Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1866-01-12
From the Springfield (Mass.) Republican.
-- What CONGRESS Will 10.

Some fault has been found with Con-
gress for making so long q Christmas
vacation, but il will be a good thing for
the members to see their constituents
and ascertain the popular feeling on the
great questions upon which they must
soon act. They will find that among
their constituents confidence has been
greatly strengthened in the President
and his policy, and that among patriot
ic and intelligent citizens the project of
annulling the accomplished reconstruc-
ton and setting the Southern States
back under military or territorial gov
ernment meets with no favor. 1t il the
habit of the few extremists who advo-
cate this wild measure to assume to
speak for the loyal millions, but the
millions will not respond.
1t Is safe to predict that before the end
of January the main features of the
Presidents policy will have the support
of decisive majority of Congress and
the Joint committee, instead of report
ing a bill to remand the South to terri
torial government, will content itself
with devising suitable legislation for
the protection of the freedmen, and for
securing the loyal representation of the
South in Congress. And this, in fact,
covers the whole ground for the safe and
speedyrestoration ofthe Southern States
to their old places In the Government.
Everybody sees that 1t Is impossible for
the President to take any step back
Governments of the reOrganized States
to maintain them i'm authority, and to
do all i'm his power to restore them to
their representation in Congress. How
idle, then, to talk about conquered
provinces and "subdued alien elle-
mics" or to go to Nattel and Puffcndorf
to ascertain what to do with them.--
These authorities did not write for cur
times or institutions, and according to
their theories We might properly have
slaughtered the rebels taken prisoners,
or sold them into perpetual slavery
Indeed their rules have no application
to our circumstances, or to our iustitu-
tions, that have no model or precedent.
The absurdities into which advocates
of another reconstruction necessarily
run are exhibited I'm the bill of Mr.. Ash
ley, of Ohio. He assumes that the
States are dead, and can make no mo-
ton for reorganization without an ena-
bling act of Congress. But he eXcepts
Tennessee, and says that the reorgani-
zation there has been legitimate, and
Tennessee, therefore, "is hereby ree0g-
nized," as ali right, provided she will
enter into certain Covenants" with the
United States, which he specifics. This
involves one of the worst and most fatal
heresies of secession itself. Calhoun's
theory, combatted by Webster, was that
the relation between the States and the
| General Government was that "com-
pact" which is covenant" and where
State covenants with another power,
it must be independent of that power,
as to the subject matte r of that compact,
else it was not free to covenant, and Its
covenant was not binding; and If free
to covenant, then there was none to
Judge whether it kept its covenant or
not but itself and the other contracting
party; if left to the other party to say
whether the covenants were kept or not,
il was despotism; and therefore each
State must Judge for itself whether the
covenants were kept or not, and deter
mine for itself when ii could he relieved
from them. In this absurd way Cali
houn arrived at secession. Webster
denounced the whole doctrine of com
pacts or covenants, and declared the
Government to be that of nation-ono
psspla that the relation was between
the United States and the people OF G
State-not between the United States
and the States-acting directly on tho
individual, and not through any cove
nant made with the State. This is 1
vital distinction. And yet Mr.. Ashley
has revived the very doctrine of Cal
houn, in proposing an express covenant
between state and the United States
Such folly has had its day. Congress
otic men, and restore the Union,