The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1866-02-02


in Boston last night the condition Of the Southern
States He said the South conquered but that the
late shareholders only into the order Of things
gradually and they compelled To-. He thought
however that with wise administration the Freedmens
Bureau could be dispensed with there afew years,
and urged kindness and sympathy towards Tho Southern
people.
The trial of General Baker, late Chief Of the War De-
partment detective force charged by Mr. and Mrs Cobb
alleged pardon brokers' with being guilty of extoron
and illegally imprisoning them has been concluded in
Washington The jurys verdict clears the General Of
the extortion charge, but finds him guilty Of the other
The stock market unsettled yesterday, but became
rmer at the close Gold closed at 14o1. Governments
were dull and steady.
The Now Constitutional Amendment-
Congress, the President and the Csun-
try.
The House of Representatives, by the re-
quired vote of two-thirds, has passed a propo-
sition for this amendment of the constitution
to wit: that Representatives shall be appor-
toned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their
respective numbers, counting the whole num-
Der Of persons In each State, excluding Indians
not taxed; provided, whenever the elective
franchise shall be denied or abridged In any
State on account of race or color, all persons
therein of such race or color shall be excluded
from the basis Of representation" In other
words, If we make the basis for Representa-
tive in Congress one hundred and City thou
sand population, whites and blacks, they are
all to be counted, il they are all placed on the
same footing by the State In regard to the
elective franchise; but if there are two dis
tricts, In South Carolina for instance, each with
q population of hundred and City thousand,
half blacks, and the suffrage Is denied or
abridged in regard to them, they are all to be
excluded from the enumeration for Congress,
and thus, instead of two Representatives, other
wise secured, only one will be obtained. The
amendment does not disturb the existing con-
troll Of the respective States over the suffrage
question. 1t simply says that " you deny or
abridge the suffrage to the blacks because they
are blsckz yes most not csu tAsn sss-ssrss--
sentation In Congress. n
This Is fair, although VIC arc inclined to re-
gard II as bit Of superhuous constitution tin
kering. II covers the same idea as President
Johnson's proposition to mako the number Of
qualified voters In each State the basis Of re-
presentation, and, such being the case, 1t is
probable that President Johnson will not
object to the House proposition. In this view,
there Is neither sense nor dccorum in the vio-
lent and brutal denunciations Of Thaddeus
Stevens against the President for presuming to
make known bis opinions on the subject In
stead of usurping any power in this matter, the
Executive, with delicate forbearance, has
declined to exercise his lawful authority Of
recommending directly to Congress, from 0time
to time" "such measures % be shall Judge
necessary and expedient" It Is our greatest
misfortune just now that the leading radicals of
Congress do not adhere to the constitution
with the patriotic fidelity Of the President. His
purposes are clearly harmony, Cancellation and
restoration, while the game of Stevens Is as
manifestly the game of rule or ruin.
The proposed amendment has passed the
House. II comes from the Joint Committee on
Reconstruction. II will, therefore, doubtless
pass the Senate by the required two-thirds ma
jority, although 1t does not appear to suit the
Massachusetts, radicals Of the school of Sum-
ner. Their programme Is negro suffrage ut all
hazards, from which Stevens has backed down.
He, too, Is bigoted fanatic; but he does not
believe in grasping at the moon, or that the
American people are all fanatics OF his way Of
thinking. He may think that with his two
thirds majority In Congress he can dominccr II
over the President; but the late votes of Con-
necticut and Wisconsin on negro suffrage have
apparently satisfied him Of the folly Of attempt
ing this thing, right or wrong, in q consttu-
tional amendment.
This proposition Of suffrage and representa-
ton is the first plank In the reconstruction pro-
gramme ofthe Joint Committee Of Fifteen. We
infer that the States now excluded from Con-
gress are TO be kept out until the ratification
by three-fourths Of the States shall have been
secured to this amendment This il not so bad
as II might be; but 1t Is perhaps only the be-
ginning. There is some encouragement, how
ever. In the fact, now apparent, that the radi-
Gals, with all their violence, folly and fanat-
cism, are still impressed with the idea that the
public sentiment of the country cannot be
wholly set at defiance.
PRorrrs or THE Coat DrArxRs.-In tracing
n long ton Of two thousand two hundred and
forty pounds Of anthracite stove or egg coal
from Its native hills in Pennsylvania to the
dealers yards In this city, we find that Its value
increases In its transit somewhat as follows,
starting at the low price Of twenty-five cents
MORN ~ INC mne''''..''' 70