The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-03-29
From Harper's Monthly Magazine. J
Reconstruction of the States.

pence of opinions as to the measures 70
be adopted il regard to the States lately
in insurrection. The general views oi
one branch of the party, of which Mr.
Sumner in the Senate and Mr.. Stevens
in the House may be set down as expo
nents, are fairly embodied in the follow
ing resolution offered in the Senate by
Mr. Howe, of Wisconsin
where's, The people of Virginia, OF
North Carolina. of South Carolina, OF
Georgia, OF Florida, of Alabama, of Mis-
sissippi, of Louisiana, of Texas, of Ar
kansas, and Tennessee, have heretofore
declared their independence of the Gov
ernment of the Unired States, have usurp-
ed authority denied TO every State by
the supreme law of the land, have alb
iured duties imposed upon every State
by the same law. and have waged war
against the United States, whereby the
political functions formerly granted to
/ those people have been suspended; and
whereas such functions can not yet be
restored to those people with safety to
themselves or to the nation, and whereas
military tribunals are not suited to the
exercise of civil authority; therefore,
BE it resolved by the Senate and
House of Representatives in Congress
assembled, That local Governments
ought to be Professionally organized
forthwith for the people in each of the
districts named in the preamble hereto. :"
The general views of the other branch
of the party are embodied in an elabor-
ate speech by Senator Doolittle, also of
Wisconsin. The prominent points are
these: The question is. how many
States now constitute the Union The
President and those who agree with him
say SO; others say 25, excluding |
States, with a population Of 10000. 900,
and 3 territory greater than that of Eng
land, France, Spain, Portugal and Ger
many together. The general scope of
the argument was that all these States
were, and always had been, legally in
the Union, and could by no act either of
their own or of others, except that of
revolution successfully accomplished by
force, be removed from the Union
Two ideas, both radically false,
brought on the civil war First. that
the State had right to secede; second,
that slavery was a blessing. The sur
render of these ideas by the South is
now the basis Of permanent peace.
The policy of the Government, Mr..
DoOlittle said, was clearly announced in
President Lincoln,s proclamation Of De
cember 8, 1868, in which il was announc-
ed that whenever tLa people OF any of
the insurrectionarv States should re
establish a State Government which shall
be republican, that Government .shall
be recognized as the true Government
of the State, and the States shall receive
thereunder the benefits Of the Constitu-
tional provision which declares that
the United States shall guarantee to
every State in this Union republican
form of government, and protect each
of them against invasion" This policy
was approved by every member of the
Cabinet; was sustained by the people at
the next Presidential election was re-
affirmed by Mr.. Lincoln in his last pub
lie speech, on the llth of April. 1868;
and has been adopted and acted upon hv
Mr. Johnson in the measures which he
had taken
All admitted, argued Mr. Doolittle,
that the insurrectionary States were
once in the Union. They could be got
out of it only in one of the three ways:
~ BY peaceahle secession , J By
successful revolution g BY being put
out by act of Congress. All admitted
that they had not gone out by either of
the first two modes and Mr.. Doolittle
proceeded to argue at length that they
had not gone. and could not go. out by
the third which he designated ''the
Sumner way for States to go out of the
Union" After denying that Congress
had the right to put any State out of the
Union, or to open the way for it to 60
out, Mr. Doolittle proceeded TO argue
that it had never attempted to do this.
He referred to the prominent war meas
ure adopted, commencing with the Act
of July l3, 1861, which placed the whole
military power of the nation in the hands
of the President, and authorized him to
prohibit commercial intercourse with the
lnsurrectlonary States so long, and no
longer; las the condition of hostility
shall continue; to the declaration of
Congress, just after the battle OF Bull
Run, that the war was not prosecuted
for the purpoes OF conquest or sublug7-
ton, or to overthrow or interfere with
the institutions of the States, but to
preserve the Union with all the dignity
equality. and rights of the several States
unimpaired :" and to the act OF March D.
1862, which was not to take affect until
u year ait6f, IN WHICH tne Fdsto VI iepi {.
sentation in Congress of the several
States was established. and in which all
the insurrectionary States were includ-
ed. The struggle during tie war. he
said, was not for the destruction OF any
State. but to decide whether certian
States should bear allegiance TO the
Union or the Confederacy: and when the
latter went down these States became in
fact, as we'll as in law, members of the
Union. This branch Of the arguement
was elaborated st great length
The insurrectionary States Mr. Doc
little said, were found by onr armies un
der martial law of the Confederate mill
tary forces: when these were overthrown
martial law of the Union forces took its
place but this change did not destroy
State (say Georgia when it was overrun
by Sherman but changed the existing
ruling power from the commander of the
Confederate army TO the commander of
the Union army. But martial law be-
=, T. kx-