Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-02-19
eThe I.lncoIn- -Hsanl<s lkeconstruc'
tive Policy.


The General Orders, No. %, Of Major
General BANKS, commanding the ''Depart-
lnent of the Gulf" issued from headquar-
tiers at New Orleans, Feb. 3, 1854, consists of
two important features which throw addi-
tional light on the course of LINCOLN and his
satellites in their scheme Of State reconstruc-
tion. The order promulgates, first, regnla-
tions for system Of forced labor of Louis
lana negroes; and secondly, an edict com
pelling the white citizens of Louisiana to
take such an Abolition oath Of allegiance as
may be prescribed, and 90 to the polls ana
vote, whether desiring to do so or not OH
pain of bauishment from the State. That
our readers may see for themselves the full
measure of the tyranny to be exercised,
under this order, over the white men of
Louisiana, we quote rerJatins its last two
concluding sections: kS
XIV. 1t Is therefore solemn dutyrest-
Ing upon all persons to assist in the earliest
possible restoration Of civil government.
Let them participate in the measures sug-
gested for this purpose. Opinion is free
and candidates are numerous. Open hos
tility cannot be permitted. Indifference
will be treated as crime, and faction as
treason. Men who refuse to defend their
country with the ballot-box or cartridge
box have no just claim to the benefits of
liberty regulated by law. All people not
exempt by the law of nations who seek the
protection of the Government, are called
upon to take the oath of allegiance in such
form as may be prescribed, sacrificing to
the public good, and the restoration of pub
lie peace, whatever scruples may be sug-
gested by incidental considerations. The
oath OF allegiance, administered and re-
ceivcd in good faith, Is the test of uncondi-
tional fcalty TO the Government and all its
measures, and cannot be materially strength
cned or impaired by the language in which
1t is clothed.
XIV. The amnesty offered for the past is
conditioned upon an unreserved loyalty for
the future, and this condition will be en-
forced with an iron hand. Whoever is in
different or hostile must choose between
the liberty which foreign lands afford, the
. poverty Of the rebel States and the innu-
merabie and inappreciable blessings which
our Government confers upon its people.
May God preserve the Union Of the
States ~
BY order of Major Gen. BANKS.
GEORGE b. DRAKE, A. A. General.
This plan of forcing men to the ballot
box against their inclinations is new dis
covery for restoring order, freedom and
harmony. LINCOLN and BANKS should
have patent for their novel invention.-
'Opinion,n says BANKS to the citizens of
Louisiana, "is free;" but you must vote for
some of the numerous candidates whom
allow to run, though you don't like any of
them. Your indifference, If you refuse to
vote, will be treated as crime, and you
will be banished from the State; and your
faction If You vote for any other than a
'loyal" candidate designated as such by me,
will be regarded as treason, andyour prop
erty win be confiscated.
The promulgationo this stringent mili-
tary order furnishes conclusive proof that
the mass of the real Union-loving people
of louisiana are opposed to the Lincoln
Banks Abolition reconstruction policy. If
it were not so, there would be no need of a
iukase forcing men to the polls under the
heaviest penalties. BANKS has ordered a
State election on the 22d inst. A recent
New Orleans letter states that only fifteen
hundred had registered their names under
the Presidential Amnesty oath, while the
number required to make the one-tenth is
upward of five thousand. But General
BANKS, no doubt with LISCoEN's sanction,
is determined that the one-tenth, and more
too, shall be made up. or the white people
of Louisiana shall leave the State. The pro-
cess is simple one. and easily carried out
by man who assumes absolute power with
a sufficient military force to back him.
y The process Of raising the one-tenth, in or
der to reconstruct or build up out of Louis
lana an Abolition State true to the party in
power, isthis: Every white citizen must
take such an Abolition oath as may be pre-
scribed and then, vote at every election for
some one of the candidates that may be, by
an Abolition military commander, pro-
nounced "loyal," on pain Of banishment
and forfeiture of estate. These conditions
and tests Of loyalty are to be ESFoRcED,"
so DEGREES Lord-Lieutenant BANKS, with
AN IRON HAND" He closes his pronuncia-
mento with the ejaculation" May God
preserve the Union of the States!" while
aiming deadly blow at one of the States
composing that Union.
- ssvVllat has Caused This Great Conn