Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1865-11-01

iultiSlUtt. t.A
individuals tried to carry them out, but
did not succeed, as man ray try to cut
his throat and be prevented by the BY
ISLANDERS; and you cannot say be cut his
throat because lie tried to do it.
individuals may commit treason, and
be punished, and larg. number of indi.
yldnals may constitute arebsllion and be
punished as traitors. Some States tried
to get cut Of the Union, asd we opposed
it, honestly, because We believed it to be
wrong; and we have SUCCEEDED in putting
down the Rebellion. The power of those
persons who made the attemp, has been
crushed and now we want to r.construc,
tie State Governments and have he DOW.
er to do it. The State institutions are
Frustrated, laid out on the grotai, end
they must be taken up and adapted b the
progress CT events this cannot be zone
in a moment. We are making very ra,id
progress, so rapid sometimes realize ii ,
it appears like cream.
We must net be in too much of bur.
ry, it is botter to let them reconstruct
themselves than to force them to it for
If they so wrong, the power is in our
hands aud We can check them a. any
stage, to the end, and oblige them to cor
rect their errors we must be patient with
them. l did not expect to keep out all
who were excluded from the Amnesty or
even large number Of them, but | in
tended they shoald ste for pardon, and SO
realize the enormity of the crime they
had committed.
You could not have broached tie sub
iect of equal suffrage, at the North, seven
years ago, and We must remember that the
changes at the South have been more rap
id, and they have been obliged to accept
more rnpalatable truth than the North
has We must Civ. them time to digest a
part, for we cannot expect such large af-
fairs will be comprehended and 1igested
at once. We must give them time to an
derstand their new position
l have nothing to conceal in these mat
.srs, ard have 10 desire or willingness to
take indirect courses to obtain what we
want.
Our Government is grand and lofty
structure in searching for its foundation
We find it rests on the broad basis Of pop
ular rights. The elective franchise is not
q natural right, bit a political right. !
am opposed to giving the States too much
power, aud also to great consolidation Of
power in the Central Government.
If | interfered with the vote III the
Rebel States, to dictate that the negro
shall vote, might 90 the same thing for
my own purposes in Pennsylvania. Our
only safety lies in allowing each State to
control the right of voting by its own
l1vs, and We have the power to control
the Rebel States if they 60 wrong. If
they rebel, We have the army, and can
control them by il, and, if necessary, by
legislation also. If the General Govern.
ment controls the riskt to vote in the
States, it may establish such rules as will
restrict the vote to small number Of
persous, and thus create central despot-
ism.
Ny position here is different from What
It would be'if l was in Tennessee.
There | should try to introduce negro
suffrage, gradually first those who lad
served in the army; those who could read
and write, and perhaps proper qualifca.
tion for others, say $500 or $50.
1t would net do to let the negroes kave
universal suffrage now; it Hcald breed
war Of races.
There was e tine in the Southern
States VIXEN the slaves OF large owners
looked down upon non-slave owners be-
cause they did not own slaves; the larger
the number Of slaves their masters owned
the prouder they were, and this has rrc-
duced hostility between the mass of the
whites and tho negroes. The outrages
gre mostly from rou-sla1eholdiug whites
against the negro, and from the negro
upon the non --laveholding whites. {.
TIE negro will vote with the late mas
Ter whom he does not hate, rather than
with the non-slaveholdiug white whom
he does hate. Universal suffrage would
create another war, not against us, but a
war Of races '3
Another thing. This Government is
the freest and best on the earth, and l
feel sure is destined to last: but to Sc
cure this wa npust elevate and purify the