The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1867-02-05

place of the slave power" with larger in
vestment to back il, and less repusiv,
face to defend
What shall be done with this new ele
ment of disintegration and strife? The Re
publicans propose to dispose of it as the,
did slavery-bury it by another amend
ment of the constitution. And why shai
not this be done and the Union thus puri
fed and harmonized, restored at once
/ Does Congress stand in the wayY No, sil
for eight months the two policies-Repub,
lcan surgery and Democratic opiates-
were discussed and contrasted in these Halls
and almost everybody here came to the
conclusion that it was better to cure than
palliate the disorder. The amendment was
agreed to four to one. Do the people neg
lect their duty? No, sir: the amendment
was sent out to them and for three or four
months rediscussed. They approved it, and
IN twenty-three Of the twenty-six States
elected Legislatures instructed TO adopt it.
Do these Legislative servants disobey instruc
tlOns! No, sir; they are now assembling
and State after Stale Is recording its yer
dict Very soon these twenty-three States,
having population in 1880 of twentv-one
million five hundred thousand, and not less
than twenty-seven millions now, will send
to pertidiaus Secretary the official eyi
dence of the peoples will Delaware, three
counties large, Maryland, betrayed to the
Icontederates by a servant less treacherous
than weak, and Kentucky, whose patriotism
III the great struggle hardly rose above a
dissembling neutrality, alone a negative an
swer.
By the census Of 1860 the entire popu-
Iation Of these three s ates, white and black,
was only 1855 600, and cannot much ex-
ceed those figures now. Who then stands
in the way? Not the Democratic party ::
the amendment was beyond their reach
when it passed Congress and was indorsed
by the people: not the President; the con
stItutlon withholds from him any authority
over the question of amendment. Who,
then, staads in, the way? One old man
who is charged by law with the duty of
proclaiming the adoption of the amend
ment, bu who (the Chicago defeat being
still unavenged) has determined to incor-
porate into the Union the Debris of the
late contederacy; to be in place of the ir
repre- sible conflict the breeder of present
brois and future rebelIions-he stands in
the way. He has contrived a theory of
estoppel. The amendment, he tells us. is
void without confederate sanction. The
VIII OF the people Of twenty-three States,
nay, the whole twenty-six if they had been
unanimous, must 90 for nothing unless ap-
proved by a few million rebels scattered
through the confederate States. Having
set up his theory, he undertakes to procure
from these misguided people"-never more
misguided than when led by him-an ex-
preston Of dissent, His Vaccinations are
likely to be successful.
In 1860 the southern heart was fired bv
the taunts and promises of northern Demo
Gratis. "The election of Lincoln" they
would SAT, "is an assault upon your insti-
tuticns and an insult to the South" Tbev
promised in case of trouble to take care of
the aboIitionists. There should be no CO.
ercioni but when the trouble came they
shrunk away from the people they had
thus prompted, perhaps uuintentionalIy,
to resist. a good deal of half-treasonable
criticism on the action of the Government
when deeply embarrassed and struggling
for life, little secret encouragement and
silent sympathy for the foe were the only
noticeable departures from a strict neutral
lty. Their promise was broken. Let me
warn these confederates who have aban-
donei their scheme Of separation in good
faith to beware Of their old advisers and
their new header.
Here then, arises an intermediate dues |
ton. It Is not whether confederate assets
shall Ge buried in the same grave with
slavery as the Republicans propose, nor
whether they shall be tenderiy taken up
and warmed into yenom0us life in the
bosom Of the Union as the Democrats pro
pose; but whether this question shall be de- (
termined by the STAGES in the Union or bv !
the confederate States.
What then Is the status Of the ten con
federate States! Are they States or Terri
tories in the Union! If States, they can
control the other twenty-six on a question
Of amendment; if not, not. They must be
one or the other. Some suppose they strike
ground by calling them over
-hown, disorganizei, OF suspended States.
But certainly State overthrow or suspen
led IS not at present an existing State, nor
S disorganized an organized State. If.
hey have no present existence as States
hey are only at the most theoretic States
which are no Ststes; or prospective States,
which are Territories. They have certain
Y not been acting as States during the
asst SIX years, and they are cnFy chained to I
oe Sc because no way for the severance Of t
State from the Union is provided IN the 5
Constitution. Once a State therefore al =