The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1865-12-21
The Presidents Message and General
Grants Report.

The Presidents Message and General
Grants Report.
These documents will be found In our paper
this morning and viii give much satisfaction |
to Southern readers. s
The president's policy Of restoring the South
ern States to equal rights with ehe Nor'"e'n
under the Constitution, and, In the language o.
Mr.. Seward. ..remitting them to the constit"-
tioual authorities chosen by their own people,
ss the only efficient means Of re-establishine
harmony and insuring the rights and pro:
perity OF the whole Union. It was not sur
nrisinr that the calm>and truthful communi
cation of the President should excite Mr.. sum
per's malignity, and that he should style 1t q
- white washing message. Had the Presi
dent recited as true the falsehoods relative T.
Southern cruelties to the blacks. and Southern
tiisloyalty, which have been invented and cir
culated to help on the agitation against rcsto
ration. and for the degradation of the South
ern white man, it would have been marvel
Gus proper document for Mr.. SUMNER. Our
qualification being in proportion to that gen
tieman's discomfort. of course we nan 'h'
short message with satisfaction.
President Johnson states that go the people
..throughout the entire South evince lauda
"ble desire to renew their allegiance to thu
" Government, and TO repair the devastation o.
"war by a prompt and cheerful return 10
peaceful pursuits" And he expresses an
abiding faith that their actions will conform
to their propositions With regard 10
freedmen, he declares, from information he
had received. that nearly all the southern
States have adopted measures to confer upon
them "privileges which are essential to their
:. comfort, protection and security 1t is
plain that Mr.. JOHNSON considers that all this
may be done without the aid OF the OflclOus IA
natics in Congress. 1t is pretty good hint to
them that their prOffered assistance is alto
gcther uncalled for. They might be told, in adj
tlition. with equal truth, that their interfer-
ence will only make the freedman worse OIL
and more miserable thanhe is.
General Grants letter to the President is
honorable alike to his judgment and his sense
of Justice 1t fell like bomb in the midst OF
the agitators, who are endeavoring to prolong
the troubles of the country and perpetnate the
hate between the two great sections OF the
Union He declares that, after his tour
through the Southern States, he is convinced
that the mass of thinking men of the South
"accept the present situation Of affairs in
good faith,'' and that they consider the ques-
4 State to secede from the Union" rs settled
forever So perfect and general does he
represent the acQuiescence of the South in the
authority of the Government, that " the
''mere presence of a military force, without
regard to numbers, is sufficient to maintain
.. ORDER Even this, we are sure, General
GRANT does not consider necessary for the pre-
seryation Of order among the ,rhite citizens; for
in the next paragraph TO that containing this
remark, he states that the Southern people,
whilst in the work of reconstruction, 50 want
and require protection from the Government"
He recommends that, in affOrding this prOtec-
ton, ,c.ite troops alone be sent into the rural
districts and elsewhere, except forts upon the
sea coast. He urges, among other reasons why
black troops should not be SENT that they s. de-
'.moralize labor, both by their advice and by
g furnishing in their camps a resort for the
- freedmen for long distances around.
THE late slave seems to be imbued with the
s. idea that the property ofhis lots master sho"H
"by right, belong to him At least, should hare no
'protection from the colored s0Ifier.' This
shows plainly what is General GRANTS view
of the necessity of the presence of the military.
This ''idea'' of the g late slave which has
been widely disseminated in the Southern
States, General GRANT believes has come
from Inc agents OF the ffeethWtHS bu-
reau: an institution which he frankly
states has been conducted neither with
good Judgment nor economy. Whilst
he believes that the majority of the agents Of
this bureau advise the freedmen that g by his
own labor he must expect to live the Gene
raj is "sorry to say the freedman's mind does
"not seem to be disabused of the idea that the
.. feedman has the right to live arithou care or
"prorisioa for the f4tuse.'' This evil idea is pro
ducing idleness and filling the camps and
cities, and he thinks, in such cases, disease
land vice will tend to the determination or
"great reduction Of the colored race"
These are facts and conclusions that are
the best answers to the rawlings of the Con-
yressional fanatics. What General GRANT
saws is worth something; and that is put
forth like shield TO protect the South, now
without voice in the National councils,
from the internal malice which would hand
her over to a continuous oppression and de-
graduation.