Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1866-07-21
aror one do not doubt the result. Shall

"For one I do not doubt the result. Shall
rebels settle their own terms of coming back
to govern usS Shall they reascend to en-
larged and incteased power, using as stops
the graves of the Union dead Should nos
Congress, whose solemn duty II is 10 seo
that The Republic suffers no evil, pause be,
fore the bitter foes of yesterday are adm..eo ,.c
to the inner sanctuary of the nation .u
Ouqbt thew not to guard the halls OF natioh-
nj Hesitation from being trodden oy tue
foot nf those who have been numbering the |
detanders of the Uuion for fidelity to an al
,eg;once thew themselves so wickedly repu- |
d,eted2 Every newspaper In the land,
North or South, which eulogized jefferson
Davis, and vilified Abraham Lincoln, now
denounces Congress in the severest terms
Every unrepentent rebel and INSCRIPTIONS
sympathizer Joins them in their revilings.
But rejoice that 1t has been so faithful, SO
infexible, in what i. has regarded as the
pathway of Duty and of Right And it
now remains for the people, by their indorse-
ment or rejection of its proposed Constitu-
tional guaranty, to approve or to condemn
those who present it as an indispensable pre-.
requisite to the restoration of the forfeited
rights and the political power our enemies
made such hot haste to resign and abjure at
the opening of the Rebellion.
"Nor are these terms oppressive or unjust.
Never has nation whose existence has been
imperiled, and whose hundreds of thousands
of graves and thousands of millions of debt
attest its gigantic sacrifices, offered more
lenient conditions to those who conspired
for its destruction. Have we forgotten the
insulting defiance with which their members,
sworn like ourselves TO the Constitution and
the Union, left their seats here-the persecu-
tions, conscriptions, tyrrany, expulsions and
| a Ill IS
refused to forswear like themselves, their oil
legiance to their country and their flag-the
willful torture and starvation of scores of
thousands of our soldiers when prisoners in
their hands-their unyielding persistency in
the paricidal conflict till armed rebellion
expired, not from change of will but from
poverty of resource and the heroism of the
loyal boys in blue the continued existence
of this hostile feeling as evidenced in their
political and social prescription of every
Southerner who fought for his country, the
disloyal utterances of their press and pulpit
and the election in every rebel State of Gov
ernors who had served or fought for the Re
bellion2 Despite all this, Congress only
asks that representation, North and South
shall be based on those eligible to participa
| ti0n IN political power; that the civil right
, of all persons, native born or naturalized
shall be maintained the National debt ant
the Pension list preserved inviolate: tn
rebel debt repudiated; and expulsion iron
Office of those who having once taken ant
q broken an oath of fidelity to the natioi
not be trusted in the faithful fulflment here
= after of another similar obligation.
Contrast this with the course of our ia
}, theirs towards those who during the Revolu
9 tionary War, refused to fight for the inde
pop5opcn pf tba Colopioc Tho Torinc r
' that day insisted that their allegiance an
u loyalty were due to the King, and that the
j. should not be compelled to transfer them.-
, But the stern patriots who founded our Go,
4, ernment would tolerate no such argumen
:, Determined to create pure national sent
II ment, they made Toryism odious in ever
II possible way. They admitted none of thel
e to seats in the Congress of the nation again
" which they had warred. They allowed n
. floral professions to the grave of the ToI
e dead, nor the use of such pretexts for tre
(. sonable speeches of eulogy on their lo
d cause. They suffered no tory papers to c!
n ist and scatter their malignant poison ov,
= the land. They disfranchised and expatri
~ ted them. Such was the Reconstructio
re policy of our fathers.
2 "Strongly in contrast with this as is Il
Of Reconstruction policy of Congress, so mi
and forgivirg of the blackest of crimes, NJ
for revenge but for defense, not for punis
TO ment bu: for justice, our Democratic opp
ID nents have arrayed themselves against
70 and the people to decide the issue. If "
% would take on board as a screw to wol
~ your ship those who had just been strivir
n to scuttle and destroy it, then it might
# believed that the American people wou
IT. throw open the doors of their Congress al
nc intrust appropriations for pensions and Il
80 80 public debt, and legislation for all matte
Oh of national concern, to those who sought
ed whelm the nation in common ruin, al
sh who, if they had the power to-day, wou
or shatter the Republic and rebuild their Co
" federacy"