Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1866-08-30

-.2 's ~ - $500. .sgj afs y.
dangers which menace the stsbility Of free
government, that the constitution Of the
United States was inssuded most carefully
to provide. We demand q strict and stead.
fast adherence to It's provisions. 10 this,
and in this alone, can we find q basis of
permanent union and peace. f'i- 1' j
Fourth. is alleged, 10 justification
of tho usurpationi which We condemn, that
the condition Of the Southern States and
people is not such as renders safe their
readmissiop to share in the government
Of the coantry'; that they are still disloyal
10 sentiment and purpose, and that neither
the honor, the credit, nor the interest Of
the nation would be safe If they were re. .sd.
mitted to share in its councils. We might
reply to this: Frst.-Thst we have no
right for such reasons to deny any portion
Of the States Or people rights expressly con.
ferred upon them BY the Constitution Of the
United States - 80
! Second.-That so long ss their acts are
those Of loyalty (; so long as they conform in
all their public conduct to the requirements
Of the Constitution and laws, ne have no
right to exact from them conformity in
their sentiments and opinions to our own
Third That we have no right to distrust
the purpose or the ability Of the people Of
the Union to protect aud defend under all
contingencies and BY 'vbssessr mesus
may be required, Its honor and it's vel
fare. .1l ~--, ..'.-s1ss 21as' f+1ts
These sould, In our judgment, be full
and conclusive answers to the ples thus I'D.
vanced for the exclusion of these Ststes
from the Union But, we say further, that
this plea rests upon . complete misappre-
hension or an unjust perversion Of existing
facts. We do not hesitate to affirm that
there is no sectien of the country where
the constitution and laws Of the United
States fud noreiprompt and entire Qbedi.
ence than in those States and among those
people Who were lately in arms against
them, or where there isless purpose or dau-
ger of any future attempt to overthrow their
authority - : = :. =, =. -, ..ss.,
1t would seem to be both natural and
inevitable that in States and sections so
recently swept by the, whirlwind Of war,
where all the ordinary modes and methods
of organized industry have been broken up,
and the bonds and influence that gusran.
tee social order have been destroyed, where
thousands and tens of thousands Of turbu.
lent spirits have been suddenly loosed from
the discipline of war, and thrown, without
resources or restraint, upon q disorganiSed
and chaotic society, and where the keen
sense Of defeat is added to the overthrow
of ambition and hope, scenes of violence
should defer, for time, the imposition Of
law, and excite anew the forebodings Of
the patriotic and we'll disposed. 1t is m.
questionably true that local Disturbances Of
this kind, accompanied by more or less of
violence, do still occur, but they are con-
fined entirely to the cities and large towns
of the Southern States, where different
races and interests are brought most closely
10 contact, and where passions aud resent.
ments are always most easily fed and fanued
into outbreak And even these are quite
as much the fruit of untimely and hurtful
agitation as Of any hostility on the part Of
the people to the authority of the national
government
But the concurrent testimony Of those
best acquainted with the condition Of socie-
ty and the state of public sentiment in the
South, including that of its representatives
in this convention, establishes the fact that
the great mass of the Southern. people ae-
cept, with as full and sincere submission as
do the people of the other States, the re-
established supremacy of the national an
tbority, and are prepared, in the most loyal
spirit and with zeal quickened alike by
their interests and their pride, to cooperate
with other States and sections in whatever
may be necessary to defend the rights, main.
taain the honor and promote the welfare of
our common country
History affords no instance where peo.
pie so powerful in numbers, in resources
and in public spirit, after war so long in
its duration, 80 destructive iu its progress
and so adverse in its issue, have accepted
defeat and its consequences with SO much
of good faith as has marked the conduct Of
the people lately in insurrectiou against the
United States. Beyond all question, this
has been largely due to the wise generosity
with which their enforced surrender was
accepted by the President of the United
States and the generals in immediate com.
maud of their armies, and to the liberal
measures which were afterwards taken to
restore order, tranquility and law to the
States, where all had for the time been over.
thrown. No steps could have been better
calculated to command the respect, win the
confidence, revive the patriotism aud secure
the permanent and affectionate allegiance
of the people of the South to the constitu.
ton and laws of the Union than those
which haze been 20 firmly taken and SO
steadfsstly pursued by the President of the
United States.
And if that confidence and loyalty have
been since impaired if the people of the
South are to day less cordial in their allegi-