Litchfield enquirer., 1866-09-27
or any coufscation but that of slaveryg We

T or any confscation but that of slavery? We
 solicit your candid, ,simpartial judgment.
 ! What is intended by the third section IS
 simply to give loyalty lair start iii the recon | fstructed states. Under the Johnson policy the rebels monopolize power and place even n lcommunities where they are decidedly outnum ybered. Their generals are Governors and 4l members elect of Congress; their colonels and tinaiors fill the legislatures. and officiate us Isheriffs. Not only are the steadastly loyal
 prescribed. but even stay at home rebels have
 little chance in competition with those who fought to subvert the Union. When this reb- l el monopoly of office shall be broken up, and l loyalty to the Union shall have become gene l ral and hearty, Congress may remove the dis | ability, and will doubtless make haste to do | so.
 We do not perceive that the justice or fit | ness of the fourth section-prescribing that the Union public debt shall be promptly met, but 1 that of the rebel Confederacy never-is serious ly contested '''',4 '..i37R1 < ''S' There remains. then, but the second section. Which prescribes in substance that political power in the Union shall henceforlh be based only on that portion of the people ofeach state who are deemed by it's constitution fit depos- tories of such power In other words A state which chooses to hold part of it's popula- tiol in ignorance and vassalage uneducated and unfranchised- shall not count that portion to balance the educated, intell- gent, enfranchised citizens of other states.
 r We do not propose to argue the justice of this provision. As well argue the shape of cube or the correctness of the multiplication table. He who does notfeel tlat this is simply and mildly just, would not be pu suadad though one rose from the i'd 10 convince him, That | fharo apof fb1oa 1rhh ho it ratified, sadly demonstrates that the good work of emancipation is not vet complete. E.,
 But. say some, this section is designed to coerce the South into according suffrage to her blacks" Not so, we reply, but only to notify her ruling caste that we will no longer bribe them to keep their blacks in serfdom. An aristocracy rarely surrenders it's privileges, no ] matter how oppressive, from abstract devotion to justice and right. It must have cogent, palpable reasons for soydoing. We say, there fore, to South Carolina, eff you persistently restrict all power to your three hundred thou | sand whites, we must insist that these no long CT balance in Congress, and ih the choice of President, seven hundred thousand northern
 white freemen, but only three hundred thou 1 sand. Ii you keep your blacks evermore in serfdom, it must not be because we tempted you to do so, and rewarded you for so doing. !" Fellow citizens of every state but especially of these soon to hold elections, we entreat your earnest, constant heed to the grave questions | now at issue Ifthose who so wantonly plung
 ed the Union into civil war shall be allowed by you 70 dictate the terms of reconstruction, you will have heedlessly sown the bitter seeds of future rebelons and bloody strife. Already you are threatened with a recognition by the President of sham Congress, made up of the factions which recently coalesced at Philadel> phia on platform of Johnsonism-a Congress law Of the land-a Congress wholly inspired from the White House, and appealing to the sword alone for support. So glaring an at tempt at usurpaton would be even more crimi- nal than absurd. Happily, the people, by electirg an overwhelming majority of tho roughly loyal representatives, are rendering it's imitation impossible. .f We cannot close without a most deserved tribute to the general fidelity wherewith. in view of the Presidents defection, the great body of the peop.e and of the federal o1ice-hold- CTS, stand fast by their convictions and their principles The boundless patronage of the
 Executive. though most unscrupulously wield- | ed against those to whose votes he ow es it, has
 corrupted very few, either of those who shared
 or of those who would gladly share in it's en J0yment. Not one or tne twenty two Stdtes which voted to re-elect Abraham Lincoln has
 given in it's adhesion to the Presidents policy
 while New Jersey-the only free state that
 voted against him--has added herself to their
 number. 's H'
 l Our great war has taught us mpressively
 the peril of injustice and the lesson has sunk deep into the millions of hearts. The Ameri-
 can people. chastened by suffering are wiser 1 and nobler than they were, with quicker and
 more open ear for every generous suggestion.
 The fearful lessons ef Memphis and New. Or
 leans have not been lost on them, as is proved by the result of the recent elections in Maine. l We cherish no shadow of doubt that Pennsyl-
 vania, Ohio, Indiana and Iowa first, then New
 York, New Jersey. Illinois, Michigan, Wiscon sin, Kansas and Minnesota, will do likewise and that true restoration.a a genuine, abiding peace, will thus be secured to onr country peace that will endure, because based on ev- erlasting foundations of Humanity, Justice and and Freed om. ... Yours, .s.. t! . MARCUS l. WARD, New Jersey, Chairman. | JOHN R DEFREEs, Indiana, Secretary.