Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1866-01-19

more important to the country in the
| adjustment OF the grave questions be-
! fore US, than the mere fact that the pow
CT itself has been asserted. And by
i>cepiEr these reasons steadily in view
we shall not only be furnished with
safe guide for our own conduct, but
avoid casting any obstacles in the way
| of Congress whose duties, in solving
the problem of Reconstruction, are more
responsible and delicate than those
which davolve upon any other depart
nont of the government.
Though firmly entertaining these
views, | would not he understood as
doubling the exalted patriotism or in
tegrity OF the President. while ! could
have desired him to go farther than he
has, | cannot withhold my cordial APP
provai OF the acts already done in the
exercise of these constitutional powers,
aud would counsel my fellow -citizpns
10 sustain him while performing his
duties within the limits thus defined,
with thoir generous confidence and
cheerful support. He makes no inmod-
est claim To perfection in his own tho
ory, and, while we may ditler from him
on minor points, his courage and dcvo-
tion, SO amply tested, may be taken AS
guaranty that he will ncG differ from US
uating the noble fabric OF our American
Union.
Starting from the substantial point OF
observation we have chosen, let Us as
certain how far the ship of State has
progressed in its proper course. After
all this magnamimity and display of eN-
traoriiHary power, what concessions
have 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 abatcd; but If we have gained
any practical advantage beyond that
eXcept by compulsory measures, a pa
tient and discriminating people have
failed to perceive il. Amid the smoke
Of battle and the tramp OF coutcnding
legions, Abraham Lincoln issued the
emancipation edict, not as the conces.
sion of political right to four millions
of bondmen, but in the exercise of his
war powers and as a measure of militia
! ry necessity to weaken tho enemy and
strengthen the natiGna! armies. Had
/ its immortal author in the grim shadow
OF war, failed to seize the inspiration
| which received il, whore are the states
men and what their number, whose
buldnessg gives assurance that they would
have demanded emancipation at the
close of the conflict as a measure of re-
construction? 1t may be noted as a
significant fact that not a Southern
state, either rebel or adhering, took
any steps in this direction until after
the proclamation was endorsed by the
| loyal party of the North, and had be-
come the rGllying cry Of our conquering
armies, while every one of them from
the border to the Gulf denounced IL as a
usurpGtion Of power and an invasion of
Southern rights.
The Constitutional Amendment Sc
cured from unwilling States, in part by
the requirements of the President, is
the legitimate offspring Of cmancipa-
ton, while enamel patton itself was but
the result OF military necessity. 1t was
not statasInaI $ Zip or diplomacy, there
fore, but the patriot blood So molly shed
at Gettysburg and pottsylvania, at
Nicksburg and in the mountains of
Georgia, that secured freedom to the
slave.
! But let us consider the question ftom
q nearer standpoint. In the recent
conventions assembled under executive
sanction for the reorganization OF thCil
+ late governments, the overthrow Of sia.
+ very was oncedcd as fact entirely be.
yOnd their power to controi, but we
have looked in vain for indications that
they accept enamel patton as 4 measure
OF justice, or regard il as a progressive
idea Of the age. The expressed detcrm.
/ ination of President johnson to follow
in the footsteps OF his predecessor, and
adhere to the Proclan natiun of Emanci-
patton, a. q basis OF reconstruction, the
probable ratification Of the pending
t,,s 4
and the Act of Congress declaring the
families of negro soldiers free, rendered
absolutely futile all attcmDts to rchabil-
itatc the doomed Institution of Amcrl-
can Slavery.
The early restoration Of the Union
upon an enduring and loyal basis, is
the obvious work OF the hour, and its
bearing upon the political and material
interests Of the country should not be
lightly estimated. TO this end, and
with Kindness toward all but the guilty
/ authors OF our national calamitics, the
energies of all good men should be ear
nestiy directed. But in contemplating
the task before Us, Il prudent statesman
ship demands that we consider by what
means it can he most successfully ac-
compliahed. / will not assume that
treason would not have existed without
slavery, but il 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
It's eagerness for perpetuity, furnished
both, and thereby traitors we've afforded
preteXt for war. 1t will be perceived
therefore, that, by the total eradication
. al Ii a al oh all
have ahated the most exciting if not the
only source of national peril. We cam
not rest secure with the mere deStruc-
tion OF its acknowledy legal form; we
must adhere to the edicts OF freedom
within every State, in the strictness OF
their letter and the fulinesS of their
spirit. Universal Freedom and Polite
al Equality must be defined as the car
ainal principles upon which this Gov
ernmeDt shall hereafter exist. Let us
nave the courage TO maintain that, mas
much as these four millions of bonllmen
became free by the immutabic fiat Of
the American people, so they shall be
endowed with all the means necessary
practically defend that freedom against
all who, under any form, pretext or
subtcrfuge Whatever, may attempt to
abridge it, Place the Red Sea for all
tiiilc between then anu tnGlf OppreS-
sors. Let the whip and the handcuf
remain forever broken on the iield
where the slave and his master fought
Animated by the spirit OF justice, let US
be vigilant in our efforts to correct the
wrongs of the past. Record in bold let
tiers upon the history of these times, as
the deliberate judgment of this genera
ton. that before the law" the loyal
black man, the dusisy defender OF the
flag, is at least the equal and peer of the
pardoned traitor.
Add to the vicious theory of State
sovereignty, still boldly maintained by
many, and renounced by none, the def
ance of Federal authority, exhibited at
their late elections, in rejecting from
Office ali citizens of tried Union senti-
mcnts, the selection of men to execu-
tive positions who have attained the
most offensive notoriety in the rebel
armies, the return of representatives to
Congress who, on account Of their trea-
son. dare not take the oath prescribed
by law, the bold avowat Of purposes in
imicai to the future financial policy Of
the Government, and all this too while
hpyninfr ,orinn of Of m