The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1866-01-20


Thor measures arc adopted 70 lnamidass, g
bully, to browbeat, and when brought TO
direct issue they invariably dodge 1t.
President JeAnse. end the Negro s~f.
frage Biu In Congress.
The bill striking out the word "white
rom the election laws Of the District Of Colum-
bia, and thus, In effect, comforting the right Of
suffrage upon all the negroes In the District,
without distinction, limit or qualification, has
passed the House of Representative by two
thirds vote. This bill may be designed merely to
Brighten the President from the position which
and the fact that Mr.. Raymond, Of New York;
has moved reconsideration gives some slight
to the idea. II such be the design Of
the radicals II will prove failure. The Presi-
dent is not to be frightened and coerced. On
the other hand, II the bill is to be seriously
pressed TO its final passage by the Senate, In our
view of the constitution Its adoption will be
perfectly legal under the recent constitutional
amendment. That amendment places tho
freed negroes In the position Of foreign
Immigrants, SO FAR as shs right Of suffrage.
is concerned. Congress has always had
charge of the subject of naturalization,
which cQnihfs the privilege Of voting upon
6 class Of people who cannot possess 1t except
at the option of Congress. In the same way
the recent constitutional amendment authorizes
Congress to pass laws securing to the freed ne
groes the benefits Of freedom, and il Congress
sees ct to pass negro suffrage law, embracing
all the States, as we'll 90 the District Of Colum-
bia, we believe that no legal objection can bs
raised which the Supreme Court will not over
rule. The question Of negro suffrage is, there
fore, not one of legality, but of expediency.
As such the President and the country will
doubtless consider 1t.
Whether two-thirds vote for the House bill
can be relied upon in the Senate Is disputed
point Should that vote be cast II will, Of
course, be useless for the President to veto the
bill, since the same vote can pass 1t over his
veto ut any time. In that case he WIN proba>
bly, return the bill without his signature; thus
throwing the whole responsibility upon Con-
gress, and leaving the memb&D - explain
their action to their consti(nenis g they best
can. But If the bill should fss4 the Senate
without two-thirds vote Nc predict that the
President will veto it, In his veto message he
will state his position in regard to negro suf-
frage, and as he understands the whole subject
very thoroughly, having been born and edu-
Gated among the non-slaveholding whites Of The
South, the country will await this exposition
With Tie greatest interest. Tho President may
be opposed to negro suffrage uYQn the ground Of
i.sxpsdincy; hs may be a ASer Of granting
the right d suffrage 70 tAe negroes under .
properly qualification, ~ b Ner York; b.
may suggest an educational lfAitailen, Or hs
my held that only these negroes ~Ao served
in our army during the recent rebeIli6n shosll
be admitted ~ partners win sthe whites in II
government Of the republic. We do not pre-
tend 10 define his exact views upon the sub
jsot but still we venture the prediction that
his veto will promptly follow II passage q
the House bill by the Senate, unis9 hat %.
sage bs effected by two-thirds vote. The
Issue between the President and the radicals
will then be clearly and unmistaksbly marked,
and the people will have to decide between
them. We believe that ths people arc wiz
the President, and that the thousands who sr6
claimed BY the radicals ~ ardent supporters
Of negro suffrage Law, Unconditional an
universal, are just a. mythical - those thqf.
sands Of abolition soldiers who, according u
Governors Andrew aud Yates, were 70 crowd
the highways and byways ~ soon - the emsn-
oipation proclamation was issued, bat whe
could never be discovered BY the government
even after repeated drafts. We are quite ready.
to have the issue made, because We
believe that the President will be sustained.
Indeed, for many reasons we deem ii better
that the matter should be forced at once TO .
conclusion. The government Is now disorgan-
lied and divided against itself; the progress
Of reconstruction Is impedcd, and the country
Is disgraced by these squabbles, and suffering
from the unsettled condition Of affairs. Let N
have some definite settlement of the negro
question, and lei the Union be restored WITH
out further delay.