The Greene County Republican. [volume] (Waynesburg, Pa.) 185?-1867, 1866-09-19
THE PENDING CANVASS.
Gen. Butler on the Pre- si-
dents Policy, the New-Or-
leans Murders and the P4 il
adelphia 4 lOnv.mtlOm.
TIE PRESIDENTS PLAN.

AT the moment when the conduerins
armies OF the United States were sweep
ing over the land irresistbly, and wber
the power of the Confederacy was being
fractured, and when their President wa.
fleeing and pursued by the cavalry of the
United States, at that moment, in tht
spirit that starved our prisoners at Libby
Belle Isle and AndersoLvile, they raised
the assassin hand of Booth against the
great and good Lincoln, the last crown
ing infamy of the war. And that raised
the Vice-President of the United States
in'o power, and while propose to deal
with all of his acts and opinions with
that respect due to any. man in a high
office, it will yet be necessary to examiue
those acts and opinions, lie then deelar>
ed that treason should be made odious
and traitors should be punished. That
declaration was made to every commits
tee from every State that visited him,
and need not tell this audience how
that declaration thrilled every loyal heart.
Every man said, 'Welr if we have lost
Lincoln, we hav got Johnson, and the
Rebels will fare worse with him than
with Lincoln lie issued his procla
nation for a reward for the principal
conspiratOrs. He refused to sanction
the terms of surrender by Sherman to
Johnston, and i: will be quite material
for us for moment to consider what
those terms We're Gen. Sherman,
anxious. as he sail. to pacifcate the
country, agreed with Gen. Johnston
that II 'e would surrender, the people of
the Confederate States should be restored
to all their rights, civil and political,
which they enjoyed before the wra.-
That was one OF the principal terms of
the surrender. When that surrender
was known at Washington, and the
capitulaton considered. it was at once
repndlated by every loyal man. What
was 1t we had been fighting tor! What
had we giined if these terms were allow.
ell Andrew johnson issue an order
requiring that these terms Of surrender
should be set aside. Why? Because il
restored these Rebels to those rights
which lead to part in the Government
Of the United States and thus rendered
nugatory'thc war in which we have been
engaged, Mark this, because we want
10 see If after all the present policy of
the Philadelphia Convention is to be
carried out, we have not enacted the
same terms of surrender. The Govern
ment Or the United States had the right
to name the terms upon which the South
should be readmitled to the Union, and
they would have been Instantly and
eagerly subscribed to had they been
ever so hard and severe. President
johnson takes power for which there
Is no warrant in the Constitution, that
no State should come back until it pass
ed the Constitutional Amendment abol,
ishing Slavery, and until it agreed to
annul and make VOID It's ordinances OF
Secession. Ii those States, as is now
claimed, ,and all their rights in the Union,
that is to say, if South Crolina had the
same right as Massachusetts, and if in
exhibition that of right--if Massachusetts
men and South Carolina men were bound
to march arm in arm for an exhibition
anywhere--why did the President un-
dsrtake to put a condition upon the
Southern States of Georgia, Alabama,
and other Rebellious States
was saying that if at the moment that
President Johnson issued his order that
these States should not be allowed to
have any other than military govern
ment until they passed certain acts--one
OF which was to nulllfy the ordinances of
Secession, and another to adopt the
Constitu ional amendment abollsbinu
Slavery-if at that time it was competent
tor me to make that order, l should put
it that these States had been IN rebellion
--,heir rights had been captured, and it
wastor 'heUnite Estates to say upon what
terms they would take them back
Now here in the Constitntion-I can
safely challenge any constitutional lawyer
in the country to put his Hdger upon
passage anywhere which gives the Presi,
dent a right to say to State in the
Union, do this or do that, or don't do
this or do that, adopt this proposition Or
that proposition. President johnson
gave them orders as their chief executive
because he recognized that those States
that had rebelled had q different position