North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1866-05-23
The Directory or Fifteea.
From the Now York Times of the lst instant

| The JOINT COMMITTEE on Reconstruction,
90 called, has finally ventnrcd to promul-
gate plan tor the settlement of sectional
difficulties and the restoration of harmony
to the Union. 1t is in the shape OF con-
| stiiutional amendment, with couple OF
bills which Congress is asked to enact
The scheme would seem sweeping enough
to satisfy the most exacting Radical. 1t
could hardly be much more sweeping, in
deed, unless it provided for wholesale con-
iscation and the determination or banish-
ment of the Southern people. 1t requires
the State to affirm the equality of whites
and blacks in the eye Of the law, in all that
pertains to life, liberty, and property.
As plan OF paciication and reconstruc-
tion, the whole thing is worse than bur-
lesque, 1t might be styled farce, were
the. country not in the midst Of very
serious drama. Its proper designation
would be "A plan to prolong indefinitely
the exclusion of the South from Congress,
by imposing conditions to which the South
ern people never will submit" This being
the obvious scope and tendency of the
proposition, We are bound to assume that
it clearly reflects the settled purpose of the
Committee. So that the Joint Committee
appointed nearly FIVE months ago to take
exclusive charge of the question of recon-
struction now offer as the result of all their
labors what would in fact render reconstruc-
tion forever impossible.
| There is an anomalous feature in the
affair as it stands which of itself reveals
The monstrous nature of the pretentlons set
up by the Committee. All the provisions
of the proposed amendment imply the adop-
ticn OF the extreme view in regard to the
relation of the South to the Union. We
must begin by assuming that what were
States before the war are mere Territories
now or this attempt to dictate terms as
the condition of recognition becomes undls-
guised usarpation We must assume, in
fact, that the South is at this moment nei-
ther more nor less than an aggregate of
Territories, waiting for admission as States,
and from whose people Congress may there
fore require compliance with certain pro
posals. And vet the amendment, on its
face, declares the existence, as States, Of
all the States recently in rebellion, aud
presupposes the exercises by their several
Legislatures of the highest constitutional
attribute OF State sovereignty. They have
no right to representation in Congress,
forsooth. They may not say yea or nay on
the most trivial question that come before
Congress They are not permitted to ENJOY
particle of influence in matters affecting
the finance, the trade. the industry, the
foreign relations OF the country, or any Of
its concerns, great or small. These prlvi-
leges they are denied on the pretence that
they aie not within the Union, and there
for have no right to recognition as parts
Of the Union. Nevertheless, under the
contemplated amendment, they are treated
as sovereign States, whose ratification OF
the amendment is essential to its consttu-
tional validity. They are to vote for or
against a change in the Constitution of the
Union, of which, on the Radical hypothe-
sis, they are not at present members -
Could ahsnrdity go further? Co1ld the
folly of this fanatcsm be made more man.
ifest
From the dilemma into which the Com
mittee have thus plunged there is no logi-
cal escape. If the Southern States are in
a condition by their Legislature to ratify
or reject Constitutional Amendment, they
must of necessity be qualified to send SEN
ators and Representatives to Co igress,
subject only to the Judgment of either
House as to the eligibility of the persons
sent. A State which may assist in the
sovereign task of moulding the Consttu-
tion under which Congress cts,may surely
demand voice in what the Constitution
creates. The greater right covers the
lesser right, in this AS in other cases. On
the other hand. if the Southern States are
not entitled 20 admission to Congress-if
the point be established, as the Radical
doctors say it is. that these are States no
longer, bnt Territories only, subject to
the will ofthe conqueror-then it follows
that they are not entitled to any lot or
part in the business of amending the Con-
stitution. Upon, which horn shall the
"Central Directory be impaled ? Shall We
take it that this prodigious amendment
this mighty mouse brought forth by a
mountain after five months parturition -
does not mean what it saws when it speaks
of the States lately in rebellion as States
still, their sovereign fnrctions unimpaired,
thought for the time interrupted Or shall
we conclude that the doctrine of snhjuga-
ton given up. and tho criminal blunder of
which the Radicals have been guilty, in
excluding the South from Congress, at
length confessed i? Let there be explicit
answers upon these heads of the subject -
As it at present appears,the position of the
Committee is utterly untenable.
Aside from these points, the worthless
ness of the Committees proposition is OBJ
vious. 1t cannot by anv possibility effect
anything. We may confidently take it for
granted that the people of the South will
never. under any circumstances, acquiesce
in their own disfranchisemeut for four
years, in reference to alPthat relates to tho