Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1866-03-29

! sion Of schools the maintenance Of free
press, and the establishments Of truly deu,o
cratic republican governments throughout
! the South 10 such violation Of all the
| opinions he had expressed to mo was this
action that | was persuaded he acted on as
-urance that by leaving all questions to the
! people Of North Carolina, as he was doing.
! they would Of their own voitiou lat least
! app,rently SOY frame government which
would be acceptable to Congress and the
sentiment of the country. AMI he an example
to all the rest Of the States whose govern
ments had been overthrow.
ANOTHER INTERVIEW
Immediately on my return home repair
ed to Washington to receive these assuran-
ces from, his own lips | mentioned my
/ Be-ton experience 20 him, and the pleasure
it had given me to explain his motives and
prevent unjust criticism. He did me the
/ honor, for which | especially thank him
! now, to inquire the grounds upon which
I had rested my arguments. | referred him
! to his continued advocacy of the h)mesteal
! bill-to the energy with which he had
pressed upon mo the necessity Of breaking
up the large landed estates Of Tennessee
and the entire South. | recdrred to hi
pledge to the colored people OF the country
in his Nashville speech that he would b.
their Moses 10 lead them 10 liberty. and
specially pressed the fact that had seen it
announced that he had suggested to depu-
tation of colorcd citizens Of the District that
had waited on him, that they sheu ID be pre-
pared. when Congr, IS ssSembled, to IN;
morialiEe it TOR the right of suffrage 10 the
District. He did not then suggest, nor, in
deed, has be ever to me, as his friend. Col.
Florence, assured the readers Of the Con
stitutional Union he has to others, thu, no
such dcputation ever waited on him or re-
, ccived such suggestion from him. But,
thanking me for this evidence of my friend
ship inquired who the common friend was
to whom had alluded as coincding with
! that it was Major Geo. L. Stearns who had
been with him in Nashville for long time
recruiting colored troops. he said with much
animation: 'Oh, yes, Mjor Stearns; | am
not surprised to learn that be should under.
stand me thoroughly as yon do" Again
assuring me Of the earnestness with which
/ he would advocate the extension Of suffrage
! to her colored citiz ms, were he in Tennes
see, he said the people would soon lea:n
| that the same mau in different positions
/ might have different duties to perform, and
| that while he would give all his personal
influence to promote the extension of suf
frsge he did net feel that he had right,
! as chief Executive officer Of the country. to
! force it upon even The people of the rebel
| lious States. and added that he wished the
people to be made to understand these
things.
THE PRESIDENT FALsIrIEs HIS STATEMENT.
Accepting the request of the monarch
as q command to the subject" made it
! my business, Immediately on my return
home, to state the Presidents position to
the conductors of all our journals with whom
| had any acquaintance, aud, few weeks
later, was much panied to learn from at
least one of them. that l had somewhat i'm
paired my reputation as a competent re-
porter Of conversation, by the fact that
the position had announced the President
as occupying had been expressly disavowed.
You may, therefore, imagine the pleasure
with which some months later carried to
that gentleman the printed letter of Major
Stearns, indorsed by the President, contain
| ing correct statement of conversation
had between them in the course of which
| he had used precisely the same language l
had months before reported him as having
used to me. 1t may not be improper to
remark, in passing, that it is we'll for the
Majors sensibilities that he got the 2resi
dent to in1orse his statement before he
published it, as heard him remark the
other day, to a group of gentlemen, that
Mr.. johnson had falsified, without excep
tioR, every assurance he had given him in
the course of their protracted interview.
HE EXPsCrs THE RAD ICALs TO SLOUGH OFF.
But why should you be amazed at this !
Has he redeemed any one of his public
pledges, and are there not scores of gentle
| NH ha hnu, Oh allan
ated? On the 2Sth of September last, Sena
tor Wilson addressed the Union men Of
Philadelphia in National Hall, and told
them that the preceding day the President
had assured him that the suffrage and
other questions were, in his opinion, open
for discussion within the party, and that he
would not discriminate between its members
on account of the opinions they might ex.
press on points not settled bv the Baltimore
Convention. On the 81 Of October, within
week. as We are assured by those gentle
men, he informed Msssrs Glenni w. Scho
field and Morrow B. Lowry, of this State,
that has policy was fixed. that he had not
told Mr.. Wilson that he did not mean to
support his policy by the influence of his
patronage, and that he "expected the radi-
Gals to slough off " But why trace SO tor
tuous and shameless course? Could do
so with safety to my country, L would gladly
strive to bury in oblivion the unblushing
tergiversations of our Chief Magistrate. =
But the people should understand theil
Presidents character and purposes for it il
q against themselves that he is endeavorine
ITO excite them. He would make them b3
lievs that Congress-the peoples branch o.
: the Government-whichi is surrendered int
their hands at the end OF every sec rud year
has for sinister purposes submitted itself t
the control and leadership Of few dang sr
> Gus men, and that he alone represents th,
popular will. To the public this is "a nev
cry. To individuals it is an older story. II
would make the people believe that ther
r has been that in the action of Congres
which was intended to emblrass him. Blu
r individuals know how ingeniously and per
Y sistently he has sought to impsir popula
! conf lence 10 those Senator's and Represen
r tatiyes upon whom Abraham Lincoln Leaned
!, with most implicit confidence; and that s.
early as July when he had been but thres
months in Office, he shocked an eminent di
!. vine whose good Offices he had invoked, b,
. saying that "he held the extreme men o
}. the North as responsible for the war as b
D did those of the South; and intended to oil