The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-04-06
STATE CONVENTION.

We have received O communication inquir-
ing whether, if the State should exercise its
its privilege of voting upon the question OF
Convention or no Convention, by deciding
against the call of Convention, the present
Military Government would continue, without
those changes which only Convention can
legalize.
We think this question indicates very grave
and dangerous misconception Of our position,
and of the purpose of the Reconstruction Act.
The leading idea Of that act is unquestion-
ably the restoration Of the South to its normal
condition in the Union. It is clear that both
the people and the political leaders Of the
North have come to the conclusion that a con-
tinuance of the present anomalous relations OF
one-half of the country to tho other is unsafe,
dangerous to the large general interests of the
Union, and embarrassing to the political calcu-
lations of the future. The very significant
declaration of Governor MORTON, who certainly
represents the extreme Of the Republican
party, that if the South was not restored by
1868, that party could not hold together, is an
evidence of this.
And we may rely upon it that those who hold
power will not allow us to use the machinery
of the Reconstruction Bill as an obstruction1
The registration of the legal voters of the State
is preparation for action, and if, when regis
tered, they do not act, no man who looks at the
facts before him con doubt that action will be
taken for them. The insertion of this obliga-
ton of popular vote in the bill was simply for
the purpose of obviatiRg the inconsistency of
certain radical Senators who had contended in
opposition to Mr.. JoHNsoNs policy, that q State
could only organize of its free will, and to call
q convention by military authority without the
expressed will Of the people, seemed to contra
dict this declaration. Like the election Of the
French Emperor, it was form necessary to
keep the record technically correct.
The North has no interest, and no desire to
keep up military government at the South
What it really wants is reconstruction The
popular mind had been taught that such re-
construction was impossible if left to the peo-
pie of the State, under their old systems Of
political power, and they adopted universal
suffrage as the mode by which reconstruction
could be effected. Then, as they doubted whe-
ther that suffrage would be accepted, they
established military government to protect
and inaugurate its exercise, and to keep order
through this dangerous transition state.
We think it clear that such men as Senators
SHERMAN and FEssENDEN were working really
for reconstruction, but were not strong enough
perhaps not willing enough, to risk any anita
gonism with the extremists of the party who,
either from bad judgment or bad feeling, in
sisted upon adding the most Objectionable pro-
visions to the Act.
Any hesitation on our part in giving full and
complete operation to those clauses of the Act
in which our cooperation is necessary, will be
q great mistake. 1t will weaken the hands Of
those who have erected the ''scaffolding' for
the purpose of laying the foundation for more
permanent work. 1t will furnish a theme for
ueCluuidllou tuc tlhto1o, HAo3 40 We InAAA3
is very evident will put us in position Of
isolation even at the South.
We have said thus much not because there is
any large number of people who take this short
sighted view of our duty, but because we think
it very important that even those few should
not throw away their strength by very fool
ish vote 1t is 50 easy for men who cannot
readily overcome their prejudices, to satisfy
what they cannot help feeling to be an impera-
tive duty, to take their parts in the coming
elections by voting ''no Convention" that we
cannot too earnestly entreat them to consider
what solemn responsibility rests upon every
one of us to do all he can to carry out fairly
and thoroughly the purpose of this reconstruc-
tion act and thus hasten the time when the
State can be relie7ed from those conditions
which press so hardly upon her pride, her in
terests and her constitutional rights.