The Portland daily press., 1867-03-18
DAILY PRESS.
Monday Morning, March Is, 1867

PORTLAND.

AnoiLiuSt mdlou III Aoo'
Startling Discovery.
Inc democratic organ in this city has made
the startling discovery that our "Gocernment
has been reootutionized," and that "the fact,
is confessed by high Republican authority.
10 prove the correctness of this wonderful
revelation it quotes two New York papers
which it says "are two as able papers as there
are in the Republican party"
These two papers, so liable" and so orthodox
in their republican doctrines, are the CONNER
cial 1doertiser, which swung clear around
the circle with Andrew johnson, and has
been one of his most obsequious supporters,
ready to engage in any amount of executive
dirt-eating, and to hiss whenever "A. j." was
spit upon, no matter by whom, on what occa-
sion or at what distance removed from the
eXpectorant act. The other sable" Republican
paper is the Times, owned and edited by Mr..
Raynond-really an able paper, but one whose
soundness Republicans are hardly willing to
admit, since its editor and controlling spirit
did almost everything required by the circle
swinging process, even to being chief spirit
in Mr. Johnson's Philadelphia convention
where he became the conlerre of Wood, Pen
dleton and Vallandigham; participated in the
New York Democratic State Convention. and
hesitated in his downward movement only
when required to swallow the pill-copper
pure and simple-prepared by the political
doctors who made up and controlled the lat
ter body. No matter, however, for all this
We suppose the Argus feels as Thurlow Weed
did in anti-masoDic times, when it was for his
interest to continue the impression that Morgan
had been murdered by the masons, and to
this end he pulled off the bushy whiskers from
the face OF a decomposing body found in the
water, saying, "he will make good enough
Morgan till after election" The Times and Al-
uertiser are able enough Republican papers
with t,for hepurpose Of giving force to its owu
article, but we doubt if intelligent readers will
be any more cheated by such deception, thar
the intelligent people ofNew York were, by
Weeds artfill dodge, into the belief that the
swollen, mutilateG mass of corruption taken
from the lake was the veritable whiskeress
Morgan. atr .-. a7-.f Is D
Because the Commercial Adeertiser quotes
approvingly the Times, to the effect that the
Reconstruction act is s.at war with the Con-
stitutin and hostile to the dictates of a wise
and considerate craftsmanship that "wher-
ever the right may be, the power of this gov
ernment rests with Congress-" that "that
body overrules alike the vetoes of the Presi-
dent and the decisions of the Supreme
Court" that 'all the limitations to the exer-
else OF power contained in the Constitution,
the opposition of the President and the de-
cisions of the Supreme Court of the United
States, have been overridden and set aside by
Congress-" and that "thus has our yaunted
form OF government been revo1gtonized
by war; 1t no more follows that Congress
has done wrong or exceeded by one hair
breadth its rightful and constitutional pre-
negatives, than it follows the Times and
Adcertiser are cable Republican papers," or
that the Democracy of to-day is even distant
ly related to the Democracy of Jefferson and
Jackson. The former of these eminent men
regarded the Supreme Court, with its lite.
tenures and responsibility to the sovereign
power OF the nation, as the most mdemo-
cratic and monarchical element in our super
structure Of government. and the latter in
sisted that neither the Supreme Court nor
any other tribunal was authorized to pre-
scribe Constitutional limitations for the action
of either Congress or the Executive, but that
each branch of the government had the right
to read the Constitution and interpret its du-
ties and prero9at ives for itself.
1t is very queer to hear professed Demo-
Gratis calling in question the rights and powers
OF the people-tbe people being alone SOW
ereign in this country; and their power Is
called in question in questioning the acts of
Congress fresh from their hands, especially
when its acts are so plainly the echo of the
popular will. Conservative, save-lovins TO-
gies may croak and howl, but the people are
omnipotent and their will must be the law.
The time has gone by, thank Heaven, when
the people are to be frightened from doing
acts of justice and right,-when they are to
be held back through fear that acting in har-
mony with their best instincts will upset the
fabric OF government The same sovereign
people who rose in their might to put down |,
gigantic rebellion waged against the nations
liberty and life, viii see to it that the lite and
liberty saved by them shall be preserved, and
no power under Heaven will change their
fixed and determined purpose in this regard
To this end they have a right to insist, and
they will insist, that dangerous rebels shall be
disarmed and that loyal men shall be armed
not Of weapons of war in the former case nor
with such weapons in the latter; but the
weapon to be taken from the rebel and Sc
cured to, the loyal man, irrespective of class,
race, caste or color, is the only legitimate wea
pom with which to decide all peaceful battles
the treeman's cote.
The loyal men of this nation-the men
who remained loyal when treason lifted its
bloody hand to grapple the throat of liberty
and constitutional law--have decreed, and
they have rightfuly decreed, that the men
who slew our sons and brothers, who were
responsible for the horrors of Andersonville
and Salisbury, and whose rebellion imposed
burden of thousands of millions upon the
nation, opened million of new made graves,
and filed the land with sorrow and lamenta-
ton, shall never be permitted to accomplish
with the ballot what they failed to do with
the bullet; that their "lost cause" shall never
be regained so long as the sun shines.
How far Criticism may 20.
In this world, and especially in this teeming
age of it, when there is so much to criticise