American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1866-03-17
Doctor Thaddeus Stevens.

. We would gladly learn from some au
3 thorized exponent Of Radicalism. wheth
er it is the design of Stevens party t
live with people Of late rebel States a
fellow citizens or as subjects. If W
are to become citizens adaptation may b
wrought by kindness and confidence, an,
not by law. and least of all. by misrepre
senta,on and abuse. We are disarmet
, and can harm no one; impoverished ant
could not. if we would. arm the people
/ Weary Of war and all its adjuncts, il
accidents of fact and men, no peopl,
were ever more DESTROYS Of peace.
The lightning's shock never so unnerv
ed its subject as that stroke Of policy, the
Amnesty Proclamation. Weapons o
war and rent banners dropped from
nerveess grasps, and there was not al
outlawed guerrilla in the South. TIL,
suddenuess of its termination is onl,
comparable to the madness of that pre-.
ciplaion which plunged the country into
frighuuI war. Southern people have
shown by deeds Of hero!sm and endur.
ance, that they were honest in the effor
to rend the Union, and with equal clear
ness they evluce thorough assent tc
restoration.
/ Such are declarations Of nine tenths Of
the people. They declare such purposes
and sentiments not only through the
newspapers. but by the Preside; not only
in words, but by jealous devotion to in.
dusral pursuits.
II there are a few awless men; if these
who cannot divest themselves of a spirit
of lawlessness and violence acquired in
the past FIVE years; if remote interior dis
tricts are infested with highwaymen; if
negroes are now and then wronged or
outraged, what signifies it? The South.
uOl ltt NOllu VOC NlC oItbC VI COuulCt
The worst elements of two vast armies
are still adrift in the Southern States.
Hence there has been stolen three fourths
Of all the cotton surrendered. By these
adventmers are all the crimes committed
and all the wrongs done to helpless blacks.
The Bureau itself attests the fact that ex-
slaves adhere TO their ex-masters.
II then Southern whites are to become
citizens instead Of ubjects; if war acbiev-
ed its purpose and the Union must be re-
prodt ced; when, more properly than now?
Radicaism repels and does not attract.
Its acts are not coincident with its pro-
fessions. II States must become provin
ces, salraps supplant Governors, and
slavery, freedom, why were We not SO
advised by GRANT, SHERMAN and the
President at the time Of the "collapse?"
Why was it collapse rather than a sur
render? The great popular heart Of the
South ceased to beat. lis throbbings
were suddenly stilled. The tide Of feel
ing turned backward. The Union as
was became the center of political life and
hope, Radicalsm draws a cord about
the extremilIes; they grow cold and life
less, and then this STEVENS, another Sam
grade, admins tiers his fierce purgatives !
and emetcs ill another collapse threat
ems the wretched emaciated patient, If
the doctor is cursed and damned, least Of
all is he amazed. lie expected nothing
more or les. This does not prove. how
ever, that the patient would not breathe
The pure air Of freedom. Least Of all
does il show, as Gems. THOMAS and
GRIERsoN may believe, that the South
prepares for another hot bath Of exhaus
ion and death.-Vicksburg Herald.