The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-06-25


South. and the disposition evinoed by the
Southern people to comply with all the re-
ouirements of the law. 1t has from time to
time published as from its special correspond
ents and friends ample evidence upon both
these points and it has used them in opposi-
tion to the demands of the extreme faction for
confiscation and other penalties antecedent to
the restoration of the excluded States. Never
tbeless. our Chicago contemporary permits the
anger excited by the Presidents adoption of
4he Attorney Generals conclusions to override
its previously expressed views, and to make
the reassembling of Congress pretext for en-
tering upon new and in the meantime unneces-
sary work Its tone and aims may be gathered
from a couple of paragraphs which we take
from an article on the subject
s,Since an extra session has been rendered
necessary by the attempt OF the President to
Rebel States, we are Of the opinion that the
very first act of Congress should be to abolish
those bogus Governments altogether. To be
sure, Congress has already declared them to be
illegal;' but that does not avail against the OBJ
Rtinate determination