The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-02-17

49, hSA"A0 0PPS~A W PA0SO Az AOAAoAOOt AV
nounces the publicity which has characterized
its proceedings, but invites the sympathies o
all expatriated Irishmen with the struggle fo
independence. But it is evident from the en-
thusiasm and excitement created by the new
of yesterday that this curious pronunciamentt
will not dampen the ardor of the rank and fill
Of the Fenians here. On the contrary, there
appears to be a general disposition to contrib
ute material aid to the "men in the gap" and
that as speedily as possible. All speculation
as to the result Of the Irish outbreak, however
can be only vague and Improbable.
The Great Qnestion-Congress Coming to q
Settlement.
The proceedings of the Senate of the last
two days on the bill for the re-establishment
temporarily of martial law in the unrecon-
structed Southern States reveal in q strong
light the prevailing spirit and purposes of
Congress. This bill will be sent to the Presi-
dent so as to give him his constitutional ten
Ooyo AOA At0 CVuoAuC10AOn WAbulu tuc AuVcEval
to the 4th Of March. Otherwise, with the ex-
piration of this Congress on that day, the bill
might be killed by what Is known as . pocket
veto. General Jackson killed one or two Inn
portant bills in his day by this process. But
if the Presidents ten days come inside Of this
Congress then. BY retaining the bill In his
pocket, it win become law the same ~ if he
had signed it.
This is the test which will settle the question
Of impeachment, and this is evidently the
special object Of the bill. By signing 1t or by
permitting 1t by default to 60 into Law in
his pocket the impeachment movement will
probably be dropped; but veto will surely
be followed by decisive measures looking to
his removal from, Office. In short, the alterns-
tive thus presented him is the absolute repudia-
ton Of his Southern policy and Southern State
governments and an unconditional surrender
to Congress on the one hand, or impeachment
and removal on the other As we earnestly
advised him, when the significant results Of the
elections Of last autumn were first laid before
him, TO fall in with the pending constitutional
amendment, and,to bring his, Southern Gov
errors and Legislatures at once to its ratiHca-
ton, as an ultimatum embracing the easiest
terms they would. ever obtain--as we urged
him then to accept the amendment in behalf Of
the South to avoid; something worse, so now
we would urge him to fall in with Congress to
avoid falling QUITO his place.
When great revolutionary movement, snip
ported by an all-powerful majority Of the
people, gets fairly under Roadway it is the
height of madness to resist il or to stand In Its
path. Tho best that we can do il to open
way for the food in some channel Of safety.
In 1860 Abraham Lincoln, as candidate for
the Presidency, stood upon the platform Of
the exclusion of African slavery from
the Territories. "Only this and nothing
more" Had the South, then accepted
the Douglas platform Of leaving this question
Of slavery to be settled by the Territories,
"squatter sovereignty" as in Kansas, 'the pc
culiar institution" might have remained intact
to this day. But in Kansas, the South had had
enough Of "squatter sovereignty" and the
Southern slaveholding oligarchy would have
nothing less than their constitutional rights''
to take their niggers into the Territories. They
were also upheld in this by powerful Northern
faction at the Charleston Convention, including
President Buchanan, poor Pierce and General
Ben Butler. The democratic party was broken
up on this issue, Lincoln was thus elected, and
the South, under its ultra pro-slavery leaders
plunged headlong into open rebellion.
Deaf thnv, thx. scbt % c.,
were so deeply implanted in the North that for
whole year or more Of the war, while fighting
armies Of white rebels, many Of our officers
delivered back TO. them their runaway black
slaves. In 1862, after revoking the proclama.
tons Of General Fremont in Missouri and Gen
eral Hnnter in South Carolina declaring certain
slaves free, and in first approaching himself the
idea Of an emancipation proclamation, Mr.
Lincoln regarded II as "the Pope's bull agains,
the comet" 30 firmly was slavery thought ia
be intrenched on the constitution. The eman.
cipaion proclamation and Its practical work
ings In the fortunes Of the war in 1868 broke
the spell. Slavery went down, and with, II in
| 1865, went down the rebellion. But still the
inferior civil and political status OF the blacks
established by slavery remained so deeply
rooted in the North that even in the constitu
tional amendment Of 1866 the abolition party
| in Congress could venture no further in behal
Of suffrage to the Southern blacks than th,
limitation Of representation in Congress to the
limits Of suffrage as such State for itself nigh
think proper.
Where are we nows Where Is Mr.. Johnsonl
veto Of the Civil Rights bill, granting the same
civil rights to blacks as 10 whites What ha
become Of this late imposing barrier Of preju
dice against negro suffrages What has silence,
the democratic shibboleth Of last summer tina