The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1865-08-11

fail of doing altogether Ny support
OF him, therefore, will be no half.
hearted support, but Jealous and
thoroughly hearty cooperation, with
no Interior purpose or thought oI
separation on issues likely to arise -
1t is by the cordial harmony of Mr
johnson and ihe Union members oil
J Congress that the country is to he
carried safely through its present
perils, and division between them
would place me in imminent danger
OF shipwrcck. We may have diverse
=, Ioplnions as to the true solution of this
knotty problem of reconstruction,
and during the proper period for
discussion we may ard ought to dis
cuss them with candor, with fullness
and with tolerant spirit, but when
| this is done and the time for action
arrives, it will be the business OF
Congress and tie Executive to agree
upon the plan Je adopted, and that
+, which is in this manner honestly de
termined by de,otedly Union men,
shall believe, a5 / have before said,
TO be the best attainablc result,
whether it agree with my views Oh
not. In short, ] believe that under
no circumstances should we risk the
transfer of the power of this Govern
ment to the hands of those who have
been disloyal during the war, by any
divisions among ourselves, until all
the questions which grow out OF the
war are permanently and finally do
cided.
Having thus stated what l think is
the true doctrine of political organ
ization, and indicated the great dan
ger of losing all for which we have
been striving by such divisions as
those at which you hint, | am now
prepared to state my private views
upon reconstruction. and the claim of
the freedmen to political privileges
in the Southern Southern States, leav-
ing to You the responsibility OF your
action In regard thereto.
/ presume we shall agree in re
garding the four general principles
asserted In the "Faneuil Hall Ad-
dress" as those which should guide
the determination Of our relations to
both whites and blacks in the rebel
States. That there may be no mis-
take in reference to this, quote
them:
"First. The principle must be put
beyond all question, that the Repuh-
lie has a direct claim upon the allie.
glance of every citizen, from which
no State can absolve him, and to his
obedience to the laws Of the Repub.
lie, anything in the constitution or
laws Of any State to the contrary
Notwithstanding.
"Second. The public faith is
pledged to every person Of color in
the rebel States, to secure to them
and their posterity forever a COM
plete and veritable freedom. Having
provided them this freedom, secured
their aid on the faith Of this promise,
and by successful war and actual
military occupation Of the country,
having obtained the power to secure
the result, we are dishonored if we
fail to make it good to them.
Third. The system of slavery
must be abolished and prohibited by
paramount and irreversible Law
Throughout the rebel States there
must be, in the words of Webster,
impressed upon the soil itself an in.
ability to bear up but free men
Fourth. The systems Of the States
must he truly republican, y
The application made Of the last
principle in the address, l do not re-
gard as sound, but l shall perhaps
agree more fully with you than You
do with the address, when / assent
thIt in q republican community po
litical privileges of any kind can
never be rightly or safely based upon
hereditary caste.
How then, it will naturally be ask
ed, can there be any practical differ.
ence between us as to the mode OF
carrying out these principles? It is
is found in the views we take Of tire
mutual relations OF the two races in
the South. You, judging from this
I distance, say "Deliver the four mil
lions of freed people into the hands
OF their former oppressors, now en-
bittered by their defeat aud they will
make their condition worse than be-
fore" l, starting from the same
principles, and after four years OF
close and thoughtful observation OF
the races where they are, say | am
unwillingly forced to the conviction
that the effect of the war has not been
simply to "embltter" their relations,
but to develop a rooted antagonism
which makes their permanent fusion
in one political community an abso-
lutte impossibility. The sole differ
ence between us then is in the degree
of hostility we find existing between
the races, and probable permanence
You assume that the extension of the
right of suffrage to the blacks, leav-
ing them intermixed with the whites
will cure all the trouble. / believe
that it would rather be like the decis
ions in that outer darkness of which
Milton speaks, where
"Chaos empire sits,
And by decision IN IRE embrall1 the Fray
Z Yet, as / believe, with you, thai
the right of life and liberty are ina
lienable, and more than admit tho
i 1onuar Of laayinor n lahOrinu aloSS ot