The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1866-03-07
Eeccher orr the Veto,


man than President Johnson himself. They
are to be protected, but they are not to be
protected at the expense of the constitution,
but by its integrity. No ono in the United
/ Stit's is more in need Of having the immortal
instrument maintained than the poor, recently
cnslaved, but now emancipated black man
Men who have no knowledge of the freedmen
may be warped by their sympathy and their
generous sentiments SO as not well to consider
that while legisating to save freedmen, it
may be at the expense Of those laws and
those instruments in which its very safety it.
self resides; ard If they are not carried past
the point Of mo leraton, it Is well there should
be opportunity for reconsideration.
sElr,INTEREsr.
Those rights are to be secured, I'll rdly, By
the great laws of sef.interest, and confess
| look to the great natural laws of God in hu.
man Affairs chiefly. Not that there is no
work Cor legislatiOn; no work for voluntary
christian charity and munifcencc; but that, as
man is made, the great laws of political econ
oay, the great law, of labor--supply and xe
mand-that works unconsciously, makes men
| work willingly, and teaches them justice thro'
the portal Of seliishncss-these laws-l think,
are likely to compose the difficulties between
masters and their late servants faster than al
most anything else. The south cannot resus.
citate without cotton. They cannot have cot.
| ton without negroes. They cannot have ne.
grocs without treating them justly. l would
| give more for two good cotton crops raised by
| the freedmen than for five congresses. You
are to remember that negro labor has greatly
| diminished; unfortunately, in part by DEATH
| We have no statistical record, but 1 have a
strong impression from reports made to me,
that in another year it will be found that more
than fourth part of this active laboring force
OF. the late slaves has been destroyed.
GUARANTEES WANTED FROM THE SOUTH.
| You are going to keep them out until you
arc certain it would be safe to let them in It
is impossible to give certainty. What are
the things that you want guarantees about p
Secession, rebellion, the condition of the
freedmen. What! "a guarantee of seccssion9
We want guarantee that the south are will
ing to give it up. How long would GU take
before you would consider the thing as set
tled7 Five ycars7 Would that cure them?
Now tn. south is Just IN the condition OF n
man that has gone into court with contested
title. He believes that he is the owner of
that estate, and the other parties believe they
are the owners Of it. All his life is in that
conflict 1t is decided against him in the low
err court, and he carries it to the court of last
resort and argues it. The judges decide against
him finally, and hat Goes good citizenship re-
quire? Does it require that he should say,
"Alr. Judge, am perfectly satisfied that |
did not own this property?" DO you require
| him to change his opinion? Is more required
of him than this, that he says: 81 SHALL as IA
good citizen. obey the laws; l do not think it
was right, but it is decided against me and
shall obey" Is not that all you would require
OF contestants in court? And now the south
| believed in secession. The works of Calhoun
were taught in their colleges, and the young
men were taught, as you are taught in the con
trlry doctrine, to believe that the states rights
doctrine was the true political doctrine. MANY
OF them asserted the right to seccde. from
| this government, from the compact and con.
federation OF the states; they believed it
What has the war done? The war has settled
the fact, whether they believe it o. not, tn 1t
it shan't be. The fact is settled that it shan't
be, and all you can ask the south is that they
give up the fact and say SO. viii you give up
| the fact, though you still believe in the doc
time? The question is settled when they say,
"We have referred this question to the court
and arbtrament of war, and war has declared
against us, and we accept the verdict-we bow
to it, Can you in honor ask anything more
than that? "But then we want guarantees
against rebellion" Four parts out of fiyc of
the total property of the south have been de.
stroycd by war. and is not that guarantee that
they won't fight again very soon? The popu.
lation of the sou'h has been more than deci-
mated-doubly dccim ted. There is mourn
ing there Of which we have no record or
knowledge here. What village has been biott-
ell out in the North? Hundreds have been
there. What cities depopulated here? Many,
many there. Whole families cxtnguished
and lineage b!ot.ed out. There were no bells
rung and no trumpess sounded on tn. return of
shattered remnants Of armies; and now do you
want a guarantee that this depopulated and de.
stroyed south will not attempt to organize a
war again?
EVIL EFFECTS OF PRoLoSaED EXCLUSION.
Let us not infinite this mistake Let US not,
upon any consideration, teach these States that
they can get along without a close alliance
with the national heart as represented in the
national government. Is not free circulation
Of healthy blood better for diseased limb
than to leave that limb to its own morbid con-
dition? Is it not better to reinStatc the sou |
thern states, and to have current of politics
from the north AMI west flow round and round |
the circle? it is better for them, AMI therefore |
it is better for the whole nation. am Tor the |
union. am for the nation. The south is
mine; the south is ours; and l claim the right |
and believe that this administration will act |
for the benefit of the whole We are paralyz |
ing the union men Of the south, and putting |
the whole power of the south into the hands |
Of malcontents. The men that like us least
have the most influence there, while there is a |
growing discomfort at an exclusion which they
cannot understand, and they are inclined to
listen to the men that teach them the bitterest
thoughts and the bitterest things, whereas the
union men are without influence and power |
less, and will be so as long as you keep them
out of the union. And those that hate the
union and hate the north will be the most in
power.
IT is DANGEROUS TO PLACE TOO MU3H POWER IN
THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.
We must do what we can to introduce local
government. hold it as dangerous to place |
too much power in the hands of the central |
government. It is a most extraordinary spec
iacle Of the times to see congress gathered
from the people passing bill and putting it in
to the hands of the President, and thereby
clothing him with power greater than any
monarch ever welded, and the President veto
ing it and returning it, saying, l cannot give |
my consent to it. Vetoing bill that makes
him SO strong! What if we had president
there like him who sat there before oar mar
tyrcd Lincoln, would he have refused 50 much |
power? What if we had that president there
who was there before him forget who he
was? Do you suppose you will always have a
president like Mr.. Johhson7 But am mista- |
ken in my judgment if there has, since the
earliest and best days of our presidency, been
a man more honest. more single-minded in
liberty, vino, without bias of the feelings Of
the heart, without bias OF any kind, cndeav.
ored to do that which he though. best for the
interests OF the country, and the whole coun-
try. Not another man.
PRONUNCIATION OF GOVERNMENT AGENTS.
should be sorry to sea more govern
,nert AGENTS in the land This ia the hest
government ever devised by man for self |
government. 1t is not, however, made to
govern provinces or. outlying territories. -