Daily national Republican. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1862-1866, 1865-10-23
WASHINGTON, D. c., Oct. 8, 1865, |


President johnson, in which ho talked for an
hour on the process Of reconstruction Of rebel
States. His manner was as cordial, and his con :
versation as free, as In 1868, when met him
daily in Nashville.
HIS countenance Is healthy, even more SO than
when first knew him.
remarked, that the people Of the North were
anxious that the process Of reconstruction should
be thorough, and they wished to support him In
the arduous work, but their Ideas were confused
by the conflicting reports constantly circulated,
and especially by the present position. OF the
Democratic party. It Is industriously circulated
In the Democratic Clubs that he was going over
to them. He laughingly replied, major, have
you never knowna man who for many years had
differed from your views because you were In
advance Of him, claim them as his own when he
came up to your stand point ~
replied, al have often, " He said, al So have
/, - aud went on 1.-THE Democratic party finds
its old position untenable, and is coming to ours
II It has come up to our position, am glad OF It,
You aud need no preparation for this conyersa'
tion we can talk freely on this subject, for the
thoughts are familiar to US; We can be perfectly
frank with each other. - He then commenced
with saying that the States are In the Union,
which is whole aud indivisible.
"Individuals tried to carry them out, but did
not succeed, as man may try to cut his throat
and be prevented by the bystanders; and you
cannot say he cut his throat because he tried to
do 1t.
"Individuals may commit treason, aud be pun
ished, and a large number Of individuals may
constitute rebellion and be punished as traitor
Some States tried to get out Of the Union, and we
opposed 1t, honestly, because we believed 1t to be
wrong and we have succeeded in putting down
the rebellion. The power OF those persons who
made the attempt has been crushed, and we now
want to reconstruct the State governments aud
have the power to do It, The State institutions
are Frustrated, laid out on the ground, and they
must be taken up and adapted to the progress Of
events; this cannot be done In a moment We
are making very rapid progress, so rapid some
times cannot realize 1t II appears like a dream.
1--WE must not be in too much OF hurry; 1t Is
better to let them reconstruct themselves than to
force them to 1t for II they go wrong, the power
Is in our hands, aud we can check them at any
stage to the end and oblige them to correct their
errors. We must be patient with them. did
not expect to keep out all who were excluded
from the amnesty, or even q large number Of
them; but intended they should sue for pardon,
and so realize the enormity of the crime they had
committed.
"You could not have broached the subject OF
equal suffrage at the North seven years ago, and
we must remember that the changes at the South
have been more rapid, aud they have been
obliged to accept more unpslatable truth than
the North has. We must give them time to di-
gest part, for We cannot expect such large af-
fairs will be comprehended aud dtgested at once.
We must give them time to understand their new
position.
az have nothing to conceal in these matters,
and have no desire or willingness to take indi-
rect courses to obtain what we want.
"0ur Government Is q grand and lofty struc
ture in searching for its foundation we hnd 1t
rests on the broad basis Of popular rights. The
elective franchise is not natural right, but a
political right. l am opposed to giving the States
too much power, aud also TO great consolida-
tlOn Of power In the central Government.
"If interfered with the vote In the rebel
States to dictate that the negro shall vote might
do the same thing for my own purposes In Penn
State to control the right of voting by Its own
laws, and we have the power to control the rebel
States II they go wrong. II they rebel, we have
the army, and can control them by 1t, and II me-
eessary, by legislation also II the General Gov
srnment controls the right to vote in the States,
1t may establish such rules as will restrict the
vote to a small number Of persons, and thus
create central despOtism.
"My position here is different from what 1t
would be II were in Tennessee.
"There should try to introduce negro suffrage
gradually; first those who had served in the
army; those who could read and write, and per-
haps property qualification for others, say 5000
| or $3.50.
at will not do to lot the negroes have univer-
| sal suffrage now, 1t would breed a war Of races.
There was a time in the Southern States
when the slaves Of large owners looked down
| upon non -slayeOwners because they did not own
| slaves; the larger the number OF slaves their
| masters owned, the prouder they were, and this
| has produced hostility between the mass Of the
whites and the negroes. The outrages are mostly
from non -slavehoiding whites against the negro,
and from the negro upon the non -slayeholding
whites.
"The negro will vote with tho late master
whom he does not hate, rather than with the
non -slavehslding white, whom he does hate
Universal suffrage would create another war, not
against us, but war Of races.
"Another thing. This Government is the freest
and best on the earth, and feel sure is destined
| to last; butto secure this, we must elevate aud
purify the ballot. | for many years oontended
at the South that slavery was a political weak .
| ness, but others said It was political strength
| they thought we gained three hfths representa-
ton by 1t | contended that we lost two .hfths.
"If we had no slaves, we should have had
twelve representatives more, according TO the
| ratio Of representation. Congress appOrtiOns
| representation by States, not Districts and the
| State apportons by districts.
| MANY years ago | moved In the Legislature
| that the apportiOnment Of Representatives tu
Congress, In Tennessee, should be by qualified
| voters.
| 'The apportiOnment Is now fixed until 1872
| before that time We might change the basis OF
| representation from population to qualified
voters, North as well as South, aud In due course
n time the States, I0ithoH regard to color, nigh
| extend the elective franchise to all who pos
sessed certain mental, moral, or such other quail
| ihCatiOns us might be determined by an enlight'
ened public judgment"
| BosroN, Oct. IS, 1865.
| The above report was returned 10 me BY Presi'