Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-01-25

seems TO have inherited from his old English
Whig ancestry something ~ the doctrine that
government can only be carried on 10y trickery
and corruption" But what he most insists on Is
The logical sbsuriity of the scheme. not its cor
ruoiing tendency. IL Is 20 utterly inconsistent
With the idea that the seceisd States sill exist a.
States. that those who maintain IL are capable
OF maintaining. in spite OF the logicians. that Of
coniradictories both may be true Here Is a
detached scrap Of his argument.
The General Government cannot interfere in
the internal aifsirs OF a State recognized to be
Ssste IN the Union. and is much bound to
sfect The State constitution and laws not repug.
nant To the constitution aud laws of the United
States. as the State j. bound TO respect the con
stituti0n and laws Of the General Government.
II the President denies the seeded States have
ceased 10 exist. he has right &c institute either
military governments or civil governments for
them, to prescribe the conditions on which
thew NAV become States again. and be restored
TO their rights States in The Union. for they
are. on the suppostion. already States in the
Union. So much must be clear 10 the veriest
tyro. and ought TO be clear even To our radical'
conservative friends of the Times But il the
seeded States have ceased 10 he States. aud Le
come simply population aud territory belonging
to the Union. then again the President has no
authority either 10 reorganize them or ~ pre-
scribe by proclamation or otherwise the conditions
on which they may reorganize and he recognized
as Srates ln either case. the executive action Is
revolutionary and lndefensible, "a much so as the
action Of secession itself There is no principle
known 10 our Constitution, written or unwritten,
on which the action of the executive can be JUST
/ fed. or even palliated."
Dr.. BrOwnson portrays the beauties Of the re
construction scheme with great ooldness and
felicity of touch. No person will object to the
/ lenvth Of the followinv extr,cts.
"A State with nine tenths of it, population
dislOyal and excluded from the ranks OF ts pOllt
zeal people. evidently could not sustain itself and
discharge its proper functions as a State in the
Union. IL would have To be held up and nursed
by the government. and thus would be opened
the door TO political intrigue and corruption. ex
ceeiing anything we have yet known, even in
this city. It's representatives, in Congress would
be virtual nominees Of the Administration. and
the Congressional Districts would be only so
many "rOtten boroughs" owned by the govern
ment No election would or could he free. Be
sides, with here AMI there an individual excep
ton. the men who would take the oath and be
allowed 10 vote would be the weakest and least
energetic portion of the population. The portion
OF the Southern people who have the most char
acter and are the best 6ttei 70 govern aud look
after the interests OF the State or the Union are
precisely those who would be excluded by the
test Oith The majority OF the voters would be
composed OF government employees, adventures
from other States, with very little honesty or
principle Of any sort. and without any perm men,
interest in the State, connection with it. Here
, is grave consideration.
. I've cannot understand why one Union man
, in South Carons, Tennessee or Louisiana,
should count for ten in Massachusetts,, New
York. or PennS ylvania We know no reason
why they should have any vote at all. while the
great, the overwhelming majority of the popu-
lation are in rebellion. but that majority are
politically dead " Then do not count them as a
, b isis OF representation Abstract them from the
whole popu'a'i given by the census of 1900
and take only the remainder as the representa-
tive reputation. You canaot do that legally
The State Is the State, and YOU must count its
whole population or none Then do YOU not see
the gross inequality and absurdity of pretending
that they States in the Union, with all their
Federal rights unimpairedl Moreover. the Union
men in the eleven seeded States are not citizens
of the United States They are enemies, and are
declared 10 be SD by the Supreme Court in the
Hiawatha case. and have been since the 18th OF
July, 1861, and their territory is enemy's terri
tory, otherwise the President could never have
placed il under military governors or blockaded
the Southern ports The Supreme Court have
; decided that the we are carving on is not a
! simple war against insurgent individuals, but a
territorial civil war. which makes every man,
. woman. and child la the rebellious territory an
enemy. The interdct must be removed from
that territory before these Union cease to be
enemies, and that cannot be removed so long as
the law of Congress of the 18th Of July. 1861 re
mains unrepeaed. and the great majority still
, hostile, without gross abuse of executive power
We do not know that even these Union men in
, the seeded States any better than the Union
men in the organized territories under the gov
eminent of the United States And why should
they. any more than these, have Il federal repre-
sentation and an electoral voter
The relentless logic of DR.. Brownson does ex
ecuIion like the knife of dissecting surgeon
Ii there was any life in the victim at the begin
ming OF the operation, it is cut into too small
pieces for any to remain at its close