The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-08-23
Whole ss.s. Ss~'e'f NO. 36.

trust OF certain described leaders of the
Rebellion whose restored eligibility to
office would be an insult to the loyal sen
tinent of the country, and a reproach to
a Just government se
Ia his annual message the President
justly says that good faith clearly re-
quires the roloreI popnla ton to be Sc
cure in their liberty and in their proper
". their right TO labor and their right to
claim the just return of their labor which
is virtually what the Civil Rights bill aid
ed by the Freedmen Bureau bill, seeks
to secure for them
In his interview with Senator Dixon of
Connecticut,whil he expressed his doubt
of the propriety at this time of making
! further amendments to the Constitution
in case amendments were made chang
ing the basis of representation, &c., he
| favored making 1.-The number of quail
/ fed voters the basis, and urged in its
support that it would remove rom Con-
/ gress all issues in reference to the poit-
/ ical equality of the races, would leave
+ the States to determine absolutely the
| qualifications of their own voters with
regard to color, and thus the number of
Representatives To which they would be
entitled in Congress would depend upon
| the number upon whom they confer the
right Of suffrage"
! Thisis practically the change in the basis
of representation proposed by the Con-
stimtionA amendment.
In his remarks at an interview with
/ citizens of Indiana, in April, 1860, the
/ President, in referring to his former de
/ clarations relating to the punishment of
| traitors, said: They must not only be
| punished, but their social power must be
1 81.
tain an ascendency and may again be-
| come numerous and powerful, for, in the
! language of a former Senator OF the Uni
ted States: When traitors become num-
erous enough. treason becomes respecta
| BILE, and l may say that, after making
! treason odious, every Union man and
the Government should be remunerated
out of the pockets of those who have
| inflicted this great suffering upon the
! country"
Congress- animated by more lenient
spirit, has not proposed such indiscrim
! mate punishment of the leaders of the @
Rebellion, much less to impoverish them
| by the confiscation of their property, but
merely provides, in the constitutional
amendment, for the disaualifying from
| holding office, Federal and State, of
| portion of those whose crimes have pro-
we'd them unworthy of the public con
| faence.
| In his dispatch to Gov Holden Of
North Carolina, October Is, the Presi-
dent says: Every dollar of the debt
created to aid the Rebellion against the
United States should be repudated,
finally and forever The great mass of the
people should notbe taxed to pay debt to
aid in carrying on rebellion which they
in fact il left to themselves, were op-
posed to. Let those who have given
their means for the obligations of the
State look to that power they tried to es
tabish, in violation of law, constitution
and will of the people. They must meet
their fate
Congress heartily responded to these
just and patriotic sentiments, and pro-
vided, in the 4th section of the Consti
tutional Amendment, for the Reputation
of all debts or obligations incurred in
aid of the Rebellion or any claim for
the loss or emancipation of any slave.
No argument is needed to illustrate
the Justice and the necessity of these
measures. Their mere statement dis
PLAYS the moderation of Congress in its
treatment of rebellious States, and is its
fullest vindlcation against the charge of
hostility toward the citizens of those
States r4s-
Never. in the conduct of any Govern
ment toward its rebellious people, has
such generous f0rbearance and magnan-
unity been shown as has marked the ac-
ton of Congress toward those who
sought the overthrow of our Government
and whose ngratitude, displayed in their
persistent assaults upon Congress, and
in their savage treatment of the freed
men and Union citizens of the South
l. l.
son against the Government oz bar
But may not longer dwell upon these
topics am rejoiced to learn from your
letter, that you are deeply impressed
With the peril that beset the nation,
and tlat your convictions concur with
those of the greet body of the loyal peo-
pie of the country, that the only safety
of the Republic is in the continued as
tendency of the Union party in the con-
troll of the government s25
The issues in the coming elections can
not be misunderstood. Shall the Govern
ment be under loyal or disloyal control?
Shall the Just results of the war, which
we hoped had secured forever the unity |
of the nation, and the universal recogni- !
ton of the great truths of the Declara
ton of Independence, be fully preserved |
and enforced, or defeated by the coalit-
ion of the leaders of the Rebellion in the /
South and their allies in the North i
These comprehend the questions upon
which the people are to pronounce their /
decision. -
Expel the [ aion party from power, /
followed by the restoration of the Dem
.ocratic party, with its disloyai antece-
dents. its cornnntsals and pledges to the
demands Of the South, and wha at secur-
ity will be left the nation for the preser-
Yation of its faith to its patriotic credit
ors, to the soldiers and sailors who saw
ed It from the clutches OF treason, for /
their pensions and their bounties, and
to the 4-oo0 900 loyal blacks whose ser
yitude was the direct reproach 10 repub-
lican institutions and hum anity. for their
Freedom
May we not hope the country Will be