Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1866-04-27

ANtsl'ANp 4e2 !aMS Ellttll NC Ill pdrLlal. Ana YET
this IS the bill now returned with the Presi-
dent objections, and such obiectionsl What
are they2 That In all our history. in all our
experience as a people living under Federal
AMI State laws, no such system as that con-
templated By the details Of this bill has ever
before proposed or adopted Have / not
| already shown in the action Of the President
himself; through Gen. Sickles, declaring
that all laws shall be applicable alike to all
inhabitants, andin various acts of Congress,
a precedent for every provision of this bill?
The details of the bill, says the Presi-
dent, establish for the security Of the color
ed race safeguards which 20 Infinitely beyond
any that the General Government has ever
provided for the white race With what
truth this can be said Of the bill which de-
clares that the civil rights, aud the punish
rnent OF all races, including Of course the
colored, shall be the same as those Of white
persons, let an intelligent public Judge.
They 1.-THE detailsl, says the President,
interfere with the municipal legislation of
the States, with the relations existing exclu-
sively between a State and its citizens, or be-
tween the inhabitants Of the same State,-an
absorption and assumption of power by the
General Government, which, if acquiesced
IN, must sap and destroy our federative sys-
tenn OF limited powers, and break down the
barriers which preserve the rights Of the
States. II is another step, or rather stride,
toward Capitalization, and the concentration
OF all legislative powers in the National Gov
ernment." All this is said by President
who, by his own fat, issued through General
Howard, set aside an act Of the Legislature
OF Mississippi, and, by another order, through
General Terry, an act of the Virginia Legis-
lature, and forbade any magistrate or civil
officer from attempting to execute it; who,
through General Candy, ordered the State
Courts IN his department to suspend all suits
against persons charged with offences for
which white persons were not punished; and
we all know the penalty which would have
been visited upon State judges or officials for
violations OF any of these orders; a President,
who, alter vetoing provision of the Freed
mems Bureau bill, because it secured the oc-
cupancy of land under Major Gen. Sherman S
order, for the limited period of three years,
himself issued an order within less than thr-
ty days .afterward, through H. W. Smith,
Asst. Adjt. General, declaring that grants of
land to the freed people, in compliance with
General Sherman's special field order No.
Is, dated Jan. l6, 1865, viii be regarded as
good and valid.
Well may we exclaim, in view Of these acts
of the President, in his own language, when
discussing q veto of President Buchanan:
''Oh, consistency thou art jewel much to
be admired, but rarely to be found' In view
of these facts, who is it that is breaking down
the barriers of the States, and making strides
towards Capitalization? Is it Congress by the
passage of this bill, or the President, who,
without law, is arrogating to himself far
greater powers than any conferred by this
bill? Let it not be said that the President
| exercises these vast powers by virtue of the
| q told ne IN HE
sage that the war was over; and whether over
or not, no incidental powers are vested by
| the Constitution in the President-either as
! President, or Commander-in-C Chief Of the ar
my. That instrument gives Congress power
| to make all laws necessary and proper for
carrying into execution all powers vested by
| the Constitution in the Government of the
| United States, or in any department or Off
Ger thereof. The President is required, in
carrying out his powers, to act IN obedience
10 lar, the Ce1y thing .lChick he refuses to do
He says, "The tendency of this bill must
be to resuscitate the spirit of the rebellion. y
| What assumption IN one acho denies the at
th0Yity TO punish those tcho eioIdte United
States lars a7lder color Of State dathoritu
a doctrine from which the Rebellion sprung.
and in entire harmony with the declaration Of
Mr.. Buchanan that there was no power to
coerce State. But, sir, out of the mouth of
Senator Andrew johnson | viii prove that
President Andrew Johnston has violated the
spirit Of the Constitution, if not It's letter, In
vetoing this bill. 1t viii be remembered that
the bill passed both Houses of Congress by
more than two-thirds maiority,-the vote
in the Senate being yeas 83, nays u; and in
! the House, yeas Ill, nays 3S.
| viii read from the remarks of Senator
Andrew Johnson on the veto of the Home
| cFnoA hiD hx- M Prohavo,
! dent of the United States presumes-yes, sir,
| say presumes-to dictate to the American
| people and to the two Houses of Congress, in
violation of the spirit, if not the letter. of the
Constitution, that this measure shall not be-
come a law. Why do | say this? l ask, is
there any difference in the spirit Of the Con-
| stitution whether measure is sanctioned by
two-thirds vote before its passage or after
wards? When a measure has been vetoed by
| the President, the Constitution requires that
it shall be reconsidered, and passed by a
! two thirds vote in order to become law
| But here in the teeth of the Executive, there
was two-thirds vote in favor of this bill.
| The vote was 36 to 2 in this body. The two
| Houses have said this bill is constitutional
and right.
SIN the other House, rejecting the pepu-
lar sentiment of the nation, the vote was 112
| to 81; ten more than two thirds majority
! which the Constitution requires; and, when
there is a two-thirds vote for measure, |
say it is against the spirit of the Constitution
| for the Executive to say, sNo, you shall not
have this measure; viii take all the chances
| of vetoing it.. Apply this language to the
| facts connected with this bill and then say
tcho has Uiolated the spirit Of the Coastit,t-
tioR.
THE AMENDMENT OTHERWISE A CHEAT.
This bill in no manner interferes with the
municipal regulations of State which pro-
| tects all alike in their rights of person and
! property. 1t could have no operation in Mass
achusetts, New York, Illinois, or most of the
States Of the Union. How preposterous
! then, to charge, that, unless some State can
have ard exercise the right to punish some
body, or to deny somebody civil right, on
account Of his color, its rights as State viii
| be destroyed. 1t is manifest, that, unless this
bill can be passed, nothing can be done to
! protect the freedmen in their liberty and
| their rights, whatever may have been the
! opinion of the President at one time as to
''good faith requiring thesecurity of thefreed-
| men in their liberty and their property 1t
| is now manifest from the character of his OBJ
! jectons to this bill that he sriU Gpproce no
measure that aciU accomplish the object THAT
| the second clause Of the constitutional
amendment gives this pawer there can be no
| question. Some have contended that it gives
| the power even to confer the right of suffrage.
! have not thought So because | have never
/ thought suffrage any more necessary to the
| liberty of a freedman than Of a non-voting
white, whether child or female; but his liber-
| ty under the Constitution he is entitled to;
4 T.