Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1867-07-31
A Manly and Logica! P7o.est against
lhs Military Acts.

7
she Military Acts.
In the Atlanta Intclligencer has been pub
lishcd a manly, forcible, and eloquent letter
from the Hon. Herschel Y. Johnson, who had
been requested by a number Of influential
citizens to make known his "views on the
duties of the hour"
Mr.. johnson sonmences by referring to the
numerical superiority Of the whites in Geor-
ga, which gives them the power, if united,
to defeat the scheme intended for their ruin,
and then aludea to the dread that evea harsh
CT measures are about to be imposed.
Congress will adop. a more grinding meas
ure! What mere can that usurping conciave
do? Has it noe already broken down oil the
constitutional sa:egaarda, ior the protection
Of property, life and liberty Have they not
DESTROYED the iederative feature Of our gov
s;pmelt 1-its character OF compact between
coetnal States, and converted it into an un-
limited and responsible despotism9
He then analyses the provisions of the
Sherman programme of reconstruction, and
says:
If Congrts, lad taxed its ingenuity to see
how many and what grievous iniraciions oil
the constitution it could compress in the few
est words, they could have originated nothing
more successful ur nefarous than the proposed
scheme of reconstruction. They have out
ragged every principle Of aagnc Charta'
Like Aaron's rod, they have swallowed the
Executive and Judiciary Departments, aud
erected the most udious form OF despotlsIll
upon the ruins of wise, bcnehcent and
nicely balanced representative republic. Now,
suppose we do not accept the Sherman ei'l,
as we are swe9t!y advised to do, lest Con
gress should adopt more rigorous .neasure,
what more rigorous can human wIckedness
devise 1t is threatened that they will add
couGscation. That will be utterly impossible,
if tuey attempt it under the forms Of law.
They may plumber; they may rob; they
may spoliate by military power; but every
man of common sense knows, and Judge
Chase has so decided, that property cannot
be legally con6scated until after trial and
conviction. ana he will be compelled to de-
eide, whenever the question shall be made,
tha. any act Of Congress, for that purpose,
will b. unconstitutional, because seq pest
facto." But suppose the worst-that Con-
yress sha!l attempt to coniiscate, whom will
e hurt? 1t will hurt only those who have
property, and who are not willing to hold on
10 their perishing treasure, at the price OF
honor and freedom. To such, property is dust,
when weighed in the balance with eons'itu'
tional liberty Little property is left to the
true men Of the South. AS general re-
mark. such men have emerged from the war
with nothing left put poverty and patriotism.
There are those who were blatant for seccs-
sion in the beginning, who denounced specu-
ation and spectators, whilst they enriched
Themselves by speculation, and who are now
willing ito bend the supple hinges of the
knee thar thrift may follow fawning." They
NAV have something to lose by contiscation
and if ihey can save it, by recreancy to their
homes and hearth stones, by abandoning those
whom they lej into secession, by becoming
false to tteir race, and by playing the part OF
nall bearers at the funeral Of the constitution,
be il so. Verify, they will reap their retribu
t;on in the ,xecratiops of mankind. But
generally the true men of the South have lit
tle o con6scate. and that little they are will
ling to surrender, if need be, as holocaust
upon the smoking altar of their country.
To the suggestion that if we do not accept
the proposed scheme of reconstruction we
shall not be allowed representation in Con-
eress. I am, if possible, more Indifferent.
Who cares for such representation as will be
ioisted upon the people under its operatiQn2
Thew viii be representatives in name, but
misrepresentatives in fact. Mnch as de.
precase military government it is far prefera-
ble to such government as will probably be
inaugurated Under the Sherman programme.
Entertaining these views, I never will ap-
prove. consent to, or accept the poisoned
ebalce offered to our lips, nor will l advise
INV fellow.citizens to do SO. If permitted to
vote, in view Of the turn of events, | should
register, and | hope every man in Georgia