Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1866-10-05

has passed the Senate by 3S to IL, and
the House 10y l3s to 80. 1t is now fair
ly before the country: having. already
been ratified by the Legislatures of sew
eral States, and rejected by none. Un-
der it, the State of Tennessee has been
formally restored to all the privileges
she forfeited by rebellion, including
representation in either House of Con-
grcss. And tho door thus passed
through, stands invitingIy open to all
who still linger without. s:'
Are the conditions prescribed intol-
erablc, or even humiliating? They are
in substance these: '3 ..'. ..'
!. All persons born or naturalized in
this country are henccforth citizens of
the United States, and shall enjoy all
the rights of citizens evcrmorc; and no
State shall have power TO contravenc
this most righteous and necessary pro-
vision. '." 30 "." .".t.
III. While the States claim and cxcr-
else the power of denying the elective
franchise to a part Of their people, the
weight of each State i'm the Union shall
hc measured by and based upon its en-
franchised population. If any State
shall choose for no crime to deny polit-
ical rights to any race or caste, it must
no longer count that race or caste
political power in tho Union. j. .'
III. He who hos once held office on
the strength of his solemn oath to sup
port the Federal Constitution and has
nevertheless foresworn himself and
reasonably plotted to subvert that Con-
stitution, shall hcnceforth hold no po-
litical Office till Congress, 10y n two
thirds vote, shall remove or modify the
disability.
". The national debt shall be i'm
nowise rcpudiated nor invalidatcd; and
no debt incurred i'm support of the re.
bellion shall ever be paid, either by
state or nation nor shall anything be
paid for the slaves emancipated by the
recent constitutional amendment.
1t is proposed, filthy, that any State
accepting the above terms, he ut once
admitted to the full privileges of repre-
scntation.
Such, and such alone are the condi-
tions Of return proposed by Congress
and the Republican party. Are they
not reasonable and just? Could any
thing less be asked of conquered rebels :?
The first provision is merely carrying
| ont ,f l,f ci nfs nd, Il
ready adopted. What more simple and
plain, than for all the natives Of the
land to be allowed its privileges? No
person or party can deny the claim.
What is Intended by the third section
is simply to give loyalty fair start in
the reconstructed States. Under the
Johnson policy the rebels monopolizc
power and place, even in communities
where they are decidedly outnumbcrcd.
Their Generals are Governors and
members elect Of Congress; their Colo
nels and Majors fill the Legislatures,
and ofiiciate as Sherifls. Not only are
the steadfastly loyal prescribed, but
even stay-at-home rebels have little
chance in competition with those who
fought to subvert the Union. When
this rebel monopoly of Office shall have
been broken up, and loyalty to the Tn
ion shall have become general and
hearty, Congress may remove the disa-
bility, and will doubtless make haste
! to do so.
We do not perceive that the justice or
fitness of the fourtl, section prcscrib-
ing that the Union public debt shall
be promptly met, but that of the rebel
Confedcracy never-is seriously con-
tested.
There remains, then, but the second
section, which prescribes In substance
that political power in the Union shall
hencefortll be based only on that por-
tion Of the people Of each State WHO are
deemed by its constitution fit dcposito-
ries of such power. Ia other words: a
State which chooses to hold part of it's
population in Ignorance and vassalagc,
powerloss, uneducated, unenfranchised,
shall not count that portion to balance
the educated, intelligent, cnfranchised
citizens Of other States.
| We do not purpose to argue the JUS
tice OF this provision. AS we'll argue
the shape of a cube or the correctness OF
the multiplication table. He who does
not feet that this is simply and mildly
just, would not be persuaded though
one rose from the dead to convince him.
That there are those among US who
would not have it ratified, sadly dem
onstra.es that the good work of emanci-
/ patton is not yet complete.
But" say some, ''this section is de-
signed to eocrcc the South into accord
/ ing suffrage to her blacks" Not so,
we reply; bat only to notify her ruling
caste that we will no longer bribe them
to keep their blacks in serfdom. Al
aTistocracy rarely surrenlers its privi-
leges, no matter how oppressive, from
abstract devotion to justice and right.
1t must have cogent, palI able reasons
for so doing. We say, therefore, to
South Carolina, :" If you persistent tly re-
strict all power TO 3OO,OO0 whites, VIC
must insist that these no longer balance,
i'm Congress and the choice of President
-7O0, 900 Northern white freemcn, but
only 100000. Ifyou keep your blacks
ever more in serflom, it must not be
because we tempted you 80 to do and re-
warded you for so DOING