The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-03-05
The South in Congress.

we can scarcely doubt the intention of the Re
construction Committee speedily TO report bill
for the admission into Congress of the loyal
representatives of Tennessee. If newspaper re-
ports are OF any value the Committee have
finally decided, by q majority, that the State
which has furnished a President for the Union
Is entitled to recognition on the floor OF the
Senate and the House; and legislation is antici-
pated with the view OF according to loyal repre-
sentatives the privileges which, from the com
mencement of the present session, should never
have been denied them. Ga -l-4r1 .-..lg "a
In one aspect, perhaps, this decision Of the
Committee OF fifteen ought totbs accepted With
out n too close scrutiny into the motives which
prompt 1t, or the reasons upon which II rests. II
should be enough mayhap that the rights OF
Tennessee to representation IN the Natto aal
Legislature are finally conceded, irrespective OF
the policy which has until now denied their
force, or the precise mode in which tardy justice
is eventually TO be administered. In the iudg-
ment Of many, It may be enough that Tennessee
shall no longer be excluded from its proper
sphere of influence. And certainly, estimating
things by comparison, and measures by their
immediate effects the purpose of the Reconstruc-
ton Committee, so-caled, may merit approval.
Anxious as the nation is to see the noble State
which contributed q Jackson to grspple with
one crisis, and johnson to overcome the perils
of another, fairly and fully occupying once more
its constitutional position at Washington, there
will probably be general inclination to seize
the Committee, irrespective OF the objections
that may he raised to the shape in which the
Committees action shall finally appear.
There are one or two considerations however,
which require us to ask that q good deed shall
be gracefully performed; that decision in itself
Just and expedient shall be so rendered that it
loses nothing OF its Justice or expediency when
viewed as part Of the well-weighed policy OF
the nation.
Tennessee has a right to be represented in
Congress, or 1t has not. If right be on its side,
Its Senators and Representatives should be ad-
mitted, subject only to the decision of the House
as to the qualifications OF the persons presenting
their credentials If right be not on its side,
legislation in its favor admits of no defense; its
Senators and Representatives have no claim
whatever TO recognition in either house. From
these alternatives we see no logical escape.
If, then, Tennessee is not entitled to place in
Congress, why are we to have bill introduced
IN its favor2 The question is one of constitu-
tional right, not OF the Will of q Committee,
howsoever lllustrious be the fifteen gentlemen of
whom it is composed. To concede that leeisla-
ton Is necessary to the admission of the repre-
sentatives OF Tennessee, is to conceoe the whole
question at issue between those who hold that
the South Is made up of conquered territories,
and those who maintain that the States lately in
rebellion are still within the Union. A necessity
for legislation in behalf of Tennessee can only
proceed on the hypothesis that that Slate, in
common with other portions OF the South, is at
present out of the Union. The Just, consistent
course would therefore seem 20 be, to affirm by
RESOLUTION Jnal all the SOublern states nave Tor
feIted their existence as States-that the whole
South, Tennessee included, has no constitutional
title TO a seat in Congress-and that bill pro-
viding for the admission of Tennessee is but the
beginning of series of measures providing
respectively for the admission OF the remaining
Southern States. Is the Reconstruction Com
mitttee prepared boldly to assert this ground?
ls Coneress prepared by its action TO sustain
this position, whether the Committee declare il
or not?
For on the other hand, it is manifest that If
Tennessee is within the Uuion, the measure
talked OF will be work of supereIogatlon. The
Reconstruction Committee has, properly, no.
thilg to say or do in the premises except so far
as it may be able to throw light upon the for
malities observed by the Stale in respect of the
election and the qualifications OF the individuals
claiming to be elected. And If Tennessee, being
within the Union, has right to be represented
in Congress, why have not the other Southern
States The same right? From this point of view
the question to be decided is one of principle, by
which the whole South Is atfected-nbt one OF
favor-which Congress or any of ITS committees
IS at liberty to determine according to It's
pleasure.
Nothing that we know of is to be gained by an
attempt to evade the points in controversy
The issue is not one OF sympathy, but of right;
and whatever the Reconstruction Committee
may report, we apprehend that the action Of
Cor gress will ultimately rest upon some intelli-
gible and well-defned general principle rather
than upon an exceptional preference for Tennes-
see or any other State. Why is not the question
so dealt with by the Committee, if its object now
be to promote the restoration ofharmony within
the Union? The times call for frankness and
prompttude. And il partisan strife is at last to
give place to patriotic effort it would be difficult
TO ind better basis for concliation than is pre-,
sented by the question of the right of the South
| to representation in Congress.
The sEGrand Idea' of Napoleon in Mexico
The Danger to France.
| From the Herald.
The full report OF the recent of Marshal Forey
| in the French Senate on the Mexican question