The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-04-23

/ to be seen In the measures they adopt;
and of the forty-two bills which at the
time of the last veto they had pre-,
sented to the President, he had
signed forty. JOS bsta
In our present political situation,
| Conservatism is the policy which de-
clares that the late rebel States are
already in condition to resume their
full functions IN the Union, and which
denounees Congress for presuming to
inquire whether thatDpinion is we'll
founded. It denies to Congress that
isl to the representatives of the loyal
people who have maintained the Gov
ernment-the authority to look behind
the credentials of any man who comes
from State still painting with rebel
Ilion, and ascertain the origin and va
lidity Of the authority that issued the
credentials, it objects to the legislation
of Congress while eleven States are
inexperienced, without reference to
the reason of their absence, thus yir-
tVallys maintaining the mOnstrous
proposition that a combination of
States, by refusing to be represented,
may prohibit national legislation. 1t
denies that, the United States ought
to protect the equal civil rights of cit
liens before the law, and would admit.
the absent States to Congress before
requiring their assent to an amend
ment equalizing represen ionse, Con-
serVatism is the policy which forget
ting that the United, States are bound
by'every moral obligation toa secure
| the freedom which they have CON
ferred, apparently believes that that
freedom will be best maintained and
the national peace. most truly estab-
lished, by leaving those of veayco1or
who were heroically faithful. to the
Government during the rebellion, ito
the exclusive mercy Of those who
sought to destroy. it, fesls h "a aissss
These are the distinctive points of
the Conservative policy, Are they
agreeable to an honorable and intelh-
gent people? And of what il this
policy conservatiEe7 IF of the Con
stitution and Union, it will of course
be earnestly supported by their true
and tried friends is it5so supported ?
| Who. are the present Cons ryatiYes,?
| Who shout, and sing, and fire cannon,
and ring bells in jubilant exultation
at every measure in supposed accord
ance with this policy? The replylis,
unfortunately, unavoidable. The Con-
sentative party, or the supporters of
the policy we have described, is com
posed of the late rebels and those who
justified and palliated rebellion, with
a few Republicans. And who oppose
this policy? Who are the Radicals?
The great multitude of those who be-
| lieved IN the war and supported it, i
whose children and brothers and
friends lie buried In, the battle field
in every rebel State, whose sentiments
are now as they have been for five
years expressed by the Union press of
the country, and whose voice speaks |
in the vote of Union Legislatures and
in the result of the Spring elections.
Itsis useless for conservatism to |
claim that Cancellation is essential TO |
reorganization. Nobody denies lit,
but the cardinal question is, not what 1
will please the late insurgents, but,
what will secure the Government. If
it be said that the Governments cannot
be secured by alternating its late ene-
mics, the reply is that il certainly can
not be secured by alternating Its UNI |
wavering friends. IF Cancellation con-
templates the filling of national of
fcesnin the South by known rebels, to |
the disregard and exclusion of Union
men, thereby rewarding rebellion and !
discrediting leyalty--if it proposes to
leave freemen of the United States to |
the. black codes of Mississippi and |
| Carolina, and to recognize the fatal
caste which has been our curse--then
Cancellation is simply name for igI
nominy, and conservatism may. see its
| fate in that of secession. saneiE
/ Radicalisn has not a single yindict7
five feeling toward the late rebel States, |
but it does not propose to forget that
| there has been rebellion. 1t has
| the sincerest wish, as it had the most
undoubting expectation, of working
with the President to secure for the
country what heceuRtry has fairly won |
| by the war, and, that is, the equal right
| of every citizen before the law. 'andd
4 the fulfresun1ption by the late insur-
gent States Of their functions I'M the
| Union, only upon such honorable and
4 reasonable cOiiditi0rsj AS Congress
swho support that po1icy viii not iigh Isa
lgdenounce those who differ with them. 4
They will strive long for the harmony
1Aof those with whom, during the war.
they have sy1ipathized and acted. 1
They will concede. minor points of
method, and bear patiently with i'm
patient rhetoric levelled at them
selvess@But they will also bear stead
lily in mind the words of Andrew
/ johnson when he accepted the. nomi-
nation which has placed him where
1he is: .s1While society is in this dis
,lprdered state, and we are seekinesse-
curity, let us fix the foundations of |
the Government ON principles of eter-
lsnal justice, which win endure for all |
Etime...5 The Radical policy was never