Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-01-17

Letter from IIr. VaIIhndigham-'
Power of Congress 10 Territorial
ize n StaIe-A Convention of ali
the States-A Newspaper Organ
at Washington. t, ..
The following letter from Mr.. VALLAN-
DIGHAM to Mr.. PoMERoY, of Wisconsin, we
find in the Lacrosse Democrat: ...
DAYTON, o., January 3, 1867.
MN. PoMERoY, Esq, Lacrosse, Wis.,
Dear Sir. Yours of the 3lst ult., with the
card inclosed, | have just received, and
will answer 1t impron,pta. is
AS to your first inquiry: Congress, in
my opinion, has no more conStttutIonat pow.
er to wTerritorialize" the "seceded States"
fso-called) than to make Territories of Ohio
or Wisconsin. Neither has any other de-
partment of the Federal Government, nor
all three departments combined. The
States made the Federal Government, in
the beginning; but now the fable of Saturn
Is reversed, and the child devours the
parent.
7 AS to your second inquiry-the proba-
BILE result if the Radical scheme be carried
out or attempted'-pardon me a little
Latin: DE CdrthdgiRe Sdtius est silese guam
fns urn diceSe.' Only general results, at the
most, can be foreseen by the wisest of NOR
tails, and in these dark times, when every
lesson of history, and every law of God, of
man, Of political economy and of fiDance,
seems to be broken with impunity, and
when every folly, or treachery, or coward
ice, or all three together, thwart the wisest,
most honest, most patriotic plans for the
public good, l have ceased even to specu-
| late as to the future; much less do ven
ture to prophesy. Yet think that had
the programme for the political campaign
| of 1866, as ! agreed upon formally at
Washington, in April and May last, been
] honestly, courageously and vigorously car
| ried out, instead of being set asidefor that
combination of procured abortion and ac-
cidcntal miscarriage, the Philadelphia Con-
| yentior OF August Ia, we should have had
! as great victory in the fill elections as we
| suffered decisive defeat. AS It is, fear
| that the lasthope OF the REACTION perished
| then, and that the Great American
| Revolution of 1862 must now go on
Unchecked, till either it shall have
| overturned totally in form, as already sub
[ stantially in fact, that grand old FEDERAL
REFuBLIc which our fathers set up. sub
stituting in its stead, imperialiStc, despot-
fsm under the shadow Of the name and
form and the cant of free Institutions or
1 have precipitated counter-revolutlon
through which, by the eexpiation of fire and
blood, and suffering it may be, the AnIerf-
can people shall recover that light, free,
4 cheap system of Government which they
so eagerly and recklessly have thrown
away. All this, indeed, was implied by
the late civil WARRIOR the Union'-wheni II
cbmmenced; and |, tor one, have no nel0
quarrel with Radicalism and its exponents
for striving to attain the natural, legtti-
mate and inevitable results of changing
our system from a Government Of consent
to a Government of coercion and force! AT
the same time am not prepared to com
Ipete with them In the race of Radicalism
land II 1 were, should aim at that which
alone could command successful out
IlHerod Herod,' and go at one bound so far
Ilbeyond its present demands that even Re.
Ilpublican Radicalism would stand agbast
III Should cut under so deep that no lower
deep could be found or fathomed. For, in
lIgood sooth, am not one of those who de-
lliude themselves with the vain notion that
llbv Welding one-half the other can be
Ilmade secure. Such 'sops to Cerberus
IIncyar silence the triple headed dog of IA
Ilnaticism,. And there is but one way 30 deal
Ilwith revolution: either to GO with it to-
italy, and ahead of it, or fight it every inch
land crush 1t. We hitherto have not SC
fought the battle, and, by consequence, we
Ihave gone down before the bold, dashinG
charge of the Black Knight with his visor
up, And so 1t has ever been. and so itwu
lever be, world without end; l can not ado
Amen. it sticks in my throat For still
Iwould remember the sublime old R0hiar
lImaxin, and never despair of the Republic
llfor even now, with more than eight hun.
! ldred millions of paper money, having nj
Ilother basis than credit up0n credit, f0tIr.