The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-01-13

WINE PcrUrnfhg MS duties within the limit
thus defined, with their generous confidenc,
and cheerful support. He makes no immod
est claim to perfection in his own theory. snt
while We may differ from h,m on minor point
his courage and devotion, 30 amply tested
may be taken ~ . guaranty that ne will no
differ from us in the great object of saving ane
Union. - . ''e 'e"'
Starting from the substantial point OF oh
servation We have chosen, let as ascertain
how far the ship of State has progressed IN its
proper course. Alter all the magnan;mit,
and display of extraordinary power, wha, con
cessions has the Government obtained from
/ the leaders of the rebellion that were not the
immediate and logical results OF successful
war? BY the overthrow of the rebel armies
treason in its overt form was abated, but il
We have gained any practical advantage be.
yond that, except by compulsory measures, .
patient and discriminating people have failed
TO perceive it, Amid the smoke Of contend.
ing legions, Abraham Lincoln issued the
! emancipation edict not - the concession of a
| political right 70 foar millions Of bondmen,
but in the exercise of his war powers and A.
measure Of military necessity to weaken the
enemy and strengthen the national armies.
had Its immortal author in the grim shadow
| OF war, failed to seize the inspiration which
conceived it, where are the statesmen and
what their number, whose boldness gives as.
surance that they would have demanded
emancipation at the close Of the conflict as a
measure of reconstruction 1t may be noted
as significant fact thatnot Southern State,
either rebel or adherina, took any steps in
this direction uatM after the proclamation was
endorsed by the loyal party of the North,
aud had become the rallying cry of. our con.
quering armies, while every one of them from
the border to the Gulf denounced ii as
usarpaton of power, and an Invasion Of
Southern rights. The Constitutional Amend
ment secured from unwilling States, in par.
by the bold requirements Of the President. is
the legitimate offspring Of emancipation,
while emancipation itself WAS but the result
Of military necessity. 1t was not statesman
ship or diplomacy, therefore, hut the patriot
blood so nobly shed at Gettysburg and Spott-
sylvania, at Vicksburg and in the mountains
OF Georgia, that secured freedom 10 the
slave.
But let US consider the question from
nearer stand point. In the recent coayen.
tons assembled under executive sanction for
the re organization OF their late govern
ments, the overthrow Of slavery was consid-
ed as fact entirely beyond their power to
control, hut We have looked in vain for indi.
cations that they accept emancipation as .
measure Of justice, or regard it ~ q progress
i've idea Of the age. The expressed determi-
nation Of President johnson to follow in the
footsteps of his predecessor, and adhere TO
the Proclamation of Emancipation, as a basis
OF reconstruction, the probable ratification
Of the pending amendment to the Federal
Constitution, and the Act Of Congress, de-
claring the families of negro soldiers free,
rendered absolutely futile all attempts to
rehabilitate the doomed Institution Of Amer.
can Slavery.
The early restoration Of the Unionup an
enduring loyal basis, Is the obvious work OF
the hour, and its bearing upon the political
and material interests Of the country should
no, be lightly estimated. To this end and
with kindness toward oil but the guilty au
thors Of our national calamities, the energies
of all good men should be earnestly directed.
But In contemplating the task before us, a
prudent craftsmanship demands that We con
slder by what means it can be most success
fully accomplished. l will no, assume that
treason would not have existed without slave
ry, but it may be asserted that If there had
been no slavery. there would. in this age.
have been no rebellion. For without an idea
or a motive, civil war for the disruption of
this Government could not have prevailed.
Slavery, in its eagerness for pcrpetuity. fur.
nished both, and thereby traitors were afford
ed pretext tor war. 1t will be perceived,
therefore, that by the total eradication of this
mischievous element, We shall have abated
the most exciting IL not the only source of
national peril We cannot res, secure with
the mere destruction of its acknow ledged le-
gal form we must adhere to the edicts of
freedom within every State, in the strictness
of their letter and the fullness of their spirit.
Universal Freedom and Political Equality
must be defined IS the cardinal principles
upon which this Government shall hereafter |
exist. Let US have the courage to maintain
that, inasnueh as these four millions of bond !
men became free by the immutable fiat of the |
American people, SO they shall be endowed |
with oil the means necessary to practically de- |
fend that freedom against ell who, under any /
form, pretext or subterfuge whatever may at
tempt to abridge it. Place the Red Sea for
all time between them and their oppressors. |
Let the whip and the hand cuff remain for
ever broken on the field where the slave and I
his master fought. Animated by the spirit of
justice, let us be vigilant in our efforts to cor
rect the wrongs of the past. Record in bold
letters upon the history Of these times, as the |
deliberate judgment Of this generation that
"before the law" the loyal black man. the
dusky defender of the Gag, is 1t least the
equal and peer of the pardoned traitor.
Add to the vicious theory Of State Soyer.
eigntyi still boldly maintained by many, and
BY none, the defiance Of Federal
authority, exhibited at their late elections, /
in rejecting from Office all citizens of tried
Union sentiments, the election of men to
executive positions who had attained the
most offensive notoriety in the rebel armies,
the return Of Representatives to Congress
who, on account of their treason, dare not
take the oath prescribed by law, the bold
avowal Of purposes inimical TO the future
financial policy Of the Government, and all
this, too, while begging for pardon ct the feet
OF the President, and we have an array of
testimony which completely demonstrates the
mpolicy of their immediate restoration topo-
itical power in the nation.
10 expect permanent or satisfactory ad-
ustment of the Union, with States still ad.
herring to these pernicious ideas, would, in my
Judgment, be the Suicide of hope And
o shield the country from the inevitable ca
amities Of an inconsiderate or hasty restora-
ion, let us keep these yet refractory States in
political quarantine, until their inhabitants,
~ due repentance and healthful reflection,
hall have abandoned their offensive theories.
md the epidemic Of treason shall have per-
abated.
How We shall deal with the authors of the
ate rebellion is also question which pro-
onndly interests the loyal masses of our
country, who 20 patiently endured the bur.
lens and perils Of the war, and whose vet
Mourning circles and desolate hearthstonesi
90 plainly tell of it calanities. at Is man
fest that treason" says the President in hisf
ste Message, most Aagrant in character hasI
'een committed. Persons who .sre CHARGED
vith its commission should have fair and i'm