The Black Republican., 1865-04-22
PRESIDENT LINCOLN on The L0UISI
ANA QUESTION,

we publish elsewhere this morning tles
speech delivered BY President Lincoln ing
Washington on tile 18th inst, most III which,
it will be secn, III devoted TO the considera-s
ton Of reconstruction In general, ana the1
affairs of Louisiana particular. In answerf
to tho reports that he had been censured forh
sustaining the new Government 0f Loui7i-s
ana, the President refers To the message of9
1863, in which u plan for reconstruction wass
suggested, accompanied by thu remark thatS
While it seemed to him practicable, there;
were nnqnesti0nably others that might bel
preferable in some cases. The Executives
support was promised to the people of suchg
States as endeavoTed to ACT upon the sug-s
gestion5 Of the message, ana the same would
no doubt have been given to ally feasible:
plan forth same object, whether III accorded
with the one proposed Or not.
AS the Cabinet unanimously approved this
plan, and US there WAS not d word said
against it by any Of the protested Unionists;
Of any section Of the country until The peo-S
pie Of Louisiana had began action under i'll
it was reasonably deemed acceptable to,
those interested. The policy of the Govern
ment ID regard to emancipation WAS acted
upon by the Convention of louisiana and
calriai mt bT 7-Ts1TTTfg fltiiy adoptel in the !
Constitution. This clearly gave the move-s
ment for q State Government additional
claims to the support of the Executive andI
of Congress, the latter branch ot tnc Gov-.
ernment having accepted and approved the
Emancipation Proclamatiom
But There Ilas been opposition to any ateps
bpinG taken loakingto y restoration 0frigllts
t0 the seeded Stataz baiore an a1Ihorita-
tiyc declaration of tha 7tatN7 ef ,lch a5 had
pa4sed secession ordinances N nas been
debatel pr9 and ron with much ingenuity,
ana so iar as we Aave 7aan ha9 n1r been
definitely settlel. Tct with all tAe inge-
nuitv displayed in tho discussion, n0 one
has hlen abla to SNOW what practical bear,
ing the solution Of the question coull 1--we
upon the cnd sought-namely: the reorgan-
izatiQn of said States on a loyal basis. Take
the case ofLouisiana for example. 1T tnust
be admitted that had her Congressional dele
cation been received in Tho Senate and
House Of Representatives. ana her civil
government formally recognized by the
National Legislature, she would be, to All
intents ana purposes as much part Of the
United States as she WAS in 1860 and tbs
question as to what she had been, in tht
meantime, rendered entirely unnecessary K
to be decided, by the fact that at any ratt
she was now in the Union. The poin'
raised, therefore, is not material to the issue
AS the President forcibly remarks All ad,ni
that the seeded States are out of thei
proper practical relations with the Union
and that it was not only possible, but cas-,
to restore those relations without deciding
the point whether the States had beel
abroad or not. After we have don
everything necessary for the practical reste
ration Of the seeded States to their old RI
lations in the Union forever each could in
nocently indulge in his own view
as to whether they had been brough
back into the Union, or only X
ceived proper assistance, having never bee
out.
The objection as to the limited number /
the constituency is entirely technical. Th
President puts the number Of voters 1
10000. and remarks that $4,000, or go, 0Ot
or even 10000 would have been more sah
factory. Now it is not contended, and if
were. it would not amount to presumptiy
proof that the result would have been mat
rally different had there been $4,000 vote
instead of $4,000. 1t certainly was not ii
fault Of the men who did participa
in the election, nor Of any Of them tn
the vote was not greater. There were prob
bly, as many as 10000 or $4,000 men wit
fnthe Union lines at that time, who eth
were qualified voters, or could easily ha'
become So According to all constructio
the silence Of the recusant voters may pro
ably be taken as consenting to the action
those who did take part in the election. ~
present constituency of the civil Cover
ment Of Louisiana proceeded in the orga
ization Of the State upon acknowledged i
publican or Democratic principles. Eve
facility was afforded for each man to fnl
participate. ana from the initiation Of {
proceedings to the final ratification of I
Constitution, every question was decided
accordance with the will Of the maiorit
The successful candidate for Governor
ceiyed majority of al the votes pole
although there were three candidates. II
Constitution was ratified by fourfftl
vote, making it probable that if 25,t
or 10000 voters could have be
called out, the relative majorities
the several State officers and the Consti
ton would not have been materially
sened.
The question of franchise to the color