The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-03-06


Re 4 liberal discount made on the dboue
rates acl.e,. advertisements are insp1.ted b,,
TIE MONTH or gear.
Presidents Veto of the Military Bill.
To the House Of Representatives,:
L have examined the bill 'to pro-
vide for the more efficient govern
ment Of the rebel States with the
care and anxiety which its transcend
ent importance is calculated to
awaken. l am unable to give it my
assent for reasons SO grave that ! hope
statement of them may have some
influence on the minds of the patri-
otto and enlightened men With whom
the decision must ultimately rest.
The bill places all the people of the
ten States therein named under the
absolute domination OF military rulers;
and the preamble undertakes to give
the reason upon which the measure
IS based, and the ground upon which
it is justified. It declares that there
exists IN those States no legal govern
ments, and no adequate protection
for life OF property, and asserts the
necessity of enforcing peace and good
order within theirlimits. Is this true
as matter of fact?
1t is not denied that the States in
question have each Of them an actual
Government, with all the powers, ex-
ecutive, judicial and legislative, which
properly belong to a free State. They
are organized like the other States Of
the Union, and, like them, they make,
administer and execute the laws which
concern their domestic affairs. An
existing de .fucto Government, exer-
clslng such functions as these, is itself
the law of the State upon all matters
within its jurisdiction. Topronounce
the supreme law making power of an
established State illegal, is to say that
law itself is unlawful.
The provisions which these Go
vernments have made for the pre-
servation Of order, the suppression
of crime, and the redress of private
injuries, are, IN substance and prin-
clple, the same as those which pre-
vail in the Northern States, and in
other civilized countries. They GER
talnly have not succeeded in pre-
. venting the commission of all crime.
a nor has this been accomplished anv-
where in the world. There, as we'll
as elsewhere, offenders sometimes es-
cape for want of vigorous prosecu-
ton, and occasionally, perhaps, by
the lnefficiency of courts or the pre-
Judice Of jurors. 1t is undoubtedly
true that these evils have been much
increased and aggravated, North and
South, by the dcmoralizing infIu-
ences Of civil war, and the rlncorous
passions which the contest has engen-
dered. But that these people are
maintaining local Governments for
themselves. which habitually defeat
the object OF all government, and
render their own lives and property
insecure, is in itself utterly improba-
bic, and the averment of the bill to
that effect is not supported by any
evidence which has come to my know
ledge. All the information I have on
the subject convinces me that the
masses of the Southern people, and
those who control their public acts,
while they entertain diverse opinions
on questions of Federal policy, arc
completely united in the effort to re-
organize their society on the basis of
peace, and to restore their mutual
prosperity as rapidly and as com
pletclS as their circumstances will
permit.
The bill, however, would seem to
show upon its face that the establish
ment Of peace and good order is not
ats real object. The fifth section de-
clares that the preceding sections
shall cease to operate in any State
where certain events shall have hap
pened. These events are-frst, the
selection of delegates to Il State Con
vention, by an election at which ne.
grocs shall be allowed to vote. Sc.
cond, the formation OF State Consti
tuition by the conventions so chosen.
Third, the insertion into the State
Constitution OF q provision which vii
secure the right Of voting ut al elec
tlons to negroes, and to such white
men as may not be disfranchised fol
rebellion or felony. Fourth, the sub
mission Of the Constitution for ratifi
cation to negroes and white men no
dlsfranchised, and its actual ratiGca
ton by their vote Fifth, the sub
mission of the State Constitution t.
Congress for examination and ap