The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1865-08-10

Wnole country ana OF all tue races ln "
that he has full claim to that confidence
which we declared that we reposed in
him; and that what we as Union men
cannot succeed in doing in harmony
and co. operation with him and his ad-
ministration, we shall fail of doing al
together. Ny support of him, there
fore, will be no half-hearted support,
but a Jealous and thoroughly hearty
cooperation, with no ulterior purpose
or thought Of separation on issues likely
to arise. It is by the cordial harmony
Of Mr.. johnson and the Union men,
bers of Congress that the country is to |
be carried safely through its present
perils; and division between them
would place US in imminent danger of
shipwreck. We may have diverse opin.
ions as to the true solution of shis knot
ty problem of reconstruction, and dur
ing the proper period for discussion we
may and ought to discuss them with
candor, with fulness, and with toll
Grant spirit, but when this is done and
the time for action arrives, it will bo the
business of Congress and the Executive
to agree upon the plan to be adopted,
I'D that which iSSin this manner hon
eotly determined by devotedly Union
men, I Shalls believe, as I:have before
said, to be the best attainable result,
whether it agree with my views or not.
In short, I believe that under no cir
cumstances should we risk the transfer
Of the power Of this Government to the
hands Of those who have been disloyal
during the war, by any divisions among
ourselves, until all the questions which
grow out of the war are permanently
and finally decided.
Having thus stated what I think is
the true doctrine of political organiza-
tion, and indicated the great danger ot
" losing all for which we have been striv.
! ing By such divisions as those at which
l. you hint, 1 am now prepared to stat,
my private views upon reconstruction
10 and the claim of freedmen to politica
IL privileges In the Southern States, leav
~ ing to you the responsibility of you
D. action in regard thereto.
~ presume we shall agree in regard
+ ing the four general principles asserte,
'i in the "Faneuil Hall Address," as thos
Ut which should guide the determinatio
~ of our relations to both whites an
e$ blacks in the rebel States. That ther
al may be no mistake in reference to thi
~ 1 quote them;
o. "First. The principle must be pu
u "beyond all question, that the Republi
d. "has direct claim upon the allegianc
:. "of every citizen, from which no Sta
~ y, "can absolve him, and to his obedienc
~ "to the laws of the Republic, any thin
" Sin the constitution or. laws of any Stat
. Ito the contrary notwithstanding.
- Second. The public faith is pied,
:; "ed to every person Of color in the rel
eel States, to secure to them and to the
"posterity forever, complete and We
'itable freedom. Having provide
" "then this freedom, secured their a
" "on the faith of this promise, and by
= successful var and actual military o.
~ "cupation of the country, having o
- "tained the power to secure the resu
y eve are dishonored, if we fail to ma
=" ''it good to them.
ng ~,
ia "Third. The system of slavery mu
,a. "be abolished and prohibited by par
,ns "mount and irreversible law. Throug
in "out the rebel States there must be,
ko "the words of Webster, Impressed u
IN "on the soil itself an inability to be
as. cup any but free men,"
in "Fourth. The systems of the Sta
alv "must be truly republican"
md The application made of the /
the principle in the address, I do not
nv gard Is sound, but l shall perhi
,ail agree more fully with you, than you
an. with the address, when l as sert that
Il republican community political pr
of ilcges of any kind can never be righ
Il or safely based upon hereditary caste
and How then, it will naturally be ask
'om can there be any practical difference
ur- tween Us as to the mode Of carrying
Sc these principlesf 1t is found in
IDLY views we take of the mutual relation,
the the two races in the South. You, ju
t in ing from this distance, say "Deliver
Lher "four millions of freed people into
it "hauds of their former oppressors,
pity "embittered by their defeat, and I
ring twill make their condition worse t
can "before." 1, starting from the 8
that principles, and after four years of Q
liver and thoughtful observation Of the r.
{ its where they are, say, am unwillir
forced to the conviction that the e
arm Of the war has not been simply to g