Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-04-12
.RI1rlAND HtItNi.I).
MONDAY. APRIL 9 1866,
Tn. political situation.

and truthful - ,tatrnrut OF the present
attitude OF the Prr,l'~u' ant Cnrgu,,.
as afeclog our national afdr. a, W.
have seen
Il was unfortunate that 'tc President
should have lately SAID tua Delegation
rom New Jersey that .e +, tno u.d to
change, for the grcatost changes q. his
life hsve OccurrrG within jlD. a~t five
yesrs. and no reasonable mnu Is ,.,rr TOO
old 10 be convinced. Especially ut "a
time like this, when the wisdom uL pub.
lie policy ami tine national welfare de-
mend not upon theories. nut upuu rAe
actual condition OF affairs. IL IL surely
the part OF wisdom to cultivate patience
and liberation and an open mind Dur
jpg the dark DAYS of the war, "a Union
Senator came one day from an interview
with President Lincoln, and eXCiaimrl.
impatently "Ihert'S no braCing atmos-
phere at the White House The Prcsi-
dents mind Is never made up. No Unon
man is stronger for seeing him" Then
it was a very duh Union man Mr.
Lincoln was strong because he was pa.
tient. His patience enabled him To
know and TO weigh exactly the force OF
opinions II he had constantly said up
on the vital points of the war, Ny
mind is made up, | am not to he
moved he would have lacked precisely
the distinctive quality of his greatness
f a. a man and OF MS fitness as President
President Johnson ; temperament dlf-
Gers from President Lincoln's as Geucral
JacksOn's did from General Washing.
tons. Mr. Johnson likes figh.. Al
. his life he has been sturdy political
ChSmpiOn. He has bet n trained in the
most orthodox discipline of the most
4 despOtiC Of parties and he gives blows
K as well as takes them. At the close Of
fierce war he stepped into the Presi-
denCy over the body of his predecessor
F. murdered by those who would gladly
have killed him and his grim resolu.
4. ton to maintain the Constitution and
Union, as he understood them, prom
Sed to be infieXible against all whose
views differed from his own. But for
getting, as it seems to US, that the most
patriotic men may honestly differ ia 4
crisis like the present he rather impru-
denty recognizes as the only friends of
the Union those who support his policy
II every point, without weighing the
Drobahle And obvious motives of .ucb
support in many quarters. Thus while
\ lie declares himself with peculiar en-
Dhasls the defender Of the Union and
Constitution. it is remarkable that those
who have not shown during the war
\ that they were its enemies duuht the
wisdom of some of his measures. while
those who have been the omen and
bloody or secret and treacherous foes of
I the Union. now vehemeut)v aDplaul
every word he utters and every Act he
does Is it that those who with Andrew
Johnson nave bitherto defended rhe
Union against every assault did not
comprehend what they were doing or
h it that those who. after long drhbera-
n ion, struggled flercely to DESTROY it. are
st heart its most intelligent advocates.
Il is truest friends, aud the safest coun-
stiors in its reOrganiZatiOp Z
But this rapturous approval of the
President by his political enemies is not
Il a new phenomenon. The party which
advised surrender to the rebellion. ami
exhausted the language in contemplu-
Gus vituperati0u of Mr., Johnson while
he stood like rock against their trca-
s0nable fury, has 40 course left but TO
excite and exasne,Ate division between
him and his friends They apDlaud hlm
not because he demands that treason
shall be made odlous. not hpcause he
/ maintained military rule and SUSPENDED
the baBeas cnrDus in the disturhpd States
not because he imposed assent to eman-
Cipation upon those States and evcent4d
large classes from amnesty not hpcausp
he demanded that "a nubjic enemy
should be subjected TO \ severe
ordeal before he is restored to citizen
ship, but because his measures do not
command the unqualified support of all
Union men, and because they hone to
widen a difference into fatal breach
When Mr.. S. s. Cox who said At Chica. a..
60 in 1854 that lincoln and Davis onobt
to be brought to the same hlock together
now says at New Haven that Mr. John-
son, the faithful friend Of Mr f.incoln
and elected with him ia tho hast or
Presidents. it is hard to baIioya tbat a
Politician 50 pxneriancad os NJ Iob,
son does NOT estimate sTcb snnnart 49,
pts true value, He mpst kno.q GO ths+ tSe