Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-09-22
VOLUME ss;N NO. 80

| has Just ended.
| But it is said by those who have more
sympathy with rebel wives and children than
for the widows and orphans of loyal men.
that this stripping the rebels Of their estates
and driving them to exile or to honest labor
would be harsh and severe upon innocent
women and children. 1t may be so but
that is the result of the necessary laws Of
war. But it isTeyolutionary, they say. This
plan would, no doubt, work radical reor-
ganlzatlon In southern institutions, habits
and manners. 1t is intended to revolution
lze their principles and feelings. This may
startle weak minds and shake weak nerves.
30 do all great improvements ia the polite.
al World. 1t requires heavy impetus Ia
drive forward q sluggish people. Vixen Il
was frst proposed to free the slaves and arm
the blacks, did not half the nation tremblei
The prlm conservatives, the snobs, and
the mail waiting maids in Congress, were in
Mysteries
The whole fabric of Southern society must
be changed, and never can it be done if this
opportunity is lost Without this, this Gov
| ernment can never be, as it never has been,
a true republic. Heretofore it had more
the features of aristocracy than of democra-
cy The Southern States have been despot-
| lsrns, not governments of the people. 1t is
impossible that any practical equality of
1 rlghts-can exist where few thousand men
| monopolize the whole landed property The
larger number Of small proprietors the more
safe and stable government. As the landed
interest must govern, the more it is subdi-
ylded and held by independent owners, the
better. What would be the condition of the
State OF New York if it were not for her in
dependent yeomanry2 She would be over
Whelmed and demoralizcd by the Jews, Mi
ieslans and vagabonds of lieentious cities.
How canrepubhcan Institutions free schools.
Tree churches, free social intercourse, exist
In a mingled community of nabobs and
ser1s; OF the owners of twenty thousand a.
ere manors with lordly palaces, and the oc-
cupants of narrow huts inhabited bv ssow
white trash?i IF the South is ever to he
made safe republic, let her lands be culti
yated by the toll of the owners. or the free
labor of intelligent citizens. IL will he hard
to persuade the owner of ten thousand acres
| OF land, who drives coach and four. that he
is not degraded by sitting at the same table.
or In the same pew, with the embrowned and
hard-handed farmer who has himself cult
vated ms own thriving homestead of $50
acres. This subdivision of the lands will
Yield ten bales OF cotton to one that is made
now, and ne who produced it viii own it and
feel himself a man.
It is far easier and more beneficial to exile
| 10, 900 proud, bloated and deiantrebels, than
to expatriate four millions of laborers, ma
tive TO the soil and loyal to the Government.
This latter scheme was a faverite plan of the
\ Blairs, with which they had for awhile inoe-
ulated our sainted President But, a single
experiment made him discard it and Its ad
4 visers. Since | have mentioned the Blairs.
| / may say word more of these persistent
apologists of the South. For when the Vi
rus of Slavery has once entered the veins Of
the Shareholders, no subsequent effort seems
capable of wholly eradicating it, They are
a family of considerable power, some merit,
Of admirable audaeity and execrable selfish
ness. With impetuous alaerity they seize
the White Houses and hold possession of it,
as In the late administration, until shaken
off by the oyerpoWering force of public in
dlgnatlon. Their pernicious counsel had
well nigh defeated the reelection of Abra-
ham Lincoln; and if it should prevail with
the present Administration, pure and patri-
| otlc as President johnson is admitted to be,
it will render him the most unpopular Exec
utiye-saye one-that ever occupied the
Presidential chair But there is no fear of
| that. He will soon say, as Mr. Lincoln did !:
i Your TIME HAS COME
| This remodelling the institutions, and re-
| forming the rooted habits of proud aris-
tocracy, is undoubtedly formidable task /;
requiring the broad mind of enlarged states.
manship, and the firm nerve of the hero.
| But viii not this mighty occasion produce
will not the God of liberty and order give us
such men? VIII not Romulus, Lycur-
gus, a Charlemange, a Washington arise,
| whose expansive views viii found free en-
pire, to endure till time shall be no more?
/ This doctrine of Restoration shocks me.
! We have duty to perform which our faith
ers were incapable of, which will be required
at our hands by God and our Country.
When our ancestors found ''more perfect
| Union necessary. they found it impossible
to agree upon Constitution without tolera-
ting, nay guaranteeing Slavery. They were
obliged to acquiesce, trusting to time to
work a speedy cure, in which they were dis
appointed They had some excuse, some
! justification But we can have none if we
i do not thoroughly eradicate Slavery and rem
der it forever impossible in this republic -
1 The Slave power made war upon the nation.
! They declared the omore perfect Union"
dissolved -solemnly declared themselves a
/ foreign nation alien to this republic; for
four years were in fact what they claimed to
be. We accepted the war which they ten
dered and treated them as government ca
pable Of making war. We have conquered
them, and as a conquered enemy we can give
them laws; can abolish all their municipal
institutions and form new ones. If we dc
not make those institutions fit to last through
generations of freemen, heavy cause will
be on us. Our glorious, but tainted, repub-
lie has been born to new life through bloody,
agonizing pains. But this frightful Re
storation' has thrown it into cold obstruc-
ton, and to death.n If the rebel States
have never been out of the Union, any at
tempt to reform their State institutions, ell
ther by Congress or the President, is rank
usurpation.
Is all then lost? Is this great conquest to
be in vain? That will depend upon the vlr-
tue and intelligence of the next Congress.
To Congress alone belongs the power OF re-
construction-of giving law to the vanquish-
ed. This is expressly decided by the Su-
preme Court of the United States in the
/ Dorr case, 7th Howard, A. The Court say,
"Under this article of the Constitution (the
4th) it rests with Congress to decide what
government is the established one in State,
for the United States guarantees to each
republican form of government, ct cetera.
1 But we know how difficult it is for major,
ty of Congress to overcome preconcelyed
j opinions. Besides, before Congress meets,
things win be so inaugurated --preclpltated
it will be still more difficult to correct:
4 IF a majority of Congress can be found
. ,v;va and firm enough to declare the Confed-