The New York herald., 1866-05-31
Reconstruction I'm Congress-Mr. Thsd
Stevens Losing Time.

was to get young and do something desperate
Is fast passing away and he has not yet taken
any decided action. The radical plan Of re-
construction which he has 80 ably embodied In
concise, emphatic bill, has not been brought
to vote. On Tuesday the Senate by unani-
nous vote rejected that feature Of the plan Of
the Committee Of Fifteen which disfranchised
all rebels until 1870 and which Mr. Stevens
declared to be the most vital portion of the
measure. Instead of this third section Senator
Howard offered an amendment disqualifying
this country, civil or military, until Congress
by o two-thirds vote removes the disability
Other amendments were introduced providing
that all negroes shall be considered citizens Of
the United States and Of the several Statesi
that the rebel debt shall not be paid and that
our national debt shall remain inviolate. Be.
sides this, Senator Sumner proposed long bill
in favor Of negro suffrage. In the House the
bill reported by the Reconstruction Committee
was debated. Yesterdays proceedings were
equally indecisive and finally the subject was
postponed until next Monday. Thus valuable
time is being wasted, and in making speeches
upon and suggesting amendments to the plan
Of the Committee of Fifteen the very compact
and comprehensive scheme of Mr.. Stevens Is
altogether overlooked.
All the bills, plans, resolutions, constitu-
tional amendments and reconstruction schemes
of the other radicals, from Sumner down,
amount to nothing when compared with the
measure which Mr.. Stevens has proposed. That
includes negro citizenship, negro equality,
negro suffrage, the Acknowledgement Of rebels,
the exclusion of rebel officials from Office under
the United States and everything else that the
most determined radical can desire. II opens
the doors Of Congress to negro representatives
and provides for a negro President 1t makes
the negro superior to the Southern white
man and Hxes the status Of the Southern States
beyond the possibility Of doubt Instead Of
tamely adopting part Of President Johnsons
the scheme Of Mr.. Stevens Is radical from begin
ming to end. II is as simple as 1t is
complete. II requires no tedious debate, no
submission 10 the legislatures Of the States. A
vote Of Congress will be sufficient for its adop-
ton. When Il is once passed the honorable
members can 60 home in perfect safety, for Its
provisions are 90 stcrnly stringent that nobody
can alter them. Why, then, should not the
plan be adopted and Congress adjourn' The
summer Is close at hand, the cholera Is threat
cning and Washington Is very dangerous during
the dogdaya We have no doubt that when
the cholera breaks out II will rage most vio
lently at the national capital. The malaria
Of the Potomac marshes, upon which grea
part Of Washington is built, Is eminently con
duclve To this dreadful disease. The irregu
lsr, not to say dissipatod, lives which many
Congressmsn lead while absent from theiI
homes ihcrai.A the probability that they will BE-
the cholera, frat victims Batting and drinking
at unusual hours, deprived Of the. "a'ural resi-
intaling malaria at every breath and dwelling
In houses located upon a swamp, the majority
CT the patriots Who make our laws for three
thousand dollars year. mileage and pickings