The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-10-23

completion OF their pilgrimage. And the de-
mands they make are few and emphatic, They
ask in the first place, that the existing organi-
zation OF the Southern States shall be consid-
cred null and void; that all that has been done in
respect to State Government since the war shall
be put aside as imperative and invalid; that
they shall be treated as conquered territory in
regard to which the work of Cover lment and
law must be commenced again de nouo. They
REQUIRE, in the next place, that the power of
governing in the States to be thereafter Eorgan-
lied shall be confined rigidly to those who may
come up to their standard of loyalIsts-every
black man being assumed to be loyal because OF
his color, but the great majority of white men
10 be dislTanchised and held in subsection by
the white faction which Mr.. Hamilton shall
pronounce politically orthodox.
The mpraolicabilty OF the project does not
mitigate its wickedness. 1t may be doubted,
indeed, whether the question of feasibility for
moment occupied the attention of the authors
the means Of giving effect to their requirements,
or the consequences which their adoption would
entail What signify consequences to adven-
turers What care they for the anarchy that
will follow the sweeping away of existing state
GoveTnmentsY-the annulling Of their action
ratifying the autislavery amendment to the
Constitution Y-the destruction of the shield
which State legislation has thro Wn over the
civil rights OF freedmen ?-the ignoring of the
State reputation Of the Rebel debt? Ali these
are trivial considerations in the opinion of the
handful of worthless fellows who would falu
monopolize the law-making and the ruling
power in the South, and to that end are prepared
to precipitate ten States Iuto confusion worse
than that which Immediately followed the sup
too much at stake in the issue to permit the
Brownlows and Hamiltons to try their hands at
the incendiarsm they selfshly suggest.
The reconstruction of the Southern States
may not have been accomplished in strict ac-
cordance with constitutional forms. Irregu-
Iarilles occurred in connection with 1t, for
which II would be difficult to find exact prece-
dent or logical justification. But it has been
md aIru hou
recognized II; and as it is so 1t must stand. Not
the slightest good can result from an agitation
of the subject. The part of wisdom is to accept
so much as has been completed, and to make
existing facts the foun latlon of any further
guarantee OF national unity. The proposed
Constitutional amendment is desirable, because
IT presupEoses the sutiiciency of what has
already been done, and renders the constitu-
tional security complete without unsettling the
Southern people.
The disoIeaniaing and revolutionary scheme
OF the Southern Loyalists,n however isnot the
only indication of the mischief which the ex.
treme radicals would inAict upon the country.
Wendell Philips has propounded his plan, too
and though mis- process differs somewhat from
that devised by Brownlow AMI Hamilton, the
result Plmed at is the same. He is not wild
enough to talk of overtbrowlng existing State
Governments, or Of consigning State affairs TO
a few beggarly and uUprincipled adventurous.
But he opposes any settlement which does not
embrace negro suffrage, and he would so manage
the business of restoration that no Southern
State snail De brought formally" within the
Union until after the next Presidential election.
Meanwhile he would get rid OF she President by
1mpeaching and deposng him; and would Sc
cure the army by putting more accommo-
dating General i'll the place OF Grant. "Then we
VIII run the machine" eXclaims the fiery Phil
lips. Yes; when these things happen, doubt
less, the revolutiouists "will run the machine"
with the President removed, and General Grant
officially decapitated, and the Southern States
Ifn md ihn Gnnt thnrr, h
held in bondage, and with BrowDlow and Butler
and Phillips running the machine" the condi-
ton and fate of the republic might be CONT
IDENTIFY toretold. What would Five twenties be
worth then?
The indifference of these extremists 10 the
peace and material interests of the country is
equalled only by their contempt for the Con-
stl,ution and the law. Nothing is respected
which obstructs their path. Nothing is needed
which interIeres with their designs. To the
financial eXigencies of the country, TO the
critical conditions of its industry, to the crav-
Ing OF the people ior harmony and peace, they
are subiimely indifferent They want no peace,
because in confusion is their sole chance of
prominence and profit. And their highest
bition of despotic power, and the cultivation
OF passions that would disgrace tribe oil saw
ages. AS to the Constitution, that is an old
iogy instrument, of no avail in these times
upless for the moment it serves their purposes.
And the law they heed must be the la " of
heir own making To all other law they are
opposed Hence their projects are framed with
an entire disregard of the principles and forms
OF law, and OF all authority not subject to their
manipulation.
Some of the consequences of the temper which
these extremists have introduced into the dis
cusslon OF the grave questions before The
country, are apparent in the lawless threats
which are now prevalent from Maryland to
Missouri. Everywhere the radicals of the ultra
stripe seem disposed to take matters into their
own hands, ano 70 assert their right to rule
whether the law piVpg than war Mt or ~
From Baltimore, for instance, we hear of armed
organizations, of appeals for physical aid, of
preparations for street conflict. And for what
purpose? And under what provocation? Why,
in view OF the possible removal by Governor
Swami OF Police Commissioners who are
charged with violation of duty. The law makes
the Governor the judge during the recess of the
Legislature; the case is brought before him in
conformity with law, and he declares his resolve
to te governed by the law in any action he may
take.
His position in the premises is legally impreg.
nable, and the spirit in which he approaches his
duty-jndeing, from his reported remarKs-is
unobiectionable. If his decision be at variance
with law, the law furnishes the means of redress.
Yet, forsooth, the radical faction declare that
law or no law, the Police Commissioners shall
not be removed; and preparations have been
made by the mob ior armed resistance to the
lawful authority of the State Executive. The
same violent and lawless temper is discernible
elsewhere, in Missouri especially; the doctrine
acted upon by the radicals apparently being
mat, under the pretense OF superior loyalty, they
are at liberty to plunge the country atresh into
STRIFE and armed contention.
National safety requires the maintenance of
law, whether against radicals or Rebels, and the
prevention OF trouble by Fastening the restora-
tlon OF the Union on the moderate basis pre-
scrbed by the Republican party. BY this method.
more readily than by any other, may the revolu.
uonary schemes Of the radicals be etfectually
frustrated.