Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-06-23
Ohio sS;:>tate2tslm'a)1ntt,... II /.
From The New York Herald, juno i9.I

The work Of reconstruction is proceed
ing with extraordinary rapidty, Thepro-
clalDations Of President johnson, which we
published yesterday, announce The appoint
ments of Provisional Governors for two
more of the seeded States. The Hon. Jas.
johnson is to be the new Governor Of Geor-
gia, and the Hon. Andrew j. Hamilton of
Texas In these appointments, as in those
of North Carolina aud Mississippi, the
President has SELECTED loyal Southern men
in preferences to Northern politicians; and
his own intimate acquaintance with the
wishes of the Southern people, the stand
ing and opinions of representative South
erners and the best means to assist and
strengthen the Union sentiment OF the
South, has enabled President johnson to
push on his plan Of reconstruction very
rapidly, and very successfully. .-. .,
Eleven Southern States seeded from the
Union. Two others-Kentucky and Mis-
souri-were claimed by the secessionists,
butnever lost their loyal governments. OF
these eleven seeded States Tennessee, Ar
kansas and Louisiana were restored to the
Union under the administration of Mr..
Lincoln. and are now. to all intents and
purposes, as loyal as Maryland and Della
ware. Since the 2jth Of May, when the
rebel General Johnston surrendered, five
more States have been brought back. North
Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas
have been supplied with provisional gov
ernors, and Virginia has retained Governor
PierpOrt. who was elected by the loyal por-
ton of the people while the rebellion was
still in existence. Thus, in the short space
of little more than ttree weeks, five great
States have been restored TO loyalty. South
Carolina, Florida aud Alabama yet remain
to be treated; but another proclamation, to
be issued in a few days, will include them.
so before the glorious Fourth of July the
United States will be intact, one and indi-
visible. ..r ..... ..r... -.
Nor is this remarkably rapid reconstruc-
tion merely upon paper. IL is a real aud
vital certainty. The Southern people are
anxious for it and acquiesce in it.. SO lar
from the abolition OF slavery becoming %
stumbling block in the way of reunion, as
many persons naturally expected, the ma
jority of the SOutherncrs take emancipation
as matter of course, and promise To aid
the Government heartily and cordially in
the tremendous task OF transforming the
negro slaves into American freemen. There
are difficulties in regard to this feature of
reconstruction, however, which only time
and patience, can remove. The appoint
ment OF provisional governors, who shall
provide for tho election. OF state officers,
State Legislatures, and Representatives in
Congress, is plain plan, which requires
only the selection of loyal men to carry out
its details to be in every respect successful.
But in the discrimination between loyal
Southerners and rebels. in the exercise of
his power to punish and to pardon, in his
care for the poor Whites-the class from
which he sprung-and In his dealings with
the emancipated blacks and their relations
to the State, to their white ncighbors and
to the United States Government, President
johnson will find need for the Wisest states
manship and most deXterous employment
of the authority with which providence
and the will of the people have. endowed
him. ,... .. . ,.
Curiously enough, at the very commence
ment of his Administration, President
johnson is deserted by the very men from
whom he might have anticipated sympathy
if not assistance. TheTadical Republicans,
who professed to be so devoted to the well
fare of the blacks, are the most dissatisfied
individuals in the country, now that the
abolition of'slavery has been achieved
They oppose the appointment of loyal
SOutherners as Provisional Governors, con-
tending that there are no loyal men at the
South, and that Northern AbolitiOnistS
ought to fill these offices. On the other
hand they oppose, through Tile. Tribune,
the punishment of any rebels, stating that
only slavery and State Rights ought to reap
the penalty of treason. Tho poor whites of
the South they utterly Ignore. They in
sist that President Johnson shall proclaim
every negro a voter, giving the blacks bal
lots before he gives them anything else.-
OF course the AbOlitionists know that it is
impossible for him to do this, because the
suffrage question rests entirely with the
States; but that does not prevent them
from organizing against the President, I'M
der the leadership of a Chief Justice who
has already disgractd himself, his O1iicgand
the country by eXtra-ludicial decisions.--
\ Nor does it prevent them from threatening,
through Mr. Wendell Phillips, to repudiate,
the national debt if negro suffrage be not
granted, or promising (if we accept the
amended version of his speech) torecOgnize
the rebel debt If negro suffrage is granted.
Mr.. r.WendellPhlllips in a published letter,
states that what he said at Boston was that
he woHld advocate the Reputation of all
rebel debts ii the Union were reconstructed
on white basis; and the clear inference
from this statements that he is prepared to
advocate the payment Of all rebel debts if
the Union be reconstructed on black and
white basis. Whether he made the threat
reported or offered the bribe here stated,
his party IL alike inimical 10 President
Johnson. Ni' .'h -. l'g t"f
But under the. circumstances it is very
clear that the President has gained more
than he has lost by the desertion and the
Of the radical faction. The
people have pl'ofqtthd distrust of these men,
who, as Mr.. Stephens, of, Georgia, says in
his application for a pardon, were the orig
inal promoters and encouragers of Sc
cession, and who now look upon the
negro, not as d man, but as .aH,;;mere
voting machine. Consequently, the mass
es, North and South, will rally around |
President johnson in inyincible force, and
the more he is assailed by the radicals for
not attempting the impossible, the,more the
people will admire his eminently practical
mind, and the more they will assist him in
out his enlinently practical plans.
A few silly editorials In paper like The
Tribune, which holds that if you give
man q ballot it is equivalent
to giving him something to eat, and
a few silly speeches from such ranters as
Wendell Phillips, who ilrstimsists upon re-
pudiating the national debtand then adyo-,
Gates the recognition OF, the rebel debt can
not have any weight with a man OF Presi- 4
dent Johpsop,s calibre, particularly as he
feels the steady snpport bf, the people np-
holding and Sustaining him, as the deep
waters Of, The ocean sustain tie strong ahi |
skillful swimmer. Wekpow the people and |
we understand the drift Of public opinion.
The Tribune itself says that we predicted to
Louis Napoleon the last revolution in
France, from ourobservation of the tone of |
the French press, And as we understand |
public opinion weassure President johnson |
that 1t is with him; that it has confidence |
in him; that thus far he is right, and that
he has only to 90 ahead as he has begun. To |