Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-07-30
NEW PnrLlDnLpHtA JdIys, 1865. i ''1'''..
A Letter from asOn. Be- u. Curtis,
of Massachusetts,. .t q.

Hon. B. r. Curtis, of Pittstield. Mass
has written a long letter approving the
call for the Philadelphia Convention. He
says: :l.I Ui HhH1i rC n1 70 #i1fiI ls
1t seems to me great and fundamental
error to confOund the case of the. conquest
of a foreign territory and people with the
case ofsubmission to alawful and estab-
lished Constitutional Government, enlOrc-I
ed throggh the powers conferred on that
Government, for that, specific purpose. 1t
is quite true that such a civil contest may
have, and in our country has had, the pro-
portions of an actual war, and thatihuman-I
ity aud public law unite in diGtating the
application of rules designed to mitigate
its evils and regulate the conditions upon
which it should be carried on; but those
rules ofzambRcilaao a0lsic1s concern, hey public.
rigsts and p0lger Of cOgqueror Of foreign Yer,
rit0rN reduced by conquest 10 entire submission,
haze no reLdtiont % thedctiue prosecution OF Todr.
Their operation begins whelG war has end-I
ed in submission. They are the laws of a
state of peace, and not OF state OF war,
To suppose that The Government Of the United
States can, in a state of peace, rightftliy hold
and eyercse absolute and unlimited pOtoer oUerl
q pant Of its territory and people just so lOag
as it may choose TO do so, appears TO me TO be
una0arranted By any rules ofpubhc la,o dbhor-'
rent TO right reason, and Inconsistent jaoath The
nature Of our lGfOUei1lneeRt. .f ..0.i i.1r rs
| When war has ceased, when the authority
of the Constitution and laws of the United
| States has been restored and established,
the United States are in possession, not un-'
der newatitle as conquerors, but under
their old title as the lawful Government of
| the country, and that title has been Vindi-
Gated not by the destruction ofoneor more
States, but by their preservation, and this
preservation can be-WOFked out practically
only by the restoration of Republican Gov
ernments, organized in harmony with the
| Constitution. The title of conqueror is
necessarily inconsistent with aRepublcan
| Government, which can be formed only by
the people themselves, to express and eXe7
cute their will; and il. the, preservation of
! the States within the Union WSs one of the
objects of the war, and they cah ibe pre-
! served only by having RepublicamGOvern-
ments organized in harmony with the G9n0
| stitutlon, aud such governments can be or.
gahized only by the people OF those States,
| then, nanifestly.it Is mot OnlySthe right
but the constitutional duty Of,the people
of those States to organize such goyerp5
ments, and the Government of the United
States can have no rightful authority to
prohibit their organization. But this right
and duty of the people of the several
States can only begin when war has ceased,
and the authority of the Constitution and
Jaws Of the United States has been restored
aud cstabliehodS and fTUIn tlIC lIattIro OF tlI0
case the Government of the United States
must determine when that's time has come.
dItisa question OF, great Interest, certain
ly, but not, think, of great difficulty, how
and by whom the Government OF the Unit
ted States should determine when athat
time)hasscome. The question whether9de
faCt0 Governments and, hostile populations
have been completely spbdued by arms and
the lawful authority of the United States
restored and establishedyis is military aud
executive question:. 1t does not require
legislative action to ascertain the oneces7
sarE facts, and, from the nature of the case,
legislative action cannot change or natefiJ
ally affect them. sAsCommander-in- CHIEF
ofithe army and navy, aud as the Chief
Executive officer whoss sconstitutioDal duty
it is to see that the laws are faithfully eX-
ecuted, it is the official duty Of the Presi-
dent to know whether a rebellion has been
Suppressed ard whether the authority of
the CONSTITUTION and laws sOfl ths United
States has been cOmpletelya restored and
firmlyrestablished. The mere organization
of a Republican Government In harmony
With the Union, By4 the people Of one Uf the
existing states pffthe1 -UHited States re-
quires sne enabling act OF, Congress- and
can find no authority in the Constitution
for any interference by Congress topro-
hibit or regulate the organization Of such
q GOvernmentf by oths people Of an e1Sistr
ing State of the, Union, s,Iusdasat sra1rrel
On the other hand, IL is clearly necessary
that the President, Should, aetyso far at
least as, t9, remove out of the way military
restrictions Oh the power of the people to
assemble leoanddt do those actsiwhich are necs
essary yytobGeorganige. their Governments
This I thinkfhe was bound. to do as soon as
he became satisfied that the right time had
Come After much rejection, and with no
such sp6rtiaity sf0rsiexeeutlEe power. as
wouldfbe likely tOl lead meAstragsiI have
formed ,the,oplnion that the Southern States
are lsoso as. rglttullg and should be as etectsl
dlfb in DE mon as teB yc6re befofe tlle mod
fSeSSQJi gAetf people dtts0aeS5 tolcayg thenh 6la