The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-08-06
The Test Oath.

IL has been demon strated that the quali6ca.
tions OF Senators and Representatives which are
prescribed by the Constitution cannot be varied
by Act of Congress. The Test act which pre-
scribes an additional qualification, is therefore
unconstitutional in this respect
No other argument should be necessary to
assure the repeal of any law. Time was when
the American people disputed among themselves
about the meaning of the Constitution, but they
all, except the abolitonists, agreed that the
Constitution must be obeyed. It was venerated
in the halls OF Congress and in the assemblies
OF the people as the supreme law of the land.
Now the Constitution, btoken and sighted, must
beg Tor support-the poorest beggar made by
the CIVIL war, Yet UeVer more than now, al
least in time Of peace was the authority of the
Constitution more necessary Ito form a more
perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare and secure the
blessings OF liberty to ourselves ard our pos
terity.n
The country has been rent asunder aud great
States have, ior four years, confronted each
other in war. One party mas suCcumDed, and
there may be those who imagine thac the south
can and ought TO be held as a suiugated pro.
vince. But, consigning that barbarOus 1olly to
lis proper limbo, how can all the States meet
ae ain TO form a more perfect Union and insure
domestic tranquility On what common ground
OF sentiment, OF right, of compact, or OF law can
they ever stand together? On nothing but the
Constitution. 1t is to this alone that each party
can sacrifice its resentments 1t Is this alone
that each can freely ackno yledge as the proper
standard OF their rights, the equitable bond of
uLion and the supreme law over all. This alone
furnishes certain rule that will oe obeyed on
one sine if obey ed on The other, IN spite of all
memories and all passions, until the passions, at
first held IN CneCk by II sense OF Justice, shall
under the influence of time ana equal laws, give
place to the feelings OF common interest
national aims and trateTnal concord, which are
the trmest ligament5 OF union.
nation plunged in civil war emerges from 1t
under the reign OF force. Its first duty TO itself
Is to restore the reign OF law. Thanks to the
President, we have made some PROGRESS in that
work; but it will not he complete until the
people shall require the Government to observe,
Witn exact fidelity, every provision OF the Con-
stltutlon-the law OF laws.
The tremendous power oil the Federal Govern
ment has Just proved Itself to be irresistible at
home, whatever 1t may be abroad. II it is re-
strained by no law, popuar liberty, no less than
the ri2hts OF the States, lies at its mercy. To dav
1t is an engine of fanat clsm to tyrannize over
one portion OF the people. Tomorrow reac-
lion may come, and another faction may crush
the liberty OF It's adversaries. The struggles OF
parties Tor the possession OF such power Will
be waged with desperation. They will not long
be content with the ballot.
The sword, once the guard of our frontiers,
has shown itself as the arbiter OF our dome itlC
politics. This use OF 1t, If nabltual, soon turns
habitual use II the supreme law is habi
tnally disregarded. The civil war has be-
queathed TO the country many elements OF vic.
lence. The public mind has become familiar
with the reign OF force, and has learned TO APP
prove it tor the sake of cause. War has filled
the land with corruption and demoralized pOpu
lar sentiment. The old standards OF right and
OF law have disappeared amid the contaslon OF
intestine strife. Upon what platform" can the
good OF ali the land unite to restore the supre-
macy OF law and repair the bulwarks of civil
liberty Not upon theories of government; not
upon transient and disputed policy; not upon
the questions OF a civil war; not upon the negro;
not upon party name; but upon the Constltu-
Tion. When the people shall ordain that every
political question shall be brought to the "test"
OF the Constitution, and that no inconsistent
test shall be enforced, then will the institutions
OF republican liberty settle again on their old
and sure foundations.
But, aside from the paramount Importance OF
observing the Constitution, the exclusion of
Senators and Representatives duly chosen by
the Legislatures and people OF States regularly
within the Union, merely because the persons
chosen have taken the part of the South IN the
late civil war, ls measure full OF mischief aud
barren OF gooG. All experience proves that
political test oaths are the most odlous and yet
the least efficient means of guarding govern
ment The facility with which Senator Patter-
son took an oath of allegiance to the COntede.
rate Government, and turned his back upon 1T,
and the appreciation accorded to his conduct by
the Senate, may serve to illustrate the general
sense OF mankind respecting the political value
OF compulsory oaths, or else the laXlty OF morals
which these common devices OF civil war induce.
But II is not the oath merely that We would
signaliZe as the mother OF mischief here; 1t Is
the p.rtentous fact that all the States and
people of the South are forbidden to choose
Representatives who concur with themselves in
sentiment, and who are endeared to them
! by common struggles and perlls in the past
! Ii the electoral bodies prefer such men a. the
oath does not disqualIty, the oath is needless.
! 1t is only when II serves to defeat their Volun.
! tary choice that the law IS operative. The
! first, though not the greatest objection to such
! legislation is that 1t cannot attain ITS protesse1
! object. Among candidates who can take the oath
! the electors will, OF course, choose those who
! cOncede most TO their wishes. These may be
| plant demagogues who have been Unionists
| for profit, and who will become anything Tor
! office. Having no influence with Southern
constituencies, they win pander to the pas
! slons OF tue most numerous class OF the
! people. Conscious that the past has placed
barrier between them and the electors
| on whom they depend they will pass
| all moderation in the future advo
! cacy of local pretensi0ns Or, in few years
! they Will be supplaGted by young men who can
! take the oath because tneg were boys during the
! war, and who, to hereditary secessionism, viii
| add resentment inlamed by the exclusion o.
! their friends and eountrymen from posts o
! honor Thus there Will soon be Southern repre-
| sentatlYes IN Congress more untlendlY to ma
! tiODal interests than those who have made dis
! astrous trial of hostility during a long and
! unsuccessful war; test oath is the most ilmSy
| as well as the most Irritating contrlyance &c
| bride opposition. But when the Southern
| people perceive design to exclude their mos
| able and eif0ent men from Coneress, they viii
! know that they are not themselves to be ad
mitted to a fair share OF power. Wnen the eX
clusion is for acts in which they have, nearly
all, zealOusly participated, they will feel that Il
| is the entire South which is placed under
dsgraceiul ban. II their attachment to the