Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-08-09

IL Is an entire aDandonlnenb OF the raN1ch
policy Of Mr.. Stevens and Mr.. Sumner,o ~
is an acknowledgment that loyal members
might safely have been, and ought TO nave
been, admitted to their seats In Congress at
the commencement of the session. For who
is SO Ignorant as not to know that the Com
stitutional Amendment, which In the State
of Tennessee could only be carried by open
and iayowed force and eompulsiOn, can
never receive the ratification of sufficient
number of States to make tia part or the
COnstitdtion? There is nota man of fOrdi-
nary political intelligence who does not
know and understand this. Yet Congress
makes the action of the Tennessee Legisla-
thre, under the vile and despotic tyranny
and compulsion of BrOwnlowg reason for
admitting q State to- its Constitutional
rights. Can anything more plainly show
their consciousness that fhey are In the
wronggEIf gni9d d 1.-'TrE nIIi IHd EI
And now. gentlemen, in the light of the
events of the past eight months, allow me
to ask you to consider for moment the
present aspect of the great political ques-
tlon Of the day, This days Convention,
phia, to which this Is preliminary step,
prove that there is something in politics
higher than party--that there Is such a
thing as statesmanship- there is such
a thing as political principle. No slight
cause can disrupt great party, or bring
together men who have long differed.
What is it that brings us together to-day
1t Is useless to talk about mere details-to
dwell on single measures like the admis-
sion of Tennessee, for example. What
great fundamental question of public poll
cy is il that has loosened the ties which
bound together the great Republican par
ty, and has brought such men as Seward,
and Welles, and McCullocl, and Doollttle,
and Cowan, and Randall, and Dix, and
Fish, and Beecher, and Bacon, to the con-
clusion that new basis of political action
is necessary, and rendered them willing,
for the liberation of the country, to unite
with lifelong political opponents, II only
they are true to the Constitution and the
Union! will attempt to state, as Under
stand it, what this great fundamental ques-
tion is. And before doing so, let me for a
moment advert to the ground upon which
loyal men Of all parties united at the outset
in support Of the war. 1t was three days
after the battle of Bull Bun that the fol-
lowing resolution was adopted. with scarce
ly a dissenting vote, by both Houses of Con-
gress -. '' '
"Ipesolced, That the present deblorable
civil war has been forced upon the country
by the Disunionists of the Southern States,
now in revolt against the Constitutional
Government, and in arms around the Capt.
tal-that in this national emergency Con-
gress, banishing Iall feeling of mere passion
or resentment, will Tecollect only its duty
to the whole country; that this war is not
prosecuted on our part in any spirit of op-
preston, nor for the purpose of conquest or
snbjugation, nor for the purpose of over
throwing or interfering with the rights or
established institutions OF those States, but
to defend and maintain the supremacy of
the Constitution, and all laws made in pur-
suance thereof and TO preserve the Union
with all the dignity, equality and rights of
the several States unimpaired, and that as
soon as these objects are accomplished the
war ought to cease"
Who offered this resolution in the Senate?
Andrew johnson, then aSenator from Ten
nessee. This was the ground on which he
declared himself ready to sustain the war.
He was elected Vice President OF the United
States on this platform and with this pub
lie aYowal of his principles, which the
Senate -solemnly ratifed-yet to-day, for
standing on the same ground, the Senate
daily hears him denounced as a traitor.
Fellow -citiZens, who is1right and who Is
johnson stands where he. stood when he
offered this resolution. Does the Senate
stand where it stood wien, by an almost
Unanimous vote, the resolution receivedIttie
sanction of that body, aud became the plat
form of the war party? Will they tell us
that circumstances have changed? They,
have indeed changed. Then slavery eX-
listed not only in the slave States, but In
the District of Columbia. Then rebellion
was hagrant and temporarily successful.
Then secession threatened to be triumphant,
and menaced the walls of the Capital. Now
slavery no longer exists. The rebellion is
suppressed. The war is at an end, and se-
cessiOn is forever crushed and destroyed.
This is the change that has taken place---a
change that makes it doubly proper, be-
cause it is entirely consistent with the pub
lie safety, to carry out theprinciple of the
resolution which / have cited. Yet the
President, who proposes in good faith to
doso,l and those of us who sustain him, are
denounced as traitors. Let the public judge
between us and them. NuJ--'. '-.il !
gentlemen, the eGovernmentot of the United
States, as we hope, is TO be perpetual. Hav-1
ing survived the terrible shock of civil war
to which it has been exposed, the great
fundamental question Which now agltates
the public mind is, how shall peaceful and
constitutional relations between its several
parts be restored and confirmed? This is
the great question to which l desire to call
your attention. Matters of detail are UNI
Important. The work of the statesman isy
to harmoniZe the different and discordant
parts'of a distracted country How isthis
to be done? While there are many minor
details of p0licy1and numerous individual
schemes of adjustment, there are only two
great commanding systems of reconstruct
tion., The plan proposed by Congress is
before you. 1t proceeds on the ground of
compelling the States in rebellion to sub
init to humiliating and degrading terms. 1t
proposes toperpetuate the memory of this
degradatio and humiliation, by inscribing
II in indelible record on the pages of the Con-
stituti0n. of the United States. 1t is not, L /
admit as strong in its terms of humiliation
and degradation as the individual PROPOSE 4
tions Of some leading members of Con-
gress. Mr.. Thaddeus Stevens, Tor inz
stance. has proposed an entire confsca-
tion of rebel property, and the redueton
Ofthe entire white race of the South to utter
and abject poverty and actual starvation,
and in prepared, written speech, delivered
In the House of Representatives, he has
uttered his impious prayer that they might |
ahibe consigned ''to the Pehitentiary of |
Helll'l MrgBoutwen and Mr. Sumner have
o different plan; they, with Mr., Brown, of
Missouri, and other gentlemen whom Iper-
sonally respect, have a theory Of elevatingi
the black race of the South by giving them |
the balloJ. If there is thought to- be any!
thing noble and generous in their plan of
reconstruction, l may be permitted to say
that to them alone, and the few who sustain
them, the honor belongs, for. Eongress has
shown no desire to .enfranchise tne black
race, but satisfies itselewfth frpitless efforts