The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1866-09-20
The Necessity of the Conditional Amend.
ment.

The Necessity of tho eConstItIonal Amend.
ment.
s When the Atlantic Cable brought
the response from london that sad
vices received here OF the action of the
Philadelphia Convention have had tho
effect slightly to advance the price Of
rebel bonds, there was general smile
OF incredulity. The admirers of the
Presidents policy, and indorscrs of the
action of the Convention, wero angry,
and in collusion with the Radicals, and
the medium of circulating report pre-
judicial to them. The mail, however,
confirms the telcgraphic account. The
rebel bonds, which had disappeared
from the market as worthless, were
again quoted at higher rates than those
at which they stood in the London
market at the date of LEES surrender.
Tho holders of tho bonds have their
reasons. So long as there is no clause
in the Constitution of the United
States rcpudiating and torbidding the
payment of the rebel war debt-a
clause not to be overturned by the ac-
ton of future Congresses, or subject to
the fluctuations of party, pohtics--the
holders of rebel securities will not be
without heart and hope that the bonds
will be ultimately redeemed by the
Government Of the United Statos. 1t is
known that quite respectable num-
ber of inf uential Southern jurists,
among them the Chief Justice Of North
Carolina, hold that the Constitutions
of their States conformed by conven-
tion to the demands of the President,
never having been submitted to a vote
of the people, are not binding upon
them, and do not supercede the Con-
sttutons OF the States as they existed
before the war. There is stilla larger
party which, turning the Presidents
logic against him, hold that the mo-
ment the rebellion was overpowered
and armed resistance to the Govern
ment was put down, the States at once
resumed their relations to the Union,
and that, therefore, the Executive, no
more than the Legislative branch of the
Government, had any right to insist
upon conditions which could not be ex-
acted ofany one of the adhering States.
The fact that the Philadelphia Con.
vcntion, in substance, indorsed this
doctrine, though qualifying it by res
olution declaring slavery and the rebel
dobt extinct, was no sooner known to
the holders Of the rebel bonds abroad
than they felt encouraged, and ex-
pressed their confidence in the ulti-
mate valuo Of their securities by put.
ting them upon the market.
We sometimes think that the fierce
opposition to the ratification of the
Constitutional amendment at the South
is not due so much to the nature of its
provisions as to the fact that, once
made q part OF the Constitution by the
people themselves, it becomes the su.
premc law of the land, and all parties
will hereafter have to be governed by
it. The hope of shouldering the debt
on the Government, should future
changes in politics and parties favor,
would be gone. The amendment fixes
and determines the conditions ofa per.
manent Union of tho States, which is
precisely what neither the holders OF
rebel bonds at home nor abr oad desire
They do not so declare now, for that
would be impolitic, and subject the
Conservative Democratic Johnson par
Ily to overwhelming defeat. The alb
solute essential now is position and
power in the Union that secured
without conditions indisputable and ir
reversible in their nature, the other
things will como in good time.
If tho people of this county wan
peace and u cessation from wranglina
political strife, they must put into the
bond of tho Union, its Constitution
such conditions as they believe to bC
the legitimate fruit of their victory over
the rebellion and these conditions arc
covered by tho amendment now sub
mitted to the States for ratification.
any admonition were needed to awaken
tho people to the Importance of clinch
ing with u constitutional nail the re
suits of the war, it is supplied by the
reappearanco or tho Stock Boards o.
England of the rebel bonds-an Incl
dent, by itself, unimportant, but omin
GUS in its relevancy to tho future
Gin, Com.