The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-18 00:00:00

NEGRO SUFFRAGE'

It is manifestly and avowedly the object of these
laws to confer upon the negroes the privilege of
voting, and to disfranchise such number of white
citizens as will give the former a clear majority at all
elections in the Southern States. This to the mind
of some persons is so important that a violation of

) is justified as a means of bringing
it about. That morality is always false which ex-
cuses a wrong because it proposes to accomplish a
desirable end. We are not permitted to do evil that
good may come, but in this case the end itself is evil
as well as the means. The subjugation of States to
negro domination -would be worse than the military
despotism under -which they are now suffering. It
was believed beforehand that the people would en-
dure any amount of military oppression for any
length of time rather than degrade themselves by
subjection to the negro race. Therefore they have
been left without a choice. Negro suffrage was
established by act of Congress, and military officers
were commanded to superintend the process of
clothing tL•e negro race with the political privileges
torn from white men. The b!acks from the South
are entitled to be well and humanely governed, and
to have the protection of just laws for all their
rights of person and property. If it were practi-
cable at this time to give them a government exclu-
sively their own, under which they might manage
their own affairs in their own way, it would become
a grave question whether we ought to do so or
whether common humanity would not require us
to save them from themselves. But, under the
circumstances, this is only a speculative point. It
is not proposed merely that they shall govern them-
selves, but that they shall rule the white race, make
and administer State laws, elect presidents and
members of Congress, and shape to a greater or less
extent the future destiny of the whole country
Would such a trust and power be safe in such
hands? The peculiar qualities which should cha-
racterise any people who are fit to decide upon the
management of public affairs for a great State have
seldom been combined. It is the glory of the white
men to know that they have had these qualities in
sufficient measure to build upon this continent a
great political fabric, and to preserve its stability
for more than ninety years, while in every other
part of the world all similar experiments have
failed. But if anything can be proved by the
known facts; if all reasoning upon evidence is not
abandoned, it must be acknowledged that in the pro-
gress of nations negroes have shown less capacity
for government than any other race of people. No
independent government of any form has ever been
successful in their hands. On the contrary, wherever
they have been left to their own devices they have
shown a constant tendency to relapse into barbarism.
In the Southern States, however, Congress has un-
dertaken to confer upon them the privilege of the
ballot. Just released from slavery, it may be doubted
whether, as a class, they knew more than their
ancestors how to organise and regulate civil society.
Indeed, it is admittod that the blacks of the South
are not only regardless of the rights of property,
but so utterly ignorant of public affairs, that their
voting consists in nothing more than carrying a bal-
lot to the place where they are directed to deposi
it. I need not remind you that the exercise of the
elective franchise is the highest attribute of an
American citizen, and that when guided by virtue,
intelligence, patriotism, and a proper appreciation
of our free institutions, it constitutes the true basis
of a democratic form of GovernMent, in which the
sovereign power is lodged in the body of the people
A. trust artificially created, not for its own sake,
but solely as a means of promoting the general wel-
fare, its influence for good must necessarily depend
upon the elevated character and the true allegiance
of the elector. It ought, therefore, to be reposed
in none except those who are fitted morally and
mentally to administer it well, for if conferred
upou persons who do not justly estimate its value,
and who are indifferent as to its result, it will only
serve as the means of placing power in the
hands of unprincipled and ambitious men,
and must eventuate in the complete destruction
of the liberty which it should be the most
powerful conservator. I have, therefore, here-
tofore, urged upon your attention the great danger
to be apprehended from an untimely extension of the
elective franchise to any new class in our country
especially when a large majority of that class, in
wielding the power thus placed in their hands, can-
not be expected correctly to comprehend the duties
and responsibilities which pertain to the right of
suffrage. Yesterday, as it were, four millions of
persons were held in a condition of slavery that
had existed for generations ; to-day they are free-
men and are assumed by law to be citizens. It
cannot be presumed, from their previous condition
of servitude, that, as a class, they are as well in-
formed as to the nature of our Government as

