Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-01-16

j
= that oath, and I rejoice that il 2
Il happened. and hope that no man fr0u
y the South viii, on any account tax
" the oath, OF do anything by which sueI
n test of qualification can he drawn int
n precedent. or be sanctioned even for
n aay, for it is clearly one ofthose lnsid
q ious Innovations or encrOachments upO'
y the wisest institutions Of GOvernmen
= that occasionally take place IN time o
b great political excitement and disturb
y anco, which, II adopted become prece
Y dents, % Justify changes that destroy 0
e / revOlutionize the Government itself
= the fanaJioal party IA the North had sue
Y cetded in forming a conspiracy 70 eitec
r a total change Of Governments ther'
p could be no more effective device
e. elouted than the test oath enacted
Z IN eighteen hundred and siNty-tWo
A little reflection viii he SUN
, cient 10 detect the manner IL
) which it can be made - &c
: accomplish the purposes desired. IL The
qualifications prescribed by the COnstl
Z tuition for members Of Congress, or any
% officer necessary 10 the Government
created by the Constitution, can be 81
! radically affected, then Congress, the
, President and his Cabinet, the Supreme
= Court Judges, Foreign Ministers, and the
P whole Government may be changed
, from white 70 black, with the same faeii-
! irv and the same Interpretation Of con-
, stituu0nni powers by which the eXclu-
4 sion of members elect from The States
+ lately IN rebellion, who have been
: uncOndiuOnaily pardOned by the
President, and have taken, or are
willing 70 take the amnesty or
: oath Of allegiance, can be effected
p ly inierposing the test oath Of eighteen
. Hundred and siXty-twO. II is clear that,
/ if Congress has the power TO add 10 the
qualifications prescribed by the COnstitu-
tion for mem bers Of Congress, then Il plQy
change those already prescribed. / Is
only necessary for Congress 10 enact thai
all members elected to either House Of
Congress, and that every officer under the
Government shall be a descendant Of the
African race, and We may have a whole
Government constituted of black men /;
or if Congress chooses 70 make ne change
ia some Of the departments Of the Gov
erameut, then We can have q variety Of
COlOrs, some members black, others
white. The clause in the C1nstitu-
ton, which provides that each House
uf Congress shall judge OF the "slec-
ti0fs, returns, and gtGi 70 ,GtiCJ3s' Of it,
own members, has been construed by the
Radical party TO give the power TO the
House Of Representative, not merely to
inquire and decide whether the appli-
cant for a seat has the qualifications pre-
zcribed by the Constitution, viz that he
was " twenty-five years Of age had
been "seveu wears citizen Of the IniteG
/ Siates,u and was 'an inhabitBnt Of the
state in which he was elected % buU GER
tain other qualifications added by Con-
+ gress, and not to be found in the Consti-
tuition. Such a measure, certainly, can
! be accomplished only by an amendment
4 of the Constitution in the usual form.
T There seems 70 be an idea aiiOat in the
minds Of some, that the exercise by the
. two Houses of Congress Of the powers
+ given them 10 Judge of the right Of each
4 Of their own members 10 take their seats
Is too simple and plain matter, as is
. represented above, 10 admit OF much dis
VUtatiOn, and ii is proper ID suggest that
/ the greatest amount Of trouble and veXa-
ton incident TO the duties Of Committees
ON Elections, in either House Of Con-
grass, arises on questions of fairness at
the polls, and Of the qualifications Of
voters The question Of the returns and
qualifications OF members seldom gives
any trouble.
EetrOsqsetive-The Doctrine Of E4ualitNR
/ think il important, at this peril0us
iuucture, 70 point attention 70 The re-
markable character Of the proceedings
aG the Republican Convention, Assem- bied
90 Chicago in eighteen hundred and
s.xty-their platform and what they
called the declaration Of their PRINCIPLES
guH JieJc2. I think that we may dis
cover that there were some men engaged
IN the handiwOTk Of that platform who
had already strongly conceived the idea
Of the permanent ascenGancF which
-heir party might attain to, II they could
only succeed in EppropriaJing to them
selves the exclusive property in the name
OF title Of champions Of ne equal Tlg3t3
Of man, without distinction Of color.
