The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-06-11
The Final Report of the Joint Com
mittee on Recons truction.

The Radical party has evidently ad'p'''
Is its creed the theories OF In,p. s'"''
in regard to the present status e' TUG "'',
Confederate States. Whilst the r'p"''
hefor, us il evidently the rr"dnc'i"" :"
Senator rsssExpSN. its teachings are '"'
M, oc Tho more moderate III the h'P"'".
cans. hrt of the one man "h"' "''">
uucnJorsc,l, maintained throughout 'ne wa,
a., ,,., r,,,,,unu< States had accomplished
secession. The party has not converted
,.is,,c man. lie has converted the party.
Dixrrssrdinc consistency and logic, reject
iuS what they tor years promulgcd rs the
,ruc faith, and accepting as true what they
have ~ often denounced rs false, the Radi-
,al Rccon>tructio Committee dare to make
III an issue for trial before the people which
assumes that the insurrcctionary, Sta,cshy
their own act, dissolved the Union. That
,his i 10 be the future platform Of the So
called Union party We can have no doubt.
The rcpor, is a wcll-drattcd paper, and
criaccS much ingenuity, not TO say real
ability. We do not believe that any man
in Congress other than the author could
have stated the radical side OF the case
>o well. Its augmentation is as far supc
rioy 10 the pedantic piatitudcS OF SUMNER,
and the coarsely calumnous dcnunciationS
Of STEVENS himself, as FESSESnES is to the
man whose ideas he has thus clothed in
good English and covered over with "a de-
cent respect for the opinions of mankind.
The report i very long one, and even the
extended dispatch concerning il which we
published among our kilograms OF Satur-
day gives very inadequate idea of its
reasoning The following propositions, in
the committees own language contain
much better synopsis:
|. That the States lately in rebellion
were. AT the close of the war, disorganized
communities. without civil government,
and without constitutions or other forms,
10y virtue OF which political relations could
legally exist between them and the Fcde-
raj Government.
III. That Congress cannot he expected 10
recognize as valid the election of repre-
~enia,ivcs from disorganizcd communities,
which, from the very nature of the case,
were unable 10 present their claims To rep
rescntation under those established and
recognized rules, the observance of which
has been hitherto required.
Ill. That Congress would not DC luSti-
lied in admitting such communities to
participation in the government Of the
country without first providing such con-
stitulional or other guarantees as will aid
10 secure the civil rights of all citizens OF
the Republic . just equality of reprcscn-
tation: protection against claims founded
in rebellion and crimes; temporary re-
stricton of the right of suffrage to those
who have not actively participated in the
ctIor, 10 destroy the Union and overthrow
the Government, and the exclusion from
positions of public trust of at least por-
tion Of those whose crimes have proved
them 10 be enemies 10 the Union end un-
worthy of public confidence.
Excepting the numerous hits made at Mr..
JOHNSON, the above contains the substance
Of the committees conclusions: and even
these three propositions are all contained
i'm the first, which directly antagonizcs the
doctrines laid down by the President in
his speeches and messages. He contends
that the Union was never dissolved: that
the States had no power to secedc from
il: that the war was wagcd only for the
purpose OF putting down an armed insur-
rection which INSTRUCTED the administra-
ton Of the national laws; and that the
persons so engaged in rebellion having
been conquered and compelled to submit
10 these laws, the seeding States remained,
TO use Mr.. SCENARIOS language, Gas if there
had been no rebellion" in full connection
with their co.Statcs, and not deprived of
their vital powers. In other words, the
President holds, with the late Senator
DoUGLAs, that the people may be guilty
OF treason, but the States cannot be; and
that the war being at an end, these States
as such are entitled to all the rights under
the Constitution which they previously had,
and which have been continuously pos
scssed by the "loyal" States.
We need not say that we agree with the
President. Either we had the right to Sc
cedc, and did secedc from the Union, and
the United States Government had no right
10 forbid us to exercise this right, or 10 COM
pei us to return into the Union, or else we
had neither the right nor the power to Sc
ccdc, and did not secede, and the Govern
ment had the right TO put down the insur-
rection, and by that act did prove that the
States were unable to break the bonds
which bound them to their co-Statcs. Ii
the latter be the true theory, it follows
inevitably that our States are already in
the Union, and that Congress has no power
to make terms with them or to prescribe
that they shall do any acts ofany kind as
conditions precedent to the enjoyment OF
the benefits conferred by the Union. We
are in our proper place. We are clothed
with all the rights and powers We ever had,
and punishable if We violate the national
laws or disturb the public peace. II the
former he the true theory, then the Co
vernmcnt committed great crime against
hoerty in conquerng people who
haa succeeded in forming govern
"'h' OF their own, and bringing them
ahdcr the yoke Of the very nation, of all
others, by which they did not wish 10 be
ruled. And here is where the flaw is
found in Mr.. FEssENDEN's argument. II,
reasons upon the law of the case as if we