American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-02-28


al? Not certainly those who committed
treason against she nation by vaging war
against it, or giving aid ard counsel to
its euemiesY But if they are excluded
who are to be the voters, when the only
class that proved true to its allegiance is
precisely the one which was excluded
under the old regime that is now sought
to restore? How many of the original
voters, beyond those who were driven
into exile, have stood by the old flag in
the hour of trial ? Was it majority
was it even tithe Cal there be as
many such men found as would have sa-
we'd Sodom from destruction? We know
that there cannot. because we know that
they would not have been tolerated on
Southern soil. We know it, too, from
the declaration of the Governor of Vlr.
ginia, that unless the law that disfrau-
chised the traitors only from January,
1861. was repealed, there would not be
men enough left to organize the State.
Andis it seriously proposed that the pow
er OF erecting governments, in order to
enable these States to resume their pla
ces iu the Union, shall be vested in a
score of men out OF population counting
by millions But how is the question
Of loyalty to be determined Not by
oath, because thatis merely cumulative,
and is not offered either as test, or by
way of purgation for the past offenses.-
If as a test, the word might as we'll have
been omitted altogether. How then p
Is thGre a virtue in the amnesty which
works not only oblivion for the past but con-
verts pardoued traitor into loyal man?
Is it by judgment of Jaw on conviction
of Crime Is it by attainder on proca-
nation by the Executive Is it by a
trial IN pals or by compurgators at the
hustiugs? If the old constitutions are
still in force, either by construction of
law or by virtue Of the proclamations,
the exclusion ven of those who may be
impeached of disloyalty looks amazingly
like the forfeiture of legal franchise,
without Judgment and without law, and
is too high power to be exercised by
any other than the sovereign.
''But there is another condition super
added by way Of fabridgment of the right;
and that is the execution, even from the
loyal, of the oath to support the procla-
nations and laws relating to slavery
No friend of the country will of course
object to any wholesome limitations upon
the privilege but if it was not compe.
tent to the President, not to confer, but
only to permit it to the black man, what
o,,tb ~ n - th ..
way to the white man? Neither the
Constitution of the Uniled States nor
that of any of the States has ever re-
quired an oath of this sort from the vo-
ter. If he could impose this, what was
there to prevent him from swearing them
to the observance of all acts of Congress
ard all proclamations, or requiring them
to swear that ihey had never given any
aid OF countenance to the rebellion If
he could disfranchise the unconvcted
traitor, what was there to prevent him
from cnfrahchising the loyal man who
has become free But what is the secu-
rity which it furnishes How long is the
obligation to endure? Did it bind the
members of the conventions And if
these bodies have defined the qualifca
ton in different way, are the voters now
free ?"
The effect of the pro 5ramme is to re-
commit these governments into the hands
of the very men who hurried them into
rebellion, upon the only condition of a
new oath of fealty after having broken
prcyious one, and tosurrender the field
to the conquered as soon as it is won
But there is nobody in the loyal States
willing to release all the securities, rights
and advantages gained by the war, upon
such terms. Our past experience teach
es US that these people have never kept
faith with u.s. Those who were most
forward in abjuring their allegiance here,
will be the first to violate their new made
VOWS by swearing themselves back into
legislative power and honor. Will you
surrender your few faithful white allies
and thousands of friends among the blacks
to these unrepentant rebels? If you are
wise you will not be content with such pro.
fessions as have been purchased by ne.
cessity. Security is much more to be de-
sired than punishment, and you must
render them unable to deceive you again.
If the function be executive, how does
the performance square with the object
sought to be attained?
"The obligation IL to assure govern
ment that shall be republican. The
meaning of this is that it shall be a gov
ernment OF the people. The process
adopted, in direct contraventlon of the
principles of the message, is to lodge the
power in the hands of priviledged class,
the same that held it before, distinguish.
able only by the accident of color, along
with a disloyalty to the Union that was
almost universal, and composing, in some
instances, a minority of the whole popu-
lation. Does this look like IA fulfillment
OF the obligation, or even squint in that
direction The form, it is true, may be
republican, because it looks to represen
tatiou by election. But that is not the
test if it were, every constitutional mon
archy in Europe might be brought with
In the category. 1t is-the distinction of
classes, the permanent limitation of the
right of suffrage to favored few, that
makes the difference between the aristo-
cratic and republican forms, and thcre il
none other. in this case the right is
-H