Delaware State journal and statesman., 1866-09-04
From the New York Tribuns.
REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS-.

sentation IN Congress while tney were Dght-
ing TO subvert the UnlonS If not, did that
right enure TO them, absolutely and uncon-
ditionally, the moment their military forces
were compelled 10 ground arms by the vic
torioushosts of Grant, Sherman and ThomasS
Mr.. Vallandigham and his adherents (im-
properly termed Disunionists, since they al
ways believed in preserving the Union by
conceding to the Shareholders all they could
ask or would take) consistently hold that
the Rebels forfeited no rights, and were en-
titled to resume their seats in Congress at
any time. Val. moved this in Congress;
fought against the Rebellion always held
that they did not fight for the privilege of
beng governed by the Rebels.
Andrew johnson in his better days, held
firmly with the majority. While he always
maintained that State, once in the Union,
conld neither be taken out nor destroyed, he
insisted that her rights in it might be sus-
pended by rebellion, and that her restora-
must be the work of her loyal people.
Thus in his speech at Nashville (June o,
1884, on receiving the news of his nomina-
tion at Baltimore as Vice President, he said:
"In calling Convention to restore the
State, who shall restore and re-estabhsh it?
| Shall the man aoho gaze his influence and his
means 10 destroy Me GoUeTnHenR Is he to
participate in the great work Of reorganiza-
toni Shall he, who brought this misery
upon the State, be permitted to control its
destiniess If this be so, then all The precious
| blood Of our brdUe B0ldferS and o6fcerS, so
freely poured out, sofD haze been tcantonly
spilled, All the glorious victories won by
our noble armies will go for naught; and all
the bRttle-helds, which have been sown with
dead heroes during the Rebellion, will have
| been made memorable in vain"
/ "Why all this carnage and devastation
1t was that treason might be put down and
/ traitors punished. Therefore, | say that
traitors should take back seat in the aDork
| Of restoration. If there be but five thousand
men In Tennessee loyal to the Constitution,
| loyal to Freedom, loyal to Justice, those true
and faithful men should control the p0rk of
reorganization and reformation absolutely.
l say that the traitor has ceased to be
citizen, and in joining the rebellion has be-
come public enemy. He forfeited his right
to vote with loyal men when he renounced
his citizenship and sought to destroy our
Government. We say to the most honest
and industrious foreigner who comes from
England and Germany to dwell among us,
and to add to the wealth of the country:
| Before you can be q citizen you must stay
here for five years. If we are so cautious
about foreigners, who voluntarily renounce
their homes to live with US, what should we
say to the traitor, who, although born and
reared among us has raised a parricidal
hand against the Government which always
protected himF My Judgment Is that he
should be subjected TO a sepere ordeal before he
is Tsst0red 10 citizenship. A fellow who takes
the oath merely to save his property, and
denies the validity of the oath, is perjured
man, and not to be trusted. Before these re-
qenttng Rebels can be trusted, let them bring
forth the fruits Of repentance. He who
helped to make all these widows and or
phans, who draped the streets of Nashville
IN mourning, should suffer for his great
crime. Treason must be
made odious, and traitors must be punished
and impoverished.
Such was the platform on which Andrew
johnson deliberately planted himself, when
a candidate for Vice President. They are
not words of haste and passion, evoked by
President Lincoln's cruel murder, but were
his deliberate, matured convictions. Over
and again was their substance reiterated by
Mr.. johnson In conversation, in letters, and
in speeches. And in his conversation Gre
vised by himself before it was printed) with
George L. Stearns, (0ct. 3, 1850 he said:
1.-THE power of those persons who made
the attempt fat rebellionl has been crushed,
and now we want to reconstruct the State
Governments, and haze the polDer to do IT,
The State fnstitufi0ns are pFoStrated laid out
on the ground, and they must be taken up
and adopted 10 the proSress of epents: this
cannot be done in moment. We are max
ing very rapid progress-so rapid that
sometimes cannot realize 1t. 1t appears like
dream.
I've must not be IN Too much Of hurry.
tits better to let them reconstruct themselves
than force them to it; for, II they 90 ,Drono,
the potoer IS In our hands and zoe can check
them in any stage 10 the end, and ObIiSe them
10 correct their erFOrs"
With regard 10 Negro Suffrage, he told
Mr.. Stearns that he thought 1t should be in
troduced gradually, and through the action
Of the States, saying:
} "If were in Tennessee, should try to
introduce Negro Suffrage gradually; first,
those who had served In the Army; those
who could read and write, and perhaps a
property qualification for others-say $500,
or $780,"
As to the representation of fnon.franchised
classes, he said
MANY years ago, moved in the legisla.
ture [of Tennessee, that the apportionment
of representatives in Congress should be by
qualified poters.
1.-THE apportionment is now fixed until
1872; before that time we might change the
basis Of representation to qualified votsrs,
North as well IS South, and, in due course
of time, the States, without regard to color,
might extend the elective franchise to all
I who possessed certain mental, moral, or such
other qualifications as might be determined
by an enlightened public judgment"
Such are the bases of restoration indicated
by Andrew johnson. He never intimsted
nor dreamed, that those who had attempted
to overthrow the Government should have
/ an equal voice in settling the terms of recon
struction with those who struggled and suf
fered to uphold and preserve it, but the con,
trary, most emphatically. And the Congress
/ that he constantly referred to IS entitled tc
. review and revise his action in the premises
was a Congress representing loyal States
and loyal men.
In full and clear accordance with Mr.. John
: sons earlier and better suggestions, Con
: gress, at its late session, gave to this subjec
b the careful consideration demanded by it
r importance, and at last, by an overwhelming
=" majority, proposed the following amendment
9 to the Federal Constitution as the basil
whereon the States lately in revolt should bt
/ restored to the Union:--
;. RssoIped, By the Senate and House Of Re
t.ts 40