The Portland daily press., 1865-07-14
si4ioasI pardon Expartc Wells. is How

| conditional pardon AsNF"'ec Wons' 10 now
ard, BOT IS
Lincoln of usurpation for any public act Of
his IN reference to the prosecution of the war
to suppress the late rebellion. Mr.. Brownson
may find by examining the Constitution and
the Statutes and treatises on public law, that
the theory of the present and late administra-
ton, that the rebels are criminals, that they
were to be subdued as criminals, pardoned as
criminals and punished as criminals, is far
more consistent and tenable5 one than his
own.
Mr.. Brownson resumes;
"Whence, again, does the Executive get
power either to enfranchise or to disfranchise
any portion of the territorial people r Disloy-
| al persons are unquestionably disqualified, but
not till convicted of treason by due process of
law; and the Executive has no authority to de-
| termine who may or may not vote even in the
preliminary organization of a new State, far
| less in the organization of an old State. he
| holds that the electoral law in force in the
State before secession is still in force, and,
therefore, thathe cannot enfranchise the freed
men; by what right; then, does he distran-
schise any whom that law does not disfran-
chise?
L am personally in favor of admitting GER
tain classes of the freedmen to the right of
suffrage, for hold that all political rights or
4 franchise based on private wealth, birth or
race, are repugnant to the genius OF American
Democracy; but / deny the right of the Ex-
ecutive or of Congress to enfranchise them in
any one of the States now or ever States in
the Union; ! agree with the President that IN
each of the States that seeded the electoral
law is still in force, but not for the reason as
signed by him."ENaS TE8xa A1EAS
This first proposition is well put. Nor can
the President undertake to set aside any cleo
tors qualified under the old Constitution with
out exercising a right to determine who shall
be electors in preliminary organization. 1t
would have been much better for Congress to
do what it evaded doing atthe last session and
must do at the next, pass an act authorizing
the loyal people of any rebel state to organize
new state government in place of that vacat-
ed by the rebellion.
That disloyal persons are mquestionably
disqualified from being voters Mr.. Brownson
admits. The idea that they must be first tried
| and convicted of treason is absurd Try and
convict 100000 persons But Mr.. Brown
son holds that no submitting traitor, not even
JEFF Davis himself, can be tried or punished
for treason; so that on his showing they are
all voters in spite of Congress and the Presi-
/ dent. On his plan Of reconstruction the pol
itical power of the rebel states is firmly fix
| ed in the hands of rebels as if they had sue
| eeeded in their purpose of conquering the I'm
! tied States. Nay. their power is greatly en-
larged, for if they had conquered the United
States, they would have gained the power to
govern the Confederacy, but being conquered
/ they gain the power not only to govern the
South but to increase their domination over
the whole Union, by gaining abous fifteen
votes in the representation, the spoils Of the
Acknowledgement of loyal men. :
+ The loyal people do not insist that the Pres
ident shall dictate who shall be voters, but i
he undertakes TO do so they claim that his
right to enfsnchise loyal citizens is as broad
as his right to ,disfranchise disloyal enemies. &