The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1866-03-08

power. llc uSl}OScU them anu eSCaDl1Sn
ed provisional governme;lts Then he
asked himself what conditions ough-
to be demanded of them, and how theil
disposition to accept them in good faith
might be stimulated. The conditions
were, namely, the amendment of State
Constitutions excluding slavery; ac
ceptance of.thc amendment of the Con
stitution Of the United States; repudi
alton of the rebel debt, and the admis.
sion of freedmen to various rights, etc
10 stimulate them to accept these con.
ditiOns, being such as, using his best
judgement, and in the absence of any
congressional plan, he thought nearest
right of any he could frame, he engag
ed that on their acceptance with evi
dence of good faith he would permit
them to reorganize their State govern
ments, elect Legislatures, etc. and, sc
far as Executive acts could do, would
restore thom to their position in the
Union of States. They had so far ac-
eepted his conditions, that he regarded
the experiment q success. He had ac
cordingly reorganized the Postof1ice
Department among them; had reopen
ed trade and removed restrictions there
on through the Treasury Department
and in like manner in all the Executive
Departments reorganiZed them as State:
in the Union, only keeping enough mill
tary hold to protect the freedmen anC
to induce them to do something moro
thorough in that direction
Now, but one thing remainedin which
those States did not exercise the full
rights of States, and that was represen
tation in Congress-. In this he had adj
vised that SOME principle, of stimula
ting loyalty be applied as in the othel
respects named lie acould admit onls
such Representatives as are IN fact Ioya
men, gioimg satisfactory epi1ence of this
Whenever State or District sent 10y
al man, properly elected and qualified
he would think it right to admit him
the same as from any other State; anc
he acou7d admit none bit such loyal men
so that other States or Districts may b.
thus induced to elect and send similar
men. When they had all done thi:
their representation would be fill, anC
the work would be done. Such was
his plan. He did not ask to be judge
of the elections and qualifications O.
members of CONGRESS-, or Of their 10y
atty. Congress was its own judge, anG
he had no dream OF Interfering with its
constitutional right, but he felt like
urging upon them and upon the coun
try, that this mode of finishing the
work, SO nearly completed Ill other re
spects, was the only feasible one which
had been presented, and that it was i'm
possible to ignore the fact that thu
States were exercising their rights ant
enjoying their privileges within the
Union; were, in short, restored in al
other respects, and that it is too late te
question the fundamental right of rep
resentatiOn. Fl.
I then remarked to him that I heard
it suggested that legislation could prop
erly be made by Congress, purely civi
in it's character, providing for the pro
lection of the freedmen by the United
States Courts of inferior jurisdiction
in all cases where the States did not dc
so themselves. He replied that such
an idea could run exactly parallel to his
plan, but he had not thought it yet time
to fix his own ideas Of the precise mode
of accomplishing this, and because we
had margin Of time lasting till after
the next, session of Congress, during
which the present Frecdmen's Bureau
could continue in operation. If before
that time the Southern States should
reco gnize the necessity of passing prop
er laws themselves, and providing
proper systems of protection for the
freedmen, nothing further on our part
would be necessary. Ifthey did not dc
what they ought, there would then be
time enough to elaborate plan.
He then referred briefly to the fact
that certain men who have been rejoic-
ing over his veto message, saying, that
if these men, in good faith, adopted the
views Of the policy he had himself held
and acted upon, and which he had sc
fully elaborated in his annual message
and explained to me that the country
surely could have no cause for sorrow
in that. If disloyal men and rebels
everywhere, North and South, should
cordially give their adherence to the
conditions of restoration he had uni
formly insisted upon, he thought thai
was precisely the kind of pacificatior
loyal men everywhere would rejoice in
The more they were committed to such
a course the better he should like it
for if they were not sincere, they would
at least diminish their power of dan
gerous. opposition in the future, lin
His whole heart was with, the body
of true men wliU had carried the coun-
try through the war, and he earnestly
desired to maintain cordial and per
feet understanding with them. This
sentiment and purpose he regarded as
entirely consistent with a determined
opposition, to the obstruction policy of
those extremists who, as he believed.
would keep the country in chaos till
absolute ruin might come upon us. &.
Suth; my dear sir, is the sentinfeut OF
the Presidenton this important matter
and if you could meet his straightfor-
ward, honest lock; and hear the hearty
tones of his voice, as / did, / am well
assured you could believe with me, that
although he may not receive personal
assaults with the forbearance Mr.. Lin
coin used to show, there is no need to
fear Andrew johnson is not sincere in
his adhesion to the principles upon
which he was elected. aaiaa# .s
n...f Very truly yours, .gl
[Signed. 1885, j. d. COX. q
Ay~ What IS tie difference between q