The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-01-16
9Jasllrille @Gluia.
VIZ. ClHEROs & CO.. PuOHs asrs.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1s,S
The STATE OF the Oneslion.

;. those States of the Union lately er
gagged in civil war with US, and of the
- inhabitants, now that the war ha
= ceased If the var hiss not eesseo
if state Of hostility still exists. th
i question is different, and ous du
n ties are different In that case vi
a. have an inimieal force to put down
4 aud We must put it down by ioroe. Bu
l. if the war has ceased, if 10 one dis
putes by arms the supremacy oc la
p Constitution and laws of the Vaian
4 the reign of force, except IS police. 5
/. over, and the reign of law revived
Cur task is no longer how TO cruz a.
enemy by superior power, but k,.g u
= govern kindred, though it msy be
, peryerse. community by wisdom
Il } The answer to this question
. given by Mr.. Stevens, a leading Repub.
p llcan OF the House of Representatives
IS, that those States, having made wal
upon the nation, put themselves "a the
. attitude Of q hostile and foreign peO-
pie, and having been conquered, are
now to be regarded as conquered pro-
vlnces. lie assumes, theseiore.
that they must be kept in q state
Of tutelage until their institutions,
laws and opinions have been altered.
amended and prescribed by the will of
the conqueror or Of the Congress. They
are no longer entitled to the benefits
and privileges of the Constitution and
laws of the United States, except in so
far as we choose TO grant these to them,
and can only be readmitted T. the
Union after years Of probation, and on
conditions that Congress may see fit to
impose. Their fate is entirely IN the
hands of Congress- subject only to the
possible negative of the President.
What his practical measures are ne
frankly declares to be these lst, civil
government provided by Congress; 2j,
complete emancipation; 50, an amend
ment to the Constitution, changing the
basis Of representation to actual voters;
4th, negro suffrage; 9TH duties on ex-
| ports; 9th, reputation of the rebel
! debt; and 1th, confiscation of the es-
tates ofrebels, which are to be given to
the freedmen.
(2) Mr. Sumner does not 90 as far
as Mr.. Stevens in his premises, but quite
/ as far in his conclusions. He affirms
of secession, practically destroyed not
only their relations to the Union, but
their own existence as States; thus,
while they did not get actually out Of
the Union, they yet resolved themselves
| into territories; and that, as a couse-
quence, they can be restored TO their
places as States of the Union only with
such constitutions as Congress shall ap-
prove. But those constitutions, he con
tends, must contain certain guarantees
of their future fidelity to the Union,
and of their willing adoption of the
great principles of civil and political
liberty He stipulates (lst) for the uni
ty Of the republic to be recognized in
the State Constitutions (2d) for the
enfranchisement and equality Of the
negro 10 be acknowledged by the laws
of every State; sd for the payment
of the national debt; (4th) for the re-
pudiation of the rebel debt (5th) for
impartial suffrage; and (Gth) for uni
yersal public education.
81 President Johnson maintains
that the act of secession being an un
constitutional proceeding on its face,
was therefore invalid oL ititiO that all
the legislation of the seeding States
made under that act was utterly void
that the rights snd duties of the States
of the Union are determined by the
coDioint authority of the Federal and
State Constitutions, the former being
the supreme law, aud that nothing that
State does, eontrayening the former,
can have any effect ds j,Te on the or
ganic relations of the States to the
Union. Once States, always States,
until the constitutional law of union is
annulled in the mode provided by the
law itself, or until it is broken up by
successful revolution. Chief Justice
Chase in his Dartmouth speech, ar
rived at the same conclusion, we pre- |
sumo on the same grounds, though we
are not entitled to say on what grounds. |
at is my opinion" he said, that the |
States remain States, but the war-a |
great and stupendOus fact, has effected !
changes-changes as real and perma-
nent as those effected by any other |
method" In this main position Gov |
ernor Andrew agrees; he says:
"The States in rebellion tried, under |
the lead OF their new coniederscy, TO /
conuuer the Union; but in the at /
tempt they were themselves conquered. !
They did not revert by their rebellion, !
nor by our conquest, into territories.
They did not commit suicide. But |
they rebelled, they went to war, and
they were conquered.
Being conquered, he would demand |
Of them, before releasing them from /
the effects Constitutions:
81. Guarantying to the people of |
color, now the wards Of the nation, !
their civil rights as men and women, |
on an equality with the white popula-
tion, by amendments, irrepealable in
terms.
"2 Regulating the elective franchise
according to certain laws Of universal
application, and not by rules merely |
arbitrary, capricious and personal
'3 Annulling the ordinances Of Sc
cession.
Il Disaffirming the rebel debt, and |
- Ratifying the anti-slayery amend |
ment of the United States Constitu- |
ton by their legislatures.
And would have all these ques-
lions, save the ffth-the disposition Of |
which is regulated by the Federal Con |
stitution-put to the vote of the people |
themselves. We should neither be sat /
isfed with the sction of the cOnven- |
tions which have been held, nor with /
wha. is termed the loyal vote We |
want the popular vote
Gov. Andrew afterwards explains /
that he means by the people sll the |
adult male inhabitants.
On President Johnsons theory, the /
States which made war, as soon IS the /
war is suppressed, revert legally TO the /
condition in which they were before the !
act of secession their old constitutions /
and their laws-suspendedo OF necessity /
during the hostiliues-resume their |
efficacy when peace Is authorltauvely |
declared and the States as StsJes, are |
entitled to their ancient rights which !
are a participation in the Federal GOV |
ernment, and selfgovernment as tc !
their internal afIairs But while the
States, as bodies polite, remain intact |
he adds that individuals, in those
States. who inaugurated and carried on
war against the Union, have been
guilty Of acts OF treason and rebellion,
which render them amenable 20 the
lsws They may be arrested, tried and
punished b the regular tribunals OF
the land. unless, for reasons shown
they are previously pardoned by the
Executive.
BY the theory of Mr. Chase, the States
do not revert TO their former condition
but come out in wholly new char.
acter.
those who were slaves at the be
ginning Of the war have become freed
men and citizens now, and The rebel
governments OF the Southern states have
been destroyed. All the machinery Of
these governments hiss come 70 an end;
and now, holding as ] do, thst these
7 States remain States, the second pro-
/ cess OF reorganization ia, that the gov
I ernments nov revert into the hsnis OF
2 the Southern people. They are 10 re
[ build the governments Of these States
The war has made ever col
/ ored man part Of the people. There
T fore. the oolored men Of the South
/ should bear an equal hand in reor-
j sanitation. The war has made them