The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-03-25

ten States VIII De OF any avail with Con-
gress. This, then, Is tho test of what the
constitution Of State of this Union must
contain to make 1t republican. Measured
by such standard, how few Of the States
now composing the Union have republican
constitutions II, in the exercise Of the
constitutional guarantee that Congress
shall secure to every State a republican
form of government, Understanding for
blacks as we'll as whites is sine qua non,
the work Of reconstruction may as well
begin in Ohio as in Virginia, in Pennsylva-
MIA as in North Carolina.
When contemplate the millions of our
| fellow. citizens Of the South with no al
tentative left but to impose upon them
selves this fearful and untried experiment
of complete negro enfranchisemcnt and
white Acknowledgement, il may be almost
as complete, or submit indefinitely to the
rigor Of martial law, without single attri-
butte of freemen, deprived Of all the sacred
guarantees of our Federal Constitution,
and threatened with even worse wrongs, if
any worse are possible, it seems to their
condition is the most deplorable to which
any people can be reduced. 1t is true that
they have been engaged in rebellion, and
that their object being separation Of the
States and dissolution of the Union, there
was an obligation resting upon every loyal
citizen to treat them as enemies, and to
wage war against their cause.
Inhexibly opposed to any movement i'm
periling the integrity Of the Government,
did not hesitate to urge the adoption Of
all measures necessary for the suppression
of the instruction. After long and ter
rible struggle, the efforts of the Govern
ment were triumphantly successful, and
the people of the South, submitting to tho
stern arbitrament, yielded forever the
issues of the contest. Hostilities. terI.2i-
mated soon after it became my duty to &C.
sumo the responsibilities of the chief exc
cutive officer of the Republic, and at
once endeavored to repress and contr3l the
passions which our civil strife had engen-
dered, and no longer regarding these eIring
millions as enemies, again acknowledged
them as our friends and our countrymcn.
| The war had accomplished it's objects. The
nation was saved, and that seminal principle
| of mischief which from the birth of the Go
vernment had gradually but inevitably
| brought on the rebellion was totally eradi-
Gated. Then, it seemed to me, was the
suspicious time to commence the work of
reconciliation; then, when the people sought
once more our friendship and protection,
L considered it our duty generously
to meet them in the spirit of charity
and forgiveness, and to conquer them even
more eflectually by the magnanimity
of the nation than by the force Of its
arms. | yet believe that if the policy Of
reconciliation then inaugurated, and which
contemplated an early restoration CT these
people to all their political rights, had re-
ccived the support of Congress, every one
of these ten States, and all their people,
would at this moment be fast anchored in
the Union, and the great work which gave
the war all its sanction, and made it Just and
holy, would have been accomplished.
Then over all the vast and fruitful re-
gions of the South peace and its blessings
would have prevailed, while now millions
are deprived of rights guaranteed by the
Constitution to every citizen, and, after
nearly two years Of legislation, find them
selves placed under an absolute military
despotism. "A military repubic-a 60
vernment formed on mock elections and
supported only by the sword" was nearly
quarter of century since pronounced by
Daniel Webster, when speaking Of the
South American States, as ga movement
indeed, but retrograde and disastrous
movement from the regular and old-fa-
shioned monarchical systems" and he
added:
"If men would enjoy the blessings OF
republican government, they must govern
themselves by reason, by mutual counsel
and consultation, by a sense and feeling OF
general interest, and by the acquiescence
of the minority in the will Of the majority,
properly expressed; and, above all, the
military must be kept, according to the
language of our Bill of Rights, in strict SUI
bordination to the civil authority. Where
ever this lesson is not both learned and
practiced, there can be no political free
dom. Absurd, preposterous is it, a scof
and q satire on free forms of constitutional
liberty, for forms of government TO be pre-
scribed by military leaders, and the right
of suffrage to be exercised at the point Of
the sword"
/ confidently believe that time will
come when these States will again occupy
their true positions in the Union. The
barriers which now seem so obstinate must
yield to the force Of an enlightened and
just public opinion, and sooner or later un-
constitutional and oppressive legislation
will be effaced from our statute books.
When this shall have been consummated,
l pray God that the errors Of the past may
be forgotten, and that once more we shall
be happy, united, and prosperous people,
and that at last, after the bitter and event
full experience through which the nation
has passed, we shall all come to know that
our only safety is in the preservation Of
our Federal Constitution, and in according
to very American citizen and to every
State the rights which that Constitution
secures. ANDREW JOHNSON.
Washington, March %, 1867.