the intelligent foreigner who makes our land his
home from choice. In the case of the latter,
neither a residence of five years and a knowledge of
our institutions which it gives, nor attachment to
the principles of our constitation, are the only con-
ditions upon which he'can be admitted to citizenship.
He must prove, in addition, a good moral character,
and thus give reasonable ground for belief that he
will be faithful to the obligations which he assumes
as a citizen of the republic. When a people, the
source of all political power, speak by their suffrage
through the instrumentality of the ballot-box, it
must be carefully guarded against the control of
those men who are corrupt in principle and are
enemies of free institutions ; for it can only become
to our political and social system a safe conductor
of healthy popular sentiment ; when kept free from
demoralising influences. Controlled through fraud
and usurpation by the designing anarchy and des-
potism must inevitably follow. In the hands of the
patriotic and worthy our Government will be pre-
served upon the principles of the constitution inhe-
rited from our fathers. It follows, therefore, that
in admitting to the ballot-box a new class of voters
not qualified for the exercise of the elective fran-
chise, we weaken our system of Government instead
of adding to its strength and durability. I yield to
no one in attachment to that rule of general suffrage
which distinguishes our policy as a nation ; but
there is a limit wisely observed hitherto which
makes the ballot a privilege and a trust, and which
requires of some classes a time suitable for proba-
tion and preparation. To give it indiscrimately to
a new class, wholly unprepared by previous habits
and opportunities to perform the trust which it de-
mands, is to degrade it, and filially to destroy its
power; for it may safely be assumed that no politi-
cal truth is better established than that such indis-
criminate and all embracing extension of popular
suffrage must end at last in its overthrow and destruc-
tion. I repeat theexpression of my willingness to join
in any plan within the scope of our constitutional
authority which promises to better the condition of
the negroes in the South, by encouraging them in
industry, enlightening their minds, improving their
morals, and giving protection to all their just rights
as freedmen ; but a transfer of our political inheri-
tance to them would, in my opinion, be ar. aban-
donment of a duty which we owe alike to the
memory of our fathers and the rights of our chil-
dren. The plan of putting the Southern States
wholly, and the general Government partially, into
the hands of negroes is proposed at a time pecu-
liarly unpropitious. The foundations of society
have been broken up by civil war. Industry must
be re-organised, justice re-established, public credit
maintained, and order brought out of confusion.
To accomplish these ends would require all the
wisdom and virtue of the great men who formed
our institutions originally. I confidently believe
that their descendants will be equal to the arduous
task before them ; but it is worse than madness
to expect that negroes will perform it fur us. Cer -
tainly, we ought not to ask their assistance until
we despair of our own competency. The great dif-
ference between the two races in physical, mental,
and moral characteristics will prevent an an-ialga-
'nation or fusion of them together in ono homo-
geneous mass. If the inferior obtains the
ascendancy over the superior, it will go-
vern with reference only to its own inte-
rests, for it will recognise no common inte-
rest, and create such a tyranny as this continent has
never yet witnessed. Already the negroes are in-
fluenced by promises of confiscation and plunder.
They are taught to regard as an enemy every white
man who has any respect for the rights of his
own race. If this continues it must become worse
and worse, until all order will be subverted, all in-
dustry cease, and the fertile fields of the South will
grow up into a wilderness. Of all the dangers
which our nation has yet encountered, none are
equal to those which must result from the success

of the effort now making to Africanise half of our
country.

(To be continued.)

THE LAST OF IMPEACHMENT.

The impeachment of the President has, thank
Heaven ! come to a final and ignominious end. By
a curious and unexplained change of opinion on the
part of Mr. Churchill, of New York, who joined
Williams, Lawrence, Thomas, and Boutwell, the
latter gentleman was able to lay before the House
the report of the majority iu fivoar of impeach-
ment. Whatever may have been Mr. Churchill's
reasons, there can be little doubt that he has ren-
dered good service in swinging round, as the ques-
tion has now come fairly before the House ; and the
millstone, hanging round the Republican neck, has
been shaken off. The committee consisted of nine
members, seven of whom were Republican. Five
reported in favour of impeachment. Mr. Wilson
and Mr. Woodbridge, both lawytrs, dissented frOm
the rest of the party; and Mr. Marshall and Mr.

