Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-10-09
From the NeS York Herald. Sept. es.l ...
he Radicals and The President
on she Constitutional Restoration
of the Southern States,

The two great oracles of the Jacobin fac
tion of the Republican party have lately
spoken on the paramount subject of the
times-the status of, and policy to be ptlr-
sued toward, the late rebellious Southern
States. But no one is astonished at or in
fluenced by, their affected potential utter
ances. Their words are neither powerful
nor prophetic. The time is gone by when
the voice of such men as Thaddeus Stevens
or Sumner will be regarded asIoracular.
These men have played such fantastic and
shallow tricks in the arena of politics, un
der the pretense of craftsmanship, that the
verdict of the country, like that of the
Rochester jury in the case of Colchester, is
that they are jugglers-mere political Jug
glers-who have maintained their position
by cheating the people. '.
Anew light has come-the gospel Of peace
and restoration to this distracted and di-
viGed country, and the Abolition priests
and craftsmen who have made great gains
by the worship of Sambo are alarmed. AS
Demetrius and othors interested in pursu-
ing the worship of Diana, at Ephesus. when
Paul preached there, cried out in fear or
losing the wealth they gained, "Great is
Diana of the Ephesians," so Stevens and
Sumner, with the small, declining party
they lead, in dread of losing power and the
spirits, continue to cry out yehemently,
"Great is the Negro" But this old piece
of political craft will not answer any long
er. The war, and emancipation which is
the consequence of it, have swept away
their idol Sambo will no more serve their
purpose; they must make a new god.
The speech Of Mr.. Stevens, the oracle Of
the radical republicans in the House of Rep
resentatives, at Lancaster, Pa, and the
speech of Mr.. Summer who occupies SIM
liar position in the Senate, before the Wor-
cester Convention, are characteristic Of
these two leaders and show the situation Of
their party. They are not statesmen. !. Ste
vens is acountry lawyer, full of quibbles,
hair-splitting technicalities and egotistical
theories. He is incapable ofliberal or COM
prehensive views. Like every such village
lawyer who becomes a politician, he is full
of conceit, and imagines himself a great
statesman. The fictitious prominence in.
Congress which the war gave him, at time
when the National Legislature was remark
able only for its imbecility, has filled him
with pride. This, added to an uncongenial,
soured and hard nature, makes him the
Couthon and Marat of the time. Had he
lived and been an actor in the French Rev
olution he would have occupied, probably,
the same position as these monsters of his
tory. His mind dwells on confiscation, pro-
scription and other penalties. and In his
speech he demands these of the Government.
In this he gratities the promptings of his
heart, at the same, time that he is endeavOr-
ing to carry out policy that might save
his party from extinction. lF'
Sumner is aJacobin of character some-
what different. He is more the Robes
pierre of these revolutionary times. He is
dreamer, literary egotist and political
fanatic, and he supposes that fine turned
periods, beautiful simifes and rhetorical
ffourishes make d statesman. y His six
points laid'down at the Worcester Conven-
tion show that he has no conception of the
Constitution or theory of our Government.
He proposes to extinguish State. privileges
and authority, and would consolidate all
the powers of Government at Washington.
Among other things he would have the
Federal Government undertake to educate
the people of all the States, a matter which
belongs to the several States exclusively-y
The whole tenor of his speech isl to the
same purpose-that is, favoring centraliza-
tion, forcing Negro Suffrage and Equality
upon the Southern States, and treating the
people of the South as subjugated aliens-
Neither Mr.. Stevens nor Mr.. Summer could
take any other view of the great questions
before the country. The character of their
minds and their education do not enable
them to grasp the subject in all its bearings,
and particularly in a constitutional point of
view. They are mere politicians, looking
to party objects, and from habit, as we'll
as from having no other political hobby to
ride, they still hang on to the negro, AYR
How different with President Johnson,
He is much opposed to consolidation as he
is to secession. He is neither a visionary
nor a cynical factionistl Taking the Con-I
stitution as his guide, he says the South.
ern States never have been out Of the Union,
In the original compact the Union was
made perpetual, and there was no reserval
ton that any one or more Of the States
could dissolve it. Adissolution would only
take place by astceessf,ilr lrevolution.e This,
consequently, has onlyibeena rebellion, not
D successful revolution, and the States ex-
ist as before, 1t is not in the, power OF the
Federal Government constitutionally, TO
destroy theif existence . On the contrary,
the Constitution requires the Federal Gov
ernment to preserve them with Republican
institutions. The Presidents with aycom-
prehensive and. statesmanlike view Of the
problem--whieh is o new one In the histo-
ry of the country Originated his tplahlof
restdratiof. Ar the same time that he holds