New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-06-18

one year, the same reasoning may continue il Tor
a century. Il the Constitution can he SO cha tt6
and amended by dominant faction us TO Cuusatt.
date and perpetu0te power in its hands and to- de-
stCuy the existence OF States, who shall bid them
live again. and when will the dawn of their rusur
recfOn uppear? Not until long after the moss has
gathered unou yaur graves and miue-uot until
new mad far distant generations tread this CONT
helt-perAJps never. Let such policy be adopted
and We have q gigantic and successful revolution
d complete overthrow of American institutions
reasonable base and Infamous, but successful; as
clnglHg and tenacious in its hold upon the future
and as bughhug and whitening in its effects on tie
destiny aud glory of the country, as the polsoHou9
shirt OF Nessus was to him who wore it without
tue hope of escape.
But there is another class Of adherents 10 the
radical party who accept the conclusions but deny
the premises of their more logical leaders, They
will not say the late insu-rectionary states are
dead they will not say that they ore out of the
Union; they will not say that they have been muir
dered, or have committed suicide; but still they
deny them repreSentatiO aud thus range them.
selves under the banner of disunon. These are
the men who shonld be beaten with many stripes,
They are the uutaithtul stewards who see the right
and pursue the wrong. They arr the tTimmers
who always occupy shaky and uncertain political
quagmires. While they are exrieating one foot
from dilemma the other sinks into a new one
deeper than the first. This class in the present
Congress have no solid ground whatever, good or
bad, on which to stand. With feeble prUtests
against the dictation of stronger minds, they are
only practically useful in point of numbers for the
purpose of mischief. They may make well.sound-
ing speeches, but they answer the rOltCall on the
side of destruction disuniOn, misrepresentation
and federal dictation 10 the States. They are
nearly all welded to some particular form Of con
shtutiOnal amendment. Each one is inspired with
notion that he has more wisdom on the subject
of the Constitution than Madison, Washington
Hamilton and Jefferson combined They seem
to think that God winked at the ignorance
of the days of l7S9, but that they are
now His chosen ministers to give to the
people q new dispensation-a more per
which they vaguely call a guarantee. They appear
to be afraid of somebody that the South may send
here. They are especially anxious in regard to
the basis Of representation, They are alarmed at
many members in proportion to their population
This comes with peculiar force from those who
voted few days ago to admit Colorado into the
Union, with far less population than the county in
which | live in Indiana But it may be that there
is something which ought to be done on this sub
Ject. Let us, however, first have the Union re
stored; let us have all the States here let the
family circle be full, and then we can calmly talk
the matter over. We will examine the question
from Maine to Georgia. We will discuss the ra-
tonal propriety of a population in the six States
of New England being represented by twelve
Senators, while the same amount of population in
New York is represented by only two. Yes, we
will take the subject under consideration and if
the pruning knife is to be applied, let it be done
with indiscriminate impartiality. But let the day
OF this work give place to the day CT complete re
storation.
Gentlemen, are there no sacred memories olus-
tering around this Constitution 1t cost us the
long agony and bloody sweat of the revolution.
1t sprang from the minds of those who charged
the British at Monmouth, Trenton, Saratoga and
Eutaw Springs, and who saw the cross of st. |
George lowered at Yorktown. 1t lifted us in the |
great days of the past to heights of national re.
nown, further up the dazzling mountain of human
fhon fha fnnf Re of ba Ia,fY
tons of the earth had ever trod before. 1t has |
been our cloud by day and our pillar of fire by |
night, guiding to regions of domestic wealth and
happiness, more fruitful and pleasant than Ca
man with its corn and wine, its milk and honey.
Like the dews of heaven, its blessings have de- |
scended upon ALL 1t has given peace and security
to the hnmblesT heartstOne in the land. 1t has |
fostered religion, learning and public virtue Shall
II now be torn in shreds and scattered to the winds
Shall its ruthless enemies, like the Vandals of old
in some sacred temple, batter it TO pieces and |
reduce it to a shapeless mass? Shall those |
who are sworn to obey it be allowed to de- |
face and ruin it? Shall our children and
our children's children be despoiled of such an in
leritance? viii the American people stand
calmly by and the sublime charter of all their
liberties reduced to the AFFECT purposes of party
nave faith in the future. Shall the Constitution
stand? Shall the Union be restored under it?
These are the questions for the people to answer,
and upon their answer depends the destiny of this
SPubAO- Leu tHS iIlSuuS Vi TIE CONSTITUTION anu
the Union band themselves together in close and |
solid phalanx. Let them sustain and uphold with |
devotion the executive in his noble |
efforts in behalf of united government. If this |
be done with unsefsh patriotism, with no thought |
but for our country, our whole country, then the /
wings of autumn will sing the funeral drge of the
PRESENT disunion Congress, and the bones of its
Members will be left to whiten on every political
attic field, from the Aroostook to the Columbia.
When this great result is accomplished, and a
congress elected in favor of the Union on the
rnciples of an uualtered Constitution, this coun-
" will once more assume her ancient and magni
cent proportions. Prosperity order and stability
I'LL reign in every department. The triumph Of
ne Presidents policy Of restoration is the triumph
every branch of the business and policy of the
oVernment Our foreign relations will instantly
ease to vex the venerable secretary. The nations
the earth will take notice that unity and power
re here-that the locks of the strong man, now
horn in the lap of seductive and treacherous
have again grown to their full length
nd brought back with them all their ancient
resistble force.