The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-10-05


| roecliions touEress passed an act requiriu.
/ q stringent cath of al who should fer.sf
ter hold amy olife uuaer che Unit & stata.
| Governments. The cath required The PARIS
to swear that hc had Voluntarily Given -
/ aid. countcnance. counsel or encouraeemeu|
| to perrons engaged In armed hostility 10 w.
/ United Siatess tnat he had never voluntariIy
borne arms against The United States. ana
7 thst be bad held no Office snd yielded ns
military support % any pretended Goyern.
meut within the United Siates aud hostile
/ thereto. The oath was Intended io exclude
| al participants 10 the rebellion. and Sc such
has been takeu by an otiice-hoiders since &c,
passage.
THIS cath now stases in the face every
eauaiaate ior C1lEfess in the south, and
uarfows Che oppoyiuniiiss Ell ssieebon down
20 very close limits lu Dis appointment OF
officers, the President. u IS charrcd. has
disre garded this oath and gwen positions %
some Who could n1t take it, while ne has
givea DIS op.nion, unofcisliy. in answer
90 eager Inquiries from Virginia. that be had
no means cd mewug whai Cou-rcss would
DO in regard 20 she test, while hs WISHED
that true and loyal men might be- elected.
lhis seems to intimate he belief that she
action ot such au o1th within the power
g tongreas, and that Coner5ss alone can
dispense with g.
The whole qucstion becomes OF the great
cst importance in view of the Executive
par'laus. snd thei effect and aeare The
Cous.lutfun dc1iasf ihs- rt.r het.sn 81 Size
sole Judge of the "tlecions, rciuius. and
qualifications OF its own members. o. provi-
slon which, Kent says Is SEQ preserve pure
sad genuine approximation. aud o. control
the evils Of irrcgllar, carrupl, ana ,uuiuitu-
Gus elections, and tha iccs.oa, De SAYS,
should be regulated ID known principles
oi law. The qualifications of members of
Congress are made known In article ser
ton :, Of the Constitution. and beyond this
congress caunot 50 in ucturmmnE what
these qualifications" shall BE- They are
there defHcf, and cannot De changed. The
National lintelhecncer, iu discussing this
question, very cautiously savs.
'1oisttllss there are powers Of c1palsion
inherent in Congress, ior whose abuse the
represen .atlve has a ready appeal o. has
constituents; and it IS uudeuiahly compe-
tent, a. We suppose. Cor C-urrcss o. adopt
what may be iairiy called ruics ior she gor-
el-nmcat Of members and perhaps. IN cases
OF aagmnt, imminent necessity. such rules.
having the & Tms and saacuons of law.
might be ccustituUoually carried to such
point as would author.ze the sinc qua non af
a special cath of alis glance"
10 then asks the iouowiug questions
Under such caucess loo o. Chs. has
Congress the power t1 auuul the amnesty
acts oi She President of the United States. 10
vitiate and nullify the psrdonnc power. bv
arbitrarily cousiguiur those t1 disrr1f-tf,l-
Htclf whom the Pre- ident has cltraaciissf.
and thus restored 90 an the rights Of citizen
shipf Can Congress rghttuliy 70 So isr ss
90 embrace-undcr our C1usututiou-in an
y
have been legally efiaced by Che seal of citi-
zenship stamped on them by the parlauiuc
power Of the President OF the Cnited States.
These are the questions that wiz vex the
people ere long, aud which must b. decided
upon correct principles. What, thou. is the
effect Of pardonr The American Cvclo-
pedia, iu treating OF the subject. sava
Complete pardoa involves remission % an
the penalties which the law has inaictcd on
the offender. Not the hue or imprisonment
only, or whatever else may have Dc u the
physical form Of punishment but q 50 an
the inlamy and al the incapacity which ia
fanny imposes. Full pardon c0mpisfcir re-
stores .te eud sidtas of the criminal"
These observations apply especially 60 the
ease Of The conyicted crimuigis; Qua shcy
are still more iorcib.e when applied % The
pardons by the President, which are full
AAN AttH la's aalA ANaA'lN ANA".N tHAaA NNA even
before arrest.
The oath imposed by Congress uas
military necessity iu time Of war. when
it was necessary end even vital 90 know
who were sound and .oyal, aud o. keep
out Of office ga who would use their position
90 thwart She legitimate purposes of the
Government, emharrass is cton, or give
encouragement TO its onemie- The oath
belo- g. - war lesislation- Ils day has
passed. Tho lave rendered necesary D.
the great urgls in which We were eH-
gagged are AMONG The curiosiles of the past
Ih.y have served their purpose, and they
find no place in abe cra of peace The duty
of this day is to repair shat has been wasted,
io recognize the end of hosulitia by break
ing down the barriets that were erected be-
tween North aud souil. between the loyal
tud the traitor. There IS no iuore place or
reason for she test oath, and Cor tne sus
pension ol habeas corpus, than Cor trade 70
stfictions already brashoi away, or paa-
ports across the border, Eorih aud South.
an alike belong 90 different order OF
things, 20 an elete legislation VIII ton
gress bo wise enough 10 recognize TIE new
3 tuation, aud show by ita scts that har
mouy IS rtst-red and That the Union exists
with al is privilege accorded 20 ai us
citizens, who are acknowledged TO be loyal
and not criminal, whether by their own acts
or thet of the President