democratic party,
would of course support the 'Western men in their
opposition to this ruinous and oppressive measure,
and they would have the common sense of
the country at large with them. The new
scheme being planned with a view to conciliate
both parties may be accepted by all sides as a wel-
come compromise, for men who are not hurried away
by political passions are beginning to realise that
the present state of affairs cannot be continued
without seriously affecting the national welfare.
Nothing can be hoped from the Congress. The last
news from the House of Representatives is that they
have passed a bill making the removal of Cabinet
officers subject to the approval of the Senate, thus
increasing their power of patronage and political
influence. America boasts of having set the Old
World some notable examples, and she may also
claim to have started a new theory of constitu-
tional government—the concentration of the Le-
gislature and the Executive.