Eldridge, the Democrats on the committee, de-
fended Mr. Johnson, and denounced the proceed-
ings of the majority. The majority report ex-
tended over twelve closely-written columns, while
one of the minority reports fills seventeen and a half
of those of the New York Times. Mr. Williams, of
Pennsylvania, is responsible for the argumentative
portion of the majority report, and not Mr. Bout-
well. The style is heavy and turgid : one of the
sentences takes away the breath, even to look at it.
Considering that the business of the committee was
to accumulate evidence, acid not to argue as par-
tisans or counsel on the evidence, this portion of the
document is not only bad in style, but bad in taste.
The testimony accompanying the reports would be
strong if it derived force from the weight of
paper which it covers. But it is like some very
thin soup deluged with water, or grog which
has only the smell of rum about it, which
the hungriest pauper and the thirstiest sailor
might disdainfully reject. Not a particle of in-
formation has been given to the country, except,
that all that could, has long ago been said against
the President. The grounds for the Impeachment
are mainly these. That he did not convene Con-
gress on the surrender of the rebel armies, but on
his own responsibility recognised State Governments
in the South—that he appointed traitors to office,
and denied the right of Congress to reconstruct the
South ; that he vetoed Congressional measures,
removed loyal persons from office, and abused the
pardoning power. The gross charge brought
against Mr. Johnson by Mr. Ashley, that he was
privy to the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, is sus-
tained by no evidence except that of the perjurer
Canover. Of the value of that evidence Mr. Ashley
has had a sample. • The only interest attaching to
the Report is the evidence extracted .from some of
the most prominent men in the States. General
Grant's answers were quick and blunt, and in
matter are much less important than the public ex-
pected. He said as little as he could, and that little
in no way affected his political position. He was
rather badgered by the members of the committee,
but they failed to extract much out of him. " Who
is being tried ?" he exclaimed angrily, when pressed
on a point beyond endurance. His testimony has
raised him still higher in the estimation of the
country. At the moment of victory, in opposition
both to the people and to the President, he took the
true view of the position, confining himself strictly
to his military duties, and not thrusting, as M'Clel-
lan had done, obtrusive counsels on the Cabinet.
The moderation and good sense shown by the
General, his obedience to the orders of his superior,
the simple and single-minded way in which he dis-
charged his duties, and the truth with which he
discerned them, as shown in this testimony, will
endear him still more to the American people. Consi-
dering the magnitude of his success and the bril-
liancy of his military career, he displayed at the trying
moment a marvellous modesty and a self-possession,
which we believe pecularly fit him for high office
coupled with his magnanimity and kindness of heart.
He has been accused of ruthlessly sacrificing men
to attain a military object ; but his examination
before the committee shows him to have stood as a
bulwark between Northern vengeance and the cap-
tured Southern leaders. He saw the value, too, of
seizing on the happy moment presented by the fine
feeling manifested in the South immediately on the
close of the rebellion, which offered an opportunity
for Reconstruction, which has passed away, we fear,
for ever. No hammering of the committee could
extract a spark from the General damaging to his
chief ; and we have little doubt that Grant's evi-
dence added to the large majority by which the
motion for impeachment was defeated. Indeed the
tendency of all he said went to prove that Mr.
Johnson's " My Policy" was, in truth, that of his
predecessor, Mr. Lincoln, and that the minority
were justified in stating that acts for which Mr.
Lincoln was clamorously appaueled are deemed high
crimes in Mr. Johnson. When
,asked whether the
ssheme of Reconstruction was the President's own
creation, Mr. Seward replied that it "grew during
the Administration of Mr. Lincoln and the Adminis-
tration of Mr. Johnson, and it was modified from
time to time by the circumstances as they occurred."
Mr. Seward thought he was the author of the
first plan of reorganisation (in the case of Ten-
nessee). Mr. Johnson subsequently adopted it.
He had seen no indication on Mr. Johnson's part
to prevent the trial of Jefferson Davis, but the
contrary. Mr. Stanton stated that no member of
the Cabinet ever expressed a doubt of the authority
of the President to recognise the Southern State
Governments, without the aid of Congress. He
(Stanton) fully approved President Johnson's plan.
He (Stanton) had himself made the rough draft of
Mr. Lincoln's plan, which was afterwards adopted
by President Johnson, with no important changes.
The question of extending the suffrage came up,
and there were differences of opinion, but the Cabi-
net finally agreed with Mr. Johnson. After the
adoption of the North Carolina proclamation it was
not again discussed in the Cabinet.

