Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-03-01

fhereaffer the precelliIlq sections of this act
shah be imperative in 50 ID state. FroYlqed,
That no peEa9a excluded rom Ene privilege (
Of holding Office b. said proposed amend
meut TO the COusEi Tuition OF the I4lAtt7iA {
- - -s--t7s - esS--4e 4 FsrT,efff1IrfoT,
for any 81 said rebel statesi nor sheii any
such person vote for nleInoeE OF slaeh Ooh-
a1sr. 81 ArsBe ft further enacted. That un-
til the people Of the said rebel STATES aLaal1 Dy II
Con1,-sss cTf the United States, an civil gov
ernnneuts shat may exist therein shan 6e Il
rsssn.scts subject to the paramount authority /
1f the United States. at amy time to abolish,
modify, control snd peEsede the same. and /
in m elections to amy ONCE under such pro-
vIsfonaI governments sll1 persons shall be {
entitled to vote under the provisions Of the
be eligible to any Oflfgss under such proyls-
ional gOvernInents WHO woa1d b. dtsquali-
ded from holding Office under the prOFis-
ions Of the third article of safd COnstittu-
ttonal Amendment
The above measure orlgiBated in the
Military Government bill Of AGr. Ste
veus which passed the House on the
18th Of February By a vote Of 109 70
55. That bill vas designed to set
aside the bogus governments Of the
rebel Sta9es and TO secure the peace /
and good order Of fhfs South By mill
tary administeati5d Until a just and
safe plan of restoration weuld become
practicable. To this end it divided
the Southern States into Eve military
districts, the General of the army to
appoint an officer Of the regular army
Of not less rank than Brigadier Gener-
al to the command of each district,
such commander to have authority to
institute military courts and to over
rule all laws and decisions of the reb-
el authOFities. The bill also forbade
the United State Courts to issue writs
Of HaBses5 corpus for the release Of per
sous in mSItafy custody, except when
such WriIs Els5ugd. be approved by some
commissioned saieer. The main OBJ
jeot Of the bill vas to supDIant the IL
legal, inefficient and disIoyaI State gov
eminent BY an energsgie and vigorous
military administration which would
secure for The time being peace, good
order, and the equal profession Of all
classes Of citizens.
In the Senate the bill was objected
TO on the ground that it comprehend
ed no plan for the restoration of the
rebel States. This matter had been
provided for By the Louisiana bill
which had already passed the House.
but it seems 60 have been the opinion of
the Senate fhabbhetw measures should
be incorporated IN one, aud an attempt
was accordingly arado 30 accomplish
this by amending ths milifary bill
First it was proposed TO ad3 the Blaine
amendment which had been offered in
the House, and provided that when
any rebel State should adopt the Con-
stitutional amendment, give the cleo
tive franchise to its citizens without
distinction Of color and adopting q
constitution ratified by all It's legal
voters Is should be admitted to repres-
entetiOn in Congress and restored to
the privilege of self-government. This
amendments had been defeated in the
House on the ground that it reeog-
nized the rebel State governments,
failed to disfrsnchise the rebel leaders,
aud permitted them to take part in
the work Reconstruction. It was al
so defeated in the Senate aud a ubsti-
tute proposed BY Mr., Sherman was
passed in Its stead By vote Of % to
10.
The Sherman substitute agreed with
the Stevens bill so far as the latter de-
elared that no legal governments ex-
ist in the rebel States. divided them
into military districts and prohibited
interference BY State authority with
military orders, but It differed from it
| in making it the duty Of the President.
instead ofGeAeral Of the army, TO ap-
point the commanders Of the districts,
in Incorporating provision similar
/ to the Blaine amendment as basis of
reconstruction, and IN Omitting that
part Of the Stevens bill relating to the
ha6eos corpus, That part of the Sher-
man bill relating to reconstruction es-
sentiallP differed from the Blaine
amendment ia allowing al men en-
franchised by the act to vote for dele
gates to the Constitutional convention.
This gave the loyal element Il voice in
/ framing the constitutions oS the rebel
States as well as In the election of
State officers, while the Blaine amend
ment recognized the johnson govern
ments as competent to act until those
now controlling them should frame
State constitutions. Such eonstitu-
tions would, of course, have been de-
vissd to suit the wishes Of the rebels
and not until submitted for the ratif-
cation Of the people would the
loyal element have had anything to do
with them
when the sherman substitute, or
rather the Stevens bill as above amend
ded, was taken up in the House ma
ljority Of the Republicans we're in ia
vor Of its passage, but Mr.. Stevens op-
posed it and aided BY few Radicals
and all the Democrats suoeeeded in de-
feating it. The Democrats are there
fore responsible for the defeat of the
Sherman bill. and If the one finally
passed has been made more stringent
upon their Southern friends they have
themselves only to blame for it. Let
it be remembered, then. that the Dem
ocrats might have secured a miIder
measure had they been 80 disposed,
hut they preferred rather to assist Mr.
ThaddeHs Stevens in defeating il.
The House having refused to con
cur in the Sherman hill asked the SEN
ate fur a Committee Of Conference
which was refused The House then
proposed two important amendments
to the Sherman hill. the first Of which
proposed by Mr. Wilson, Of Iowa, the
Chairman of the Judiciary Committee,
-