The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1865-06-19
The Col0red Suffrage Party.

The Coiored Suffrage Party.
stand" and it is now plain that the republic
can party is divided. Yesterday we pub lish-
ed some extracts from a speech recently
made by Senator Sherman, of Ohio,in which,
| following the lead-of Sumner, Wilson, Bout
well, Phillips, the New York Independent,
etc., he assaulted the reconstruction policy of
tbs president, and demanded that the south
e<n states be subjected to military govern
ment until they were willing to accept "col-
ored suffrage" The New York Tribune,
while earnestly supporting the principle, is
not certain that it would be polite to come to
| a rupture with the president on it. 1t needs
but to continue it's present course to prepare
the minds of It's readers for that rupture,
| whether it wishes or not to precipitate col
lision with the president. As usual, the rad
icals in that party are driving the conserve
| tives. Chief Justice Chase has left the SUI
preme court to transact business without his
assistance, and has entered the field in behalf
| of the negroes and his partisans are eagerly
| following his example. The poor old morn
ing abolition newspaper concern OF this city
has long restrained its wrath against the
president, but yesterday morning it became
too violent for repression. 1t assails his
whole system of reconstruction, and points
out with much perspicacity and perspicuity
the damage which it will infict on the " in
terests of God and humanity and the mem
bers of "a party founded on a great moral
idea" engaged in those interests. We ap-
pend its forebodings:
ssThe bars being thus let down the rebels
and put up against the aboitionists those states
the rebels will pour in and take possession OF the
state governments. When this operation has been
gone through in all the southern states, and their
nd ~ in
gress the north will wake up to the fact that not
only is slavery not abolished IN fact,and the cause
of past and future war not iemoYed, but that the
Union contains sixteen bitterly copperhead states
| opposed to Its abolition and eager 10 repudiate
the national debt. And the 90 unionists - of the
| Holden and Sharkey class will vote the copper
| head ticket every time
The evils which will result from the contin.
nance of the present method of reconstruction
being thus clearly shown, the duty Of the
president in the premises is indicated In the
| suhjoined extract:
| opinion between President Johnson and the ma
jority of his party on this question, we cannot
| shut eyes to the fact that such difference al
| ready exists. President Johnson, if he s the mar
take him to be will meet his party in congress.
/ with manly federation and with hearty respect
| for the opinions OF all.''
| 1t is precisely because President johnson
/ liz the man it takes him TO be p" that the
| poor old morning abolition newspaper concer
| of this city does not believe that he will bs
bullied or driven by congress into an aban
! Comment of his present position. He will
| meet congress with all the res oect TO which il
is entitled and will do all he honorably car
| to avoid a rupture with it. He fully appre
ciates the embarrassment To himself and in
i jury to the nation which might result from
| the refusal of congress to perform the proper
| legislation to carry the government. But
| if he is met peremptorily by that body with a
| demand that he shall adopt and enforce
Whitingism that he shall treat the southern
states as having forfeited all rights by seces
| sion, or, rather, as having lawfully changed
| their status in the Union by an attempt at Sc
cession,-he will treat the demand with q
/ 6rmness consistent with his character and
with bis whole public life, in whatever situa.
tion be has been placed. He did not defy Sc
| cession in Tennessee, when a senator and
| without power to meet it, to submit in Wash.
ington to insolent dictation from any body Of
men when he, as president, can weld the re
sources of the nation. 1t may be found tina,
the enlarged view of presidential authority
which has been iudustrously inculcated the
past four years may be made applicable to
| those who have appeared as it's advocates in a
manner which will raise doubts in their
| minds as to it's correstness. If Presiden,
1 johnson is the bad man whom we predict the
poor old morning abolition newspaper concern
| of this city will describe him to be before
many months have passed, we should have
no doubt that he would exercise such powers
as would be necessary to punch his oppon-
ents without regard to constitutional restric-
| tions, and find in the doctrines of the party
| which elected him an ample justification
His respect for constitutional obligations for
which they now assail him. will prove their
safeguard against such insult, lawleesness and
oppression as the democratic party have been
subjected to during the war. 1t is evident
that the leaders of the republican party have
determined upon pressing congress to a fight
with President johnson on his reconstruction
| policy. We trust there is enough of conserv-
atism left in that body to avoid the mischief
to which it il being melted, but if we are mis-
taken In this. it is reasonably safe to assume
that it will come out of the contest very much
the same as Butler did in his encounter with
the mason of Lowell. Considering that a
presidential election is somewhat remote, the
| political questions of the day are of unusual
interest, and promise to become daily more in-
teresting.- Chicago Times.