Secretary IlPCulloch testified that the revenues
were not as well collected as if the original appoin-
tees had been allowed to retain their offices, and
gave an account of some removals by order of the
President. Commissioner Rollins gave similar tes-
timony as to the internal revenue service, said that
few of the removals had been for dishonesty or
incapacity, and that the removals by the President
had caused the loss of several millions of dollar's.
There were men in the service whom ho had re-
quested to be removed as many as six times. The
Secretary always made remove is when he had evi-
dence of their inefficiency. In most districts where
the officers had been changed a loss had occurred.
In 240 collection districts 150 assessors had been
removed. Iu States where removals were made,
the best men were removed.

Chief Justice Chase said he had not been un-
willing to try Jeff Davis, but he did not think it
right to do it while military rule continued in his
district in Virginia, and the President declined to
issue a special proclamation removing such rule.
(It continues now, just as it did then, but the
Chief Justice does not adhere to the objection.)
Previously he had declined to give the President his
opinion as to whether Davis should be tried by a
military or civil court, as he did not think that a
matter for himself (Chase) to theorise about.
When he held court he should try everybody
brought before him.

Attorney-General Speed testified that the prose-
cution of Davis was entrusted to him, and the
President instructed him to bring him to trial as
speedily as it could be done. lie said—" I em-
ployed counsel to aid in the prosecution, and we
all came to the conclusion that unless the Judge of
the Supreme Court could preside he should not be
tried ; that the case was one over which he should
preside ; and I had great disinclination to have
Davis tried before Underwood; I would not con-
sent to it at all; the Chief Justice declined to go
there, because the country was not so quiet as
he desired, and because military rule prevailed
there. So long as I was in office I opposed a
trial before Judge Underwood, and as Mr.
Chase would not or could not go there the trial
did not come off. A question was made about
trying Davis in Kentucky. That I opposed, be-
cause it would have to be a case of constructive
pram° itn liatucky. The questicqz was mooted

as to trying him in Pennsylvania, Indiana, °I
Ohio, in connection with John Morgan's raid; bet
I opposed his being tried in any State except where
he had been actually present. Then it was said that
we could appoint a judge in " Judge Caton's Place
and try him in East Tennessee. That was anxiouel9
considered, and on a consideration of it by the Pre"
sident, with myself, we both concurred that it would
not look well for the President to make a judge to
try Davis at the President's own home and in Lis
own State. I violently o'iposed his trial for 11'e
crime of treason before a military commission, and
scythe thing stood until I left office. I must .v 9
that I was, on these grounds, the Principal ca use et
the non-trial of atvis."

Lafayette C. Biker testified as to a letter of
Andrew Johnson to a Southern man, written is
1864, giving advice to Davis and information about
:he troops around Washington. Barker raid that
a son of Parson Brownlow hired a negro to steal the
letter from Jolmsou's table at Nashville, and that .
was given to him (Baker) by John W. Achn)PoDl°
Nashville, to whom he afterwards returned it. abe
letter was not produced, and Baker's account of tLe
contents is vague, and does not begin to sustain the
story that it was an offer of Johnson to join the re'
bellion if he could be Vice-President with Davis'
The rest of Baker's evidence concerns the notorious
Mrs. Cobb, and Baker says she confessed to an it 11:,
proper intimacy with the President. Her WO'
would be worthless enough, and is not improved in
credibility by coming through Baker. Baker had
nothing else to tell.