Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-02-13


fully and unjustly treated by the report
ers and photographers, or he wanders from
subject TO subject, and repeats himself in 8
most illogical and ineonclusive manner.
This is not 50 much his fault as the newt
able result Of the circumstance under
which these conversations take place.
aNsao .oHnnibEs Aoris sapit." The wisest
man does not always talk wisely at q mo-
ments nsties. And our quarrel with the
President Is rather that he holds these
conversations at all, than That he succeeds
so badly in them. And yet from the mo-
ment Of Andrew Johnsons Inauguration
As Vice President, down through the days
on days Of speech-making which followed
his Inauguration as President, to these
latter times Of conversations with dis
tfnguished Senators, with negro delega-
tionA, and with representatives of the
traitsr '~ehivalry' of Virginia, the Presi-
dent keeps up his long and weary talks,
and the telegraph wires are laden with
reports 0 fthem. Heaven savet the President
from this eGooethes EogussdiI
The last conversational manifesto Of the
President was issued on Saturday last, in
an interview with a delegation of Virgin
ians- In the column and a half speech
which he made at that time, he ~enunciates
the following ideas:
I. The Union must be preserved.
2. The people of the South accept this
doctrine.
8. All responsible positions and places
should be held exclusively by loyal men.
4. The Southern States should be rep
resented in Congress.
a. The material prosperity Of the
country demands the restoration of the
South to power.
8. No State can 60 out of the Union of
Its own will.
These general propositions are more or
less distinctly stated and argued in the
Presidents speech. Beside this, there is
agratifying allusion to the fact that the
men whom Southern rebels and Northern
Oopperheads d~enounce as radicals are the
very men who sustained the war and
elected the President himself.
The most important of the positions
thus announced Is that lone but loyal
men should hold Office. This declaration
viii we hope guide the President in all his
future policy. But what does Mr.. John
son mean BY loyaltyf Is General
Humphreys, q rebel officer through the
war, to whom as Governor the President
has turned over the executive control Of
Mississippi, q loyal man? Is Mr.. B. F.
Perry, q Judge Of 8 Confederate Court
during the rebellion, whom the President
appointed Provisional Governor of South
Carolins, q loyal man? If these, in the
Presidents opinion, are loyalists, andtheir
conduct q fair specimen of Southern
loyalty, then the Presidents declaration
that only loyalists shall hold Office Is
meaningless and i~ncOnsequent.
The Canadian Delegation and their
Propositions
Very little has been made known to the
public in reference to the recent Canadian
embassy to Washington for the purpose
Of procuring the extension of the present
Reciprocity Treaty, which expires, in az
cordanoe with the notice given by our
government, on the 18th Of March next.
Now that they have failed, however, and
gone home to Canada in disgust, the de-
tails Of their interview with the Committee
on Ways and Means, and the propositions
submitted by them, are leaking cut. 1t is
stated that the delegation conceded the
inequality and injustice of the law as it
at present stands, and would consent to
some notifications of it. They were will
ing, for instance, to stipulste for an en-
largement Of the Welland Canal that
would accommodate nearly all vessels on
the upper lakes, if they could have some
assurance that no hostile legislation on our
part would thwsrt the enterprise, and
were willing to extend the present fishing
regulations if allowed c~oasting privileges
by rs They also proposed to make their
patent laws conform to ours, and to ac-
eept 8 true or Just tax on beer, whiskey
and tobacco. BY this they did not mean
two dollars per gallon on whiskey, for
they believed this too much, but were
willing to place it at half that amount.
They also favored transit laws being the
same by law To these propositions they
received the following counter-proposi-
tons instead Of q direct reply That the
COMMITTEES would recommend Congress to
amend our navigation laws; that fisheries
should remain unchanged, and that we
should concede certain du les as equiva-
Tents; that we would admit free, fire.
wood, burr millstones and grindstones un-
dressed, cotton rags and gypsum, and es-
tablish q schedule of duties on all other
products. This schedule was considered
unjust BY the delegation as q whole, and
especially 50 in imposing a tax Of twenty
cents per bushel on wheat, fifteen cents on
barley, ten cents on oats and sorn, twenty
percent on cattle and twenty-five per cent
en- -four. They might have been inclined
to accept some ofthe rates on the schedule
but were given to understand it must be
sesepted wholly, or corresponding con-
SESSIONS given on other articles. As no
agreement wAs reached and but little en-
couragsment given for other overtures, J
the delegation have concluded 10 1eturn
to their constituents until the necessities
Of trade point out the regulations and
concessions advantageous to both coun-
Our commerce with Canada is esti-
mated at about seventy millions per an
mum, besides which we transport nearly I.
twenty millions of her products to mar
ket over our lines Of tTsnSit.