The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-06-23
Important onseia, announcement.

Important Onseinl Announcements
The Washington National RepubH-
caa, the acknowledged organ OF the
President, in its issue Of Wednesday
last, evidently speaking by authority,
announces that the votes of the
Southern States in the next Presiden-
| tial election shall be counted, whether
said States may have been admitted
to representation ornot.
The Repnblicnm takes for it's text
the first section of the second article
of the Constitution, which reads:
"Each State shall appoint, in such
manner rs the Legislature thereof
may direct, number of electors
equal to the whole number of Sena-
tors and Representatives to which the
State may be entitled in the Con-
gress.''
The Repudlica. says that any at
tempt to violate this section, by pre-,
venting the Southern States from
exercising their privilege in such an
election, will ''provoke u conflict
quite rs irrepressible, if not as san
culinary, as that '.just terminated.
Speaking of the clause quoted
above, the Republican says:
cit makes the electoral voice Of a
State depend upon whether it is rep
resented IN Congress or not, is con
struction without any warrant in the
text 1t makes the number Of elect
ors to correspond with the number of
Senators and Representatives to which
the State is entideel-nothing more
1t does not make their appointment
depend upon representation in Con
gress any more than it makes it de-
pend upon whether Il State has stated
preaching within its borders. And
we think we hazard nothing in saying
that the construction contended for
could not be maintained lief ,rc any
intelligent court"
The Republicm charges the radical
party with conspiracy against
the Constitution and the Govern
ment, and says that the attempt to
disfranchise the South is Il conspiracy
to override the Constitution. After
some remarks to prove this, the Re
pu5lic1n, says:
"Another point in this conspiracy
we understand to he construction of
the paragraph in the same article, re-
lating to the opening Of the certiti-
Gates by the President of the Senate.
by which it is concluded that, if the
President of the Senate refuses to
open the certificates from the eleven
States in question, their electoral
votes, if sent to him, will he legally
stified. We remember that this Gues-
ton was very generally discussed in
the winter of 1861, when it was given
out III certain quarters that Vice-Prc-
sident breckenridge did not intend to
open certain certificates, enclosing
the reports of electoral votes cast for
Abraham Lincoln, and we believe it
was then very generally understood
that q candidate having majority of
all the electoral votes cast in the col
leges Of the States, us there declared
and published, was entitled to the
office qchethe,' Tie Vice President opened
Me certificates on ,.oH We cannot con-
template any attempt to stifle the
electoral voice of n State by such
means, without the most painful ap-
prehensions."
This hopeful view for the future,
as coming from the source it does. it
clearly indicates that malfeasance of
Office, in the person of factious
acting President, will not be per-
mitted to affect the result of the next
Presidential election, and gives tho
people Of the Southern States the as
surance that their rights will be sus-
tanned in this respect. But, vet. we
cannot get rid of the impression, that
the radicals have long since entered
into "a conspiracy" against the Con-
stitution, and, by their so-calcd
amendments to that instrument, dis
ablng and DISTINGUISHING bills and
resolutions, and, by "tcst oaths," are
overriding it every day, which action
might properly ere this have invoked
the interference of the Executive and
judicial Departments Of the General
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