American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-01-06

When Secession was first openly avow-
ed in our National councils, some of our
statesmen were bold and patriotic enough
to declare that the physical power of the
country would be used to coerce them in
to obedience To this, those original trail
tors would reply, that there was no power,
under the Constitution, to 'coerce State, "
and that if such power existed, still, it
would be useless to attempt to exercise it,
as it would only ALLEVIATE and divide MS
for ever. "'Attempt to coerce us" said
they, "and we can never be reconciIed-
We win never send members to Congress,
nor in any way act under the Federal
Constitution or laws, and this ayowal
was received by many in the North as lit
orally truthful And thus, while they as
sented to the prosecution of the war, still
they would inquire, "where will the end
be? How can we restore civil govern
ments to the States in insurrection, after
we defeat them in the field Can we
compel them to take upon themselves the
responsibilities and burdens of States in
the Union z" To all these the answer, in
substance, sufficient is the day for the
evil thereof" First destroy their mill
tary power, and all else that stands in the
way will easily be overcome
Many entertained the belief that from
the beginning, there was a large portion
of the people of the inssrrectionary dis
tricts, in favor of adhereing to the "old
Union" But this could be little else than
speculation, until these districts were en-
tirely relieved from the iron grasp of the
bogus Confederacy-this long looked for
event has at last come, so far, at least, as
some Of the States are concerned.
This brings us to the solution of the
question: /" How can they be restored to
their former political relations to us ?'-
This question, the President proposes to
solve by inviting them, when a sufficient
number is found willing, to re-organize
their State governments and come back
hence too, his proclamation of amnesty;
thus relieving them from the consequeu-
ces of their past crimes; and now the
Loyal people of the whole country, and
perhaps the disloyal too, are looking for
the results that will attend these meas
ures. Already the signs are propitious
A movement is already on foot, in both
Tennessee and Louisiana, which we trust,
will absorb the disloyal element still re-
naming within their borders, and bring.
those States back where of right they
belong But of all the States where re-
action has fairly set in, Arkansas seems to
take the lead Relieved from rebel rule,
she at once commences the work of re-
construction in earnest. The following
from the N. Y. Tribune gives a glowing
account of Union meeting held in that
State, which means something.
At meeting of large and highly re-
spectacle number of the citizens of Saline
and adjoining Counties, held at Benton,
Ark, on the evening of the 4th inst, the
following proceedings were had:
On motion, Capt. L. III. Vance of Sa-
line county, was called to the chair, and
the Hon. Willis Jones of Pike county was
appointed Secretary.
After brief explanation of the object
of the meeting BY the President, it was
moved and seconded that committee of