The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1865-03-25

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'4es .iatalsi JUNE. l83S
patient does Of the doctor who pres scribes
no medicines chat he is an jmpoetar, who
h@ not earned His money. eEve1 sinCo the
war began Congress has hAd innsirnsyAble
plans for reconsfru uction. Perhaps itwould
be az 3ellt to reflect whether any recon-
'struction isdesifable, when the ehectof It
il to Introduce enemies into the councils Of
the Republic. But some one will say,
When will the rebels b. ready 10 ,re enter
the Union, or will they ever be9 Certain
". The rebels are Americans, and Nike
other Americans have good dealON m1el-
lectual common sense. When the ro6ol or.
mics are destroyed and bsoksn up. a1dahe
of opinion u restored, (which they Ihsve
not now), nine-tenths Of the rebels win
willingly and cheerfnlly re-euter the Un-
ion. They will not do this because they
would have chosen II, but because the game
in ended, and they will take the course
which il best for their future happiness
and prosperity Of their children. Whom
that time comes the process Of feconstguc-
ton IL the simplest thing Imaginable It is
only 70 repeal in each 6tate the ordinances
of Secession, to disarm all soldiers, and 90
quiesce In the restoration Of the laWsa The
whole Of this IL merely . negative action.
and does not require even an oath Of ale
glance. When Richmond IL taken; and
Lees army is destroyed, the majority in
al the rebel States win be perfectly Wiling
to aCquiesce in the restoration Of the Gov
ernment and the Union. It will in fhct be
absolutely necessary to protect quiet,
peaceable citizens from rapine, robbery
and murder. We are already informed
that the ffeebootefs-called Confederate
cavalry-did more harm to the citizens Of
mans army; and when the large rebel ar
mics are broken up, nothing but the Inn
mediate return of the State Governments
can protect the decent and reputable pe0-
pie OF the South from destruction. III there
should be delay in this, one-third Of our
armies win be quite sufficient to govern
the South, and Congress can legislstestfor
them. It matters little, except for thAm-
selves The whole question OF recoustSpc-
ton rests with the armies. When lrheir
work is through, the people will recon.
etruct their political governments without
any difficulty. o9Aa
We are reminded Of this subject BY re-
real difficulty Ofthis reconstruction scheme
is fully exposed. The fact is the President
can do nothing sbout 1t, except in COM
manding the armies and Congress cannot
legisfate upon Il with sny eject. The real
question, when . State claims to be in the
Union or reconstructed, IL, cho and Aose
qualified are the people sthO erereise tie
right cf s41rdaes On thas question Com
gress, as q Legislative cody, cannot exer-
else any CONSTITUTIONAL. power. They have
nothing to do with the right of sufffaee.-
Nevertheless it is true, that IL = political
State claims to be in the Union, and sends
2 Senator to Congress he must be an Amer
ican,. having certain qualifications, and
cannot be traitor. How H. that'to b A.
certainedi The Constitution has met that
case exactly, but not BY general legislation.
The Constitution provides that each House
Of Congress, Senate and House, IL jsd0e
Of the qualifications Of ite osrn sseM6svs.-
Among these qualifications 10 that Of 10y
alty-obedience to tho laws. The man who
presents himself cannot be traitor, no
matter what credentials he may have, nor
han he be admitted % the representative Of
4Attors. Thus when two men, presented
themselves - Senators from Arkansas, Mr..
Howard, Of Michigan, objected to receiv-