The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-07-10

4
son. II was so understood in Congress,
and supposed il was so understood by
President Lincoln and his Cabinet.
After the adjournment of the first ses-
sion of Congress during Mr.. Lincoln's
term, shortly after my return to my
home, saw, to my surprise, proclR-
nation declHTiDg blockade of all the
rebel ports. This was great blunder
and absurdity. If the rebel States were
still in the Union, and only in treason
able revolt against the Government, we
were blockading ourselves-blockad-
ing the ports OF the United States.
attributed thlsat once to the ineomPre-
hensible statesmauship Of Mr.. Seward,
and went to Washington to see and talk
with President Lincoln on the subject.
laid my views before him, and told
him that the blockade was q stultiticH-
tion of the former position of the Gov
ernment in relation to the rebel States;
that the ports, instead of being block.
AIDED, should have been closed, and
sufficient number OF armed revenue
vessels sent out on the seas to prevent
smuggling. Ipointed out to him the
fact that by the act of blockade we re-
coguized the rebel States as an indepen-
dent belligerent, and should thence
forth be compelled to conduct the war,
not as If we were suppressing revolt
in our own States, but in accordance
with the law of nations.
"'well," ;" said MIR. Lincoln when he had
heard my remarks, "that's fact. see
the point now. but 1 don't know any
thing about the law of nations, and
thought 1t was all right
GAS a lawyer, Mr.. Lincoln re-
marked, Il should have supposed you
would have seen the difficulty at once
"'Oh, well,f replied Mr.. Lincoln,
-'Pm a good enough lawyer for West
ern law court, suppose, but we don't
practise the law OF nations up there,
and supposed Seward knew all about
it, and / left it TO him. But it's done
now, and can't be helped, SO we must
go along as well as we cam
"In this Mr.. Lincoln was right. The
blunder had been committed and the
rebel States were thenceforth an indie
pendent belligerent. Not an independ-
1 ent nation, oIcourse, but an independ-
ent belligerent, to be dealt with in ac-
cordance with the law of nations.
THE STATUS OF THE EN.REBEL STATES.
"This being the case" continued Mr..
| Stevens, in substance, "as soon as the
war was closed by the triumph of the
| Union arms, the rebel States became
nothing more nor less than the con-
quered territory of the United States.
/ In every respect they were just as much
subject to their conquerors as though
they had been previously foreign
country. The constitution, which is the
y
nothing to do with them. We had the
! power-I mean Congress had the pow
\ er-to make such laws as might seem
| proper for their temporary gov
eminent. and such laws were
not to be measured by the test OF
the constitution. In like manner, there
| being no longer any States in existence
| in the conquered territory, Congress
alone had the power to reconstruct it
into States for admission to the Union,
and for that purpose could cut 1t up in
| any manner thai might appear desiTa-
| BILE without regard to former divisions.
| No other power than Congress had au-
ihority 10 reconstruct this conquered
! territory or to make laws for its gov
ernment; and any exercise of such au-
thority by any other branch of the gov
ernment was a usurpation of the tunc-
tioDs and powers OF Congress. View
| ed by this light the whole work OF re-
| construction was simple enough, and
if the majority in Congress had honest
| ly and firmly carried out this principle
in all their legislation, there would
lave been no complication or difficulty
about it."
| WHAT THE MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION
BILL WAS DESIGNED TO ACCOMPLISH.
Your correspondent having expressed
desire 10 learn the opinion of Old
| Thad. upon the Military Reconstruc-
| ton bill. received the following reply
The Reconstruction bill now in op-
GRAFTON was first brought in after sew
er.0l other propositions had failed
through the backslidiugs OF some oil
our weak-kneed friends, as military
police bill alone, in order that a United
States I'orce might be sent into the ter
ritory wa had won from an indepen-
dent bellieerent, TO preserve order, car
ry out the Instructions OF Congress and
protect the loyal people and citizens OF
the United StateS who might be found
there But some of our friends were so
Impatient TO get the Southern rebels
back to their embrace, in the forlorn
hope OF making political capital out OF
them when they returned into Inc
Union, that they lost sight OF the great
underlying substance OF the Dill while
searching about after the shadow OF 'ex-
pediency.'
HOW THE BILL WAS BoTCHED.
"Every now and then one or another
of these demorlaiZed republicans would
tack on some amendment conceived by
diluted philanthropy, and calculated
to botch the bill and destroy its real Ell
fcieucy. Senator Sherman, with his
usual meddlesOme folly, put In a sort
OF enabling act, which would have left
the loyalists entirely at the mercy OF
the rebels, If it had been suffered to re-
nain undisturbed. But when the de.
bAuched bill came back to the House.
Shellabarger and myself took counsel
together and got up several PROPOSE
tions ofamendment calculated TO reme-
dy the mischief that had been done.
Two of these propositions, which were
adopted, etfectuaIly headed oh the real
evil OF Sherman's latitudinarian
amendment; and having accomplished
this, we were glad to pass the bill in the
shape It then was, for we saw that We
had 10 take that or nothing.
WIVES AND WOMEN.
1.-THE fact is, Congress had, as usual,
become thoroughly demoralized- Some
members had their wives at Washing
ton and their women at home, and 9TH
ers had their women at Washington
and their wives at home, and il was i'm
possible TO keep them together. The
bill was not all that we wanted, but 1t
was the best we oonld get, and SO we
( passed it. AT first it was proposed that
Congress should itself name the Gen
erals who were TO command in the dit-
Y ferent military districts into which the
conquered territory was dividedi but
I the objection was made that 1t looked
like az interference with the discipline
of the army. Then the commanding
General was to make the selections;
but some of our friends said, 'Oh, let the
President do IL, it can do no harm;
and so we let it go at that
CONGRESS THE SOLE INTERPRETER OF
THE MILITARY BILL.
Wwe had the less objection to this,
inasmuch as it was distinctly under
stood that the generals in command in
the military districts had simply to do
the work ordered by Congress, and
that Congress alone, and no other pow