From the solemn and formal mGnner
I'm which they announced themselves.
their convention, snd itz purposes, % the
public, we may infer that they looked
uDOn themselves as commencing new
era Iu ,Ae history of party triumphs, and
Of their own party IN particular. They
DO not say, IN terms, fhat they mean 20
put forth a declaration only second IN
importance to that Of seventeen hun
ired and seVenty-slE; they do not,
IN their preamble, quite assme the
Blmp of style nor the imposing arrange
neuts oi subjects OF our Fathers, when
.hey preluded their Declaration in the
following language "When, in the
|
pssaiy Y for one people TO dissolve the pO-
iticul bonds which have connected them
with another etc, etc, "a decent re-
spect TO the opinions Of mankind require
tnat they should declare the causes which
( iuIDel them 70 the separation ~ but they
( proceed with quite sufficient s0iemnity
and simple dignity, 10 resolve "ihat we,
The delegated representatives Of the Re-
publican electors of the United
/ states, in con invention assembled, in dis
! aharge0f the duty We owe to our oonstit-
uants ana our country, unite in the fol-
I lowing declarations: lst. lhai the MS
+ tory Of the nation during the last four
{ wears has fully established the propriety
and necessity OF the organization and
( DCT1gCiaafi0a Of the Republican party,
and the causes which called il into exist
] ence are permanent iu their nature, and
now more than ever hei0Fe, and de-
aaHds its peaceful and constitutional
( triumph"
ID "Tbat the BlaitteaGa0eo Of the lsria-
( n.plc promulgated in the Declaration Of
( FUdcDcudcacs and embodied IN the Fed
Z eral Constitution, That all men are ere
ated equal that they are endowed by
I their Creator with certain lnalleHaDie
rights that among these are lie, liberty,
and the pursuit Of happiness; that, To Sc
/ cure these rights, governments are IN
stituted among men deriving their iust
powers from the consent of the governed,
. IS essential 90 the preservation Of our Re
publican institutions. The Republicans
! at Chicago ia eighteen hundred and
sixty seized upon the above passages
. ia the Declaration Of independence tn sew
euteen hundred and seYentY-slN aln as
Sumed Il as containing an announce
ment, for the first tine, of certain pFag-
teal truths OF that day, the oQuGiitV 0t
human rights being the principal one Of
7 them, aGd intended 20 be the basis or
fundamental idea OF principle of the new
( government they meant 10 found, for the
assertion AID main tsnauCe Of which the
/ fathers OF lhe Revolution had exposed
I their lives and their fortunes 10 the haZ-
ards Of war, AMI the declaration OF this
principle was Justification vi their CON
duet before the civilized world IN
throwing of their allegiance 90 the
mother country and bringing ON a
war OF which the wisest could
not fOresee the termination or
consequence, Il is admitted that this
great principle was not carried out IN the
Revolution, nor adopted IN the Lonstltu-
ton Of seventeen hundred AMI eighty
nine, because, say the Republicans, it
T
the slave interest; but during the whole
period OF the Revolution there was no
disavoWal of the sentiment contained in
the Declaration Of Independence. Thus,
bv the testimony Of these lE.tef day
reformers, the drst men Of the Revo,u-
ton, I may say all the great men OF that
day,With Washington and the Adamses at
their head, stand convictedof a deliberate
fraud, a hypocritical falsebood In the
declaration Of the principles which they
announced as the canEes and Justification
Of tine quarrel Of the colonies with Great
Britain, appealing 70 the God Of Battles
Tor the Justice 0l their cause AID invo-
King his blessing upon it, for IA fact, the
squGlisg o. 6tJuaH rigAfs, oy NE tdw of
nature, was neither the cdUse, nor the
violation Of Il the Qualification OF the
quarrel with Great Britain. But Il mav
be, and probably il was the fac, mat the
Fathers Of the Revolution gave no such
Interpretation 70 me sentiment, or the
doetnne 0f ne equal rights Of man by ne
l1l1 9fndtUre, that their triser successors
Of this day have given to it; not sup
posing that i Gver could become the
s3anG Of a school Of politicians,
Vow. the truth II that the idea
ofthe "eqHal rfgkts o. man" the theory
Of the equality Of human rights" by