American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-08-15

| ShAOt thlo ctdtH Va dhdlto IL vas Didtu-
ly the duty of the President to enforce
existing national laws, and to establish,
as far as he could such system of gov
ernment as might be provided for by ex-
isting national statutes. AS Commander.
in-Chief Of victorious army, it was his
dnty under the law of nations and the
army regulations to restore order, 20 pre-
serve property, and to protecethe people
against violence from any quarter, until
provision should be made by law for their
government. He might, as President,
assemble Congress and submit the whole
matter to the law making power, or he
might continue military supervision and
control until Congress should assemble
on its regular appointed day. Selecting
the latter alternative, he proceeded by
virtue OF his power as Commander-in-
Chief to appoint provisional governors
over the revolted States These were
regularly commissioned, and their COM
pensation was paid, as the Secretary of
War stated "from the appropl iation for
army contingencies, because the duties
performed by the parties were regarded
of a temporary character, auxiliary to
the withdrawal of military force, the dis
bandment of armies, and the reduction
of military expenditure, by provisional
organizations for the protection of civil
rights, the preservation of peace, and to
take the place of armed force in the re-
spective States"
1t cannot, we think, be contended that
these governors possessed or could ex-
ercise any but military authority. They
had no power to organize civi, govern
ments, nor to exercise any authority, ex-
cept that which inhered in their own
persons under their commissions Meth
er had the President, as Commandcr-in-
Chief, any other than military authority.
1t was for him to decide how far he would
exercise 1t, how far he would relax it,
and on what terms he would withdraw
it. lie might properly permit the peo,
pie to assemble, and to initiate local gov
ernments, and to execute such local laws
as they might choose to frame, not incon-
sistent with, or in opposition to the laws
of the United States. And, if satisfied
that they might safely be left to them
selves, he might withdrew the military
forces altogether, and leave .hc people of
any or all these States to govern them
selves without his interference. In the
language of the Secretary Of State, in
his telegram to the provisional governor
Of Georgia, dated October 2s, 1865, he
might recognize the people of any State
as having resumed the relations of loyal
ty to the Union" and act, in his militia
ry capacity, on this hypothesis. All this
was within his own discretion, as militia
ry commander. But it was not for him
to decide upon the nature or effect of
any system of government which the
people of these might see fit to adopt
This power is lodged by the Constitution
in the Congress of the United States
that branch of the Government in which
is vested the authority to fix the political
relations of the States to the Union,
whose duty is to guarantee to each State
a republican form of government, and to
protect each and all of them against for.
eign or domestic violence, and against
each other. We cannot, therefore, regard
the various acts of the President in re-
lation to the formation of local govern
ments in the insurrectionary States, and
the conditions imposed by him upon their
action, in any other light than as intima-
tions to the people that, as Commander
in Chief of the army, he would consent
to withdraw military rule just in proper
tion as thay should, by their acts, mani
lest disposition to preserve order among
themselves, establish governments den
oting loyalty to the Union, and exhibit
a settled determination to return to their
allegiance-leaving with the law making
power to fix the terms Of their final re-
storation to all the rights and privileges
as States of the Union. That this was
the view OF his power taken by the Pres
ident is evident from expressions to that
effect in the communications of the Sec
retary of State to the various provisional
governors and the repeated declarations
Of the President himself. Any Other
| supposition inconsistent with it would
impute to the President deaigns of en-.
croachments upon coordinate branch
of the Government, which should not be
highly attributed to the Chief Magis
trate of the nation.
When Congress assembled In Decem-
Der last, the people of most of the States
lately in rebellion had, under the advice
! ut tho DracsAapt o~..ox.noJ I1ool ..o,aw..