Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1866-10-04


language, and In nearly every speech, he as
sures his countrymen that be either is, or
ought to be, satisfied With this measure oi
success. But have not his own reflections,
or seme overland friend, suggested that he
has never been elected President Of the
United Statcs7 and that there yet remains
the attainment Of this one object Of ambi-
tion2
Inauguration day, 1865. will bo regarded
as one of the ss3dest days in American an
nails. We pass over its incidents; but it was
fraught with an evil suggestion to our enc
mics, and it must have been followed by q
firm conviction in the mind Of Mr.. johnson
that he could not thereafter enjoy the con.
fdeuce OF the mass Of the Republican party
of the country. He foressw that they would
abandon him, and he therefore made hot
haste to abandon them. And, indeed, il
must be confessed that there was scarcely
more inconsistencyin that course on his part,
than there would have been in continuing
his connection with the men who had elect
cd him. His nomination for the Vice Presi-
dency was an enthusiastic tribute to his
Union sentiments; beyond knowledge of
these, the Convention neither had nor de.
sired to have any information. Mr. John
son was end is Union man; but he was not
an anti-slavery man upon principle. lie
was Southern State. Rights man. He look
ed upon the national government as a neces-
sity, and the exercise of any powers on its
part as a danger. His political training was
peculiar He had carried on long war with
Shareholders, but he had never made war
upon slavery. He belonged to the poor
white class. In his own language he was a
pebeian. The shareholders were the pa
tricisns He desired that all the white men
of Tennessee, especially, and OF the whole
South, should be Of one class,-all slave
holders all patricians, if that were posi-
ble and he himself, fer a time become one
Failing in this, be was satisfied when all be-
came on-slaveholders, and the patrician
class ceased to exist. Hence, as far as Mr..
Jobnson's opinions and purposes are con-
cerned, the war has accomplished everything
for which it was undertaken. The Union
has been preserved, and the patrician class
has been broken down.
Naturally, Mr.. johnson is satisfied. On
the one hand he has no sympathy with
the opinion that the negro is man and
ought to be citizen, and that he should
be endowed with the rights of man and a
citizen and, on the other hand, he shares
not in the desire of the North to limit the
representation of the South so that there
shall be equality among the white men OF
the country. He is anxious rather to in
crease the political strength of the South
Hc fears the growing power of the North.
The same apprehension which drove Gal
houn into nullifcation, and Davis, Stephens,
aud others into rebellion and civil war, now
i'm pes Mr.. Jehuson to urge the country to
adopt his policy which secures to the old
slsveholding States an eighth OF the politi,
ca power Of the nation, to which they have
ne just title whatever. To the North this
is o more fragrant political injustice than
was even the institution OF slavery. lie
once expressed equal hostility towards Mas.
sachusetts and South Carolina, and desired
that they should be cut of from the main
land and lasbed together in the wide ocean.
The President appears to be reconciled to
South Carolins but if the hostility he once
entertained to the two States had heen laid
upon Massachusetts, alone, he ought to have
felt his vengeance satisfied when her repre-
sentatives entered the Philadelphia Con-
vention arm in arm with the representatives
of South Carolina. assuming only, what is
not true, that the sentiment of Massachu-
setts was represented in that Convention. =
As perfect illustration of the President
nolcy, two men from Massachusetts, should
have been assigned to each member from
South Carolina, as foreshowing the future
relative power of the white men Of the two
States in the government Of the country.-s
The States of the North and West will re-
ceive South Carolina and the other Rebe
States as equals in political power and rights
whenever those States are controlled by 10y
al mem but they are enemies to justice, to
equality, and to the peace of the country
who demand the recognition Of the Rebe
States upon the unequal. basis OF the exist
ing Constitution.
OF these enemies to justice, equality, and
the peace of the country, the President is
the leader and the chief and as such leader
and chief he is no longer entitled to support,
confidence, or even personal respect. lie
has seized upon all the immense patronage
of this government, and avowed his purpose
| to use it for the restoration of the Rebe
States to authority, regardless of the rights
of the people of the loyal States. He has
thus become the ally of the Rebels and the
open enemy Of the loyal white men of the
country. The President, and those associ
sted with him in this unholy project, cannot
but know that the recognition Of the ter
disloyal States renders futile every attemp
to eaualxe representation in Congress. The
assent Of three. fourths of the States is nsces
sary to the ratification Of an amendmsnt t,
the Constitution. TheA fifteen old Slave
States are largely interested in the presen
system, and they will not consent voluntarily
to change The question between th'
President asd Congress is then this: Shal
the ten States he at ence recognized, ,-thu
securing to the old Slave States thirty Rep
resentstives and thirty electoral vetes 4
which they have no title, or shall they b'
required to accept, as condition precedent
an amendment to the Constitution which
rrovides an equal system Of representation
for the whole country? IL is not enough
in the estimatiou of the President, that thu
loyal people shsula rec.ivc th.-e enemies o
the Union and murderer. Of their sons ane
brothers as equals, but he demands recog
milton of their superiority and permsnen
rule iu the government by a voluntary ten
der Of an eighth Of the entire representa-
tive fsrce of the republic. When befor'
were such terms ever exacted OF the con
oueror in behalf of the conquered III th
victorious North had demanded of the van
ouised South surrender OF q part OF 1t
representative power in the government, q
a penalty for its treason. that demand woui'
have been sustained upon the principles o
Justice, although the proceeding would hav
been uuwise a. q measure Of public policy
As it is, tho victorious North only demand
| H q -l.ls IL nAAEa alIfv q