The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-12-04
The 1IessnUe.

President JoHNsoN'S Message TO the
Fortieth Congress is one of the ablest
of his State papers. In its remarkable
adaptation to the popular manner of
thought it excels any of his previous
official dscumeats. Some of his other
productions, perhaps. are more solid in
their matter and more original in their
logic. 1t is questionable, however,
whether they were more powerful in
their general effect than will be the
Message of yesterday. As whole, its
reasoning is clear, its illustrations apt,
and its conclusions just. If there is
any part which lacks lucidness or
force, the excellence of the remainder
will atone for the deficiency.
Were we to allude to particular merits
in their order, we would say that the
reference to the Estate Of the Union"
cannot be surpassed. The brief state
ment Of facts from which it is conclud-
ed that there is no such Union as our
Fathers understood the term" is IRE.
sistible. The vital relation between
the Union aud the Constitution, each
depending upon the other, is presented
with no great clearness.
"The process of restoration" is admit
rable as well for its simple
ity as for the justice and COM
mon sense which it embodies. Apply
the Constitution and the laws to all
parts of the country alike. The reasons
that compelled their suspension exist
no longer. Let their authority be re-
stored. If the nation is ever to be
again united and free, it must be under
the operation of that same Constitu-
ton. Why defer the day of such glo-
rious contamination
OF the argument upon the status of
the lately rebellious States as members
of the Union, it may be said that it is
not entirely new. 1t may also be said
that such an argument cannot grow
old. While there remains any occasion
for its use, it will lose none of its fresh
ness or its force.
The universal supremacy of the Con-
stitution is plainly set forth. If it is
binding upon one section, it is binding
upon all. Congress must yield to it.
Lawmakers must not be law breakers,
and the law of rebellion must also be
the law of loyalty. The Congressional
pledge of July 1861 is admirably
introduced. The indirect allusion
to the public debt in this con-
nection, is no less forcible because it is
quietly made. If the national honor is
pledged i'll one case it is in the other,
and we are no less bound to respect the
resolution upon which our armies were
recruited than we are to respect the faith
upon which the Treasury was re-
plenished.
The reasons for the repeal of the Mill
tary Reconstruction Bills are the strong
est that can be alleged. Those Bills are
measures of usurpation they will de-
stroy the liberties of the people; they
are neither lawful nor just AS a mode of
punishment, and they are the first re-
suits ola "despotism that has no hating
place"
REGARDING nepro Illumination at the
South as the plain object of Radicalism,
the President discusses the propriety OF
investing the blacks with political
power, and their capacity for its exer-
else. There are many who claim that
opposition to negro suffrage is the re-
suit Of mere prejudice, surviving the
institution of slavery from which it
resulted. All such win find their
claim most thoroughly refuted in
Mr.. JoHNsoN's discussion of the
project to make voters and rulers of
the freedmen. His reasoning upon this
proposition aud his solid objections to
negro supremacy, show that the policy
of retaining this Government in the
hands of white men, rests upon much
more substantial grounds than a mere
senseless antipathy.
After taking las sensible view of the
pecuniary aspect of Radical reconstruc-