Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-04-06
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SAX Francisco, April s-l p

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The Union Party-What arc its Du.
tIesf
Every member of the Union party feels
deep interest in the future course OF
President johnson. Having vetoed TWO
bills passed by Congress-the Freedmens
Bureau Bill and the Civil Rights Bill
measures believed by many persons 70
have been required by the exigencies OF
the country, and prior to the breaking out
of the war having acted with the Demo.
cratic party, apprehension is felt lest he
should abandon those who elevated him
to power. And this fear 10 increased by q
partial division Of the Union party in re.
spect to the necessity for the passage OF
the two bills vetoed by the President, and
by the nearly universal approval OF his
course by that class Of journals which OPP
posed the war. :,
So far as concerns the two bills vetoed,
there is unquestionably o wide difference
of opinion amongst Unionists as to the
d~esirability of their becoming laws. One
would undoubtedly have entailed upon
the Government great expense, besides q
complicated system might have grown up,
which in the end would have become un.
popular, and required a repeal. The
other, the Civil Rights Bill, which has just
been vetoed, is to q certain extent an of.
shoot Of the frat, and nearly as objection
able. II has appeared to US from the time
Of the veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill.
that the Union party could not afford to
make a test question on any such men.
sure, for the reason that u difference oil
opinion wal considered inevitable. One
portion of the party, it has been under
stood, would be willing to 60 to great
lengths in carrying into effect opinions
considered by themselves as necessary to
place tho South in q position where II
could not for the future do much harm.
It was but natural, after such an expendi-
ture Of life and wealth, that great solici.
tude should be felt in respect to the future.
This class wished to have the final closing
up Of our difficulties 90 managed as to
render any further trouble upon the score
Of the rebellion utterly impossible. An
other portion Of our citizens would have
been satisfied to let the country feel its
way to a complete reconstruction. without
a resort to extraordinary measures. That
is, they would have been content, without
any very radical changes in our laws, to
wait and SEQ what legislation, II any,
would be necessary. One class Of citizens
say, today, the Freedmen's Bureau Bill
and the Civil Rights Bill were q necessity;
that without them there is great danger
that what has been gained by the war will
be lost. 1t is evident, at the present time,
that there is no danger as to the future OF
the United States, with or without the
passage Of the two bills in question. It is
undoubtedly true, as Secretary Seward
stated in his speech at New York, that the
country 10 safe in the event of either the
rejection or approval of the Freedmen's
Bureau Bill and the same argument may
be applied to the Civil Rights Bill, which
has Just been vetoed by the President.
1t should be borne in mind that the
Union party, during the existence of the
war, was made up from all classes Of peo-
pie. Prior to that event, some had been
Republicans, some Democrats, but they
all made common cause to save the coun-
try, and assumed the name of Unionists.
Minor differences of opinion were thrown
aside for the time being. The suppression
Of the rebellion and the abolition Of slavery
were the only points at issue. Having
closed the wal successfully, some Of the
men who constitute the Union party are
for Q strict construction of the Constitu-
ton Of the United States, while Others
are more for consolidation, desiring to
strengthen the General Government at the
expense of the several States. Some Of
the Radicals in Congress belong to the
last named class, but President johnson
belongs to the first. He hos for years pas,
construed the National Constitution in the
most rigid manner--to mean nothing which
it does not say in so many words. We
believe, notwithstanding what has been
said, that President Johnson is one Of the
most conscientious men in the United
States, and that he would do nothing
knowingly to injure his country. Be-
lieving this, w cannot apprehend danger
where others seem to see it. The policy
Of the President, so far as concessions to
the colored race are concerned, is a ques-
ton for the future. It may be best. to
permit emancipated slaves to vote imme-
diately ; or It may be best to Matchmaking
concessions BY degrees, as the race shall
become prepared to act in~telligently. The
Union party, constituted as we have said,
from al shades Of opinion, cannot act in
perfect harmony upon such questions.
Stevens, Wade, Sumner, and men embra.
cling similar views, will not be satisfied
with anything short of a policy giving the
negro At once the privileges Of the whites,
breaking down all State laws which in the
least interfere with a system OF centraliIa-
ton +; while strict construction Democrats
like Johnson will not 90 &C fsr-perhaps
owing to their peculiar opinions, not as
far as they ought under the circumstances.
IS, F. Bulletin, .a NE'.