The Waynesburg Republican. [volume] (Waynesburg, Pa.) 1867-18??, 1867-07-24
THE SUMNER SESSION.

for last week, to read the Copperhead
comments upon any proposed action OF
Congress as compared with the actual
result. If Congress were some fearful
monster that might be expected at any
moment to swallow the country bodily,
these comments would not be different;
and whatever its action, however
moderate and reasonable, the air OF
horror upon the faces of the critics
never disappears. The jest is perfect
and exquisite when it is remembered
that these same commentators revert to
their own Democratic asccndcncy ten
years ago, when the whole Govern
ment of the United States was prosti-
tuted to the demands of slavery, rs the
golden age of our politics.
The truth is, that Congress repre-
sents with remarkable fidelity the
dominant sentiment of the country.
Every individual, indeed, has his pri-
vate opinion and theories of the situa-
ton, but there is n general current Of
thought as to what is cxpcdient upon
the whole. Both of these tendencies
are represented in Congress, Every
kind ofopinion is expressed in every
kind of rhetoric, but the final action is
temperate any wise. Ifyou listened
to Mr.. Stevens only, or to Mr.. James
Brooks You would fear that the clash
of extremes so antagOnistic would be
inevitably most pcrilous. Ifyou heard,
on the other hand, one of the tcmpor-
izcrs only, YOU would be sure that the
Union would be lost in IL mush of
compromise like frigatc in Il quick
sand. But it is neither Mr.. Stevens,
nor Mr.. Brooks, nor the tcmporizcrs
who shape the result, The law, when
it is enacted after the long and various
debate, expresses the average good
sense of the dominant party.
1t would be better, undoubtedly, if
the opposition had Il more numerous
and an ADLER body of advocates. 1t is
always desirable that majority should
feel at every turn its responsibility by
feeling the force of the opposition.
Then it carefully chooses its steps. 1t
weighs and modiics its measures. 1t
is admoni>hcd not by rhetorical obiur-
CATION but by stringent argument and
and appeal that it must justify its ac-
ton to the country. Had there been
a larger and stronger opposition in the
House we doubt if there would have
been summer session, for the Recon-
struction Bill would have been 50 ma
turcd that there could have been no
doubt of its meaning. When Il sum-
mcr session Of Congress was announc-
cd there was the burst of jccring from
the critics of whom we spoke, as if
every folly were to be pcrpctratcd.
But its first act was virtually to resolve
to confine itself to the special duty Of
interpreting the law Nothing could
be more sensible.
1t is surprising that a bill ofwhich
the purpose was so evident should
have been in the least obscure. > Its
object was unqucstionably understood
by the Radicals who supported it, by
the Conservatives who opposed it, and
by the President who vetoed it. That
object was to protect the rights of
every citizen in the rebel States to
secure universal suffrage except to
those expressly excluded; to keep the
peace until Congress had accepted the
Constitutions which might be offered
for its approval, and to do all this by
the military authority of the United
States. BY the necessity Of the case
the District Commander was the su-
prcmc officer, and whenever there was
any conflict his action must be final
The objections made to the bill by the
in Congress and by the
President as establishing a military
despotism showed that there was really
no question.
Nor would there have been, except
for the hostility of the Attorncy-Gcn-
cral to the law and to the policy of
Congress. Instead of Interpreting it
by its manifest, necessary, and dcclar-
cd intention he construed it with ncr-
vous litcralncss. His opinion was an
effort to smother the spirit by the let
ter. Congress, therefore, has ASSEMBLE
cd to subject the letter to the spirit.
. THE DEpy oI, an l., (N (pEp,rr,S