The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1865-12-23
The Southern States Admitted to be
Still In the Union by Thaddeus Ste
Yens Himsalf.

Monday, the 18th, and Tuesday, the 18th o
December, were remarkable days in the his
tory Of this country. On the former of these
days, TRADDErs SrgvEys, on the question OF
referring the Presidents Message, delivered
himself Of all the venom which has been &c
cumulating since the memorable day on whlcI
! his iron mills were burned. 1t Is 10 DE hoped
he felt better after the operation, and the pro
liability is that he did, for on the very next
tlay he made a tacit confession that the view
he had taken Of the situation the day before had
been wrong, and that the States of the South
were not territories, but bona JEfe States. act
ing fn their capacity ~ such, and entitled te
have such acts recorded a. the acts Of SO man,
States. On the latter day, Mr. Secretary SIX
WARD sent in the vote Of the States upon tn,
amendment Of the Constitution which abo
fishes slavery. II wis found that twenty
seven States had voted, making the constitu
tional Two thirds. Among those that hat
voted, and that were counted in order to make
up the constitutional number, were the names
of Virginia. North Carolina, South Carolina
Georgia and Alabama. Without them there
: would not have been the required number
The inclusion of these States among the mum
Der OF those which had voted for abolition,
affords proof that Mr.. SEWARD, as
well ~ Mr.. JOHNSON, regards them still
as States, acting, as States always do in their
transactions with the General Government,
through their Legislatures. The formal de-
claration of Congress that these States We're
States, could not have settled their status
more decidedly than the iaction--or rather the
failure to act on that occasionally Congress
did. Mr.. STEVENS had not word to throw to
a dog. His radical comrades were perfectly
mum. The action of the five Southern States,
deciding the question, was received as fair and
legal. If the radicals now insist that these
five States are ont of the Union, they entirel.
upset the great cons titutional amendment. II
will thus be seen that the President has gained
a complete victory.
In spite of this triumph, however, the radi-
calls will still continue to keep the Southern
members out of their places. We are not sure
that 1t is not the best thing they can do for the
south. II left alone, it is evident enough that
they will destroy their party utterly before
the existence Of~the present Congress shall
have terminated. Give them rope, and they
will inevitably hang themselves. Their pro
ceedings have already DISCUS ted many of their
party, and the disgust must become universal
as they advance. They are of that description
OF men who know not what to do with power
when they have it. They WILL in less than
twelve months, if left entirely to themselves
make the very name of Republican hateful
for centuries to come. Parties of that descrip-
ton always do. In the mean time, they can
not do us much harm. They may pass the
negro suffrage amendment, but it will be voted
down in the States.
As for their right to keep Southern members
elect from their seats it is clear to that they
have none. The Constitution defines the
qualification of \ representative. He must
be twenty five years old, and have been a citi-
zen of the United States seven years. These
are all the qualifications required: and when
the privilege is conceded to each House OF
Judging and deciding the qualifications of its
own members, nothing more is meant than
that it shall decide whether such members
have or have not the qualifications required-
1T the Constitution. To give to a House of
Representatives the power to establish an ar
bitrary standard of qualification is what the
law never intended. Itwould be to give one
branch of the Legislature the power to alter
the Constitution. No new qualification can
be fixed but by amending the Constitution
Both Houses are plainly violating the Consti.
tuition in enforcing their own will in this re-
spect but it is all the better. The people
will give them only the more signal overthrow
when they come to act upon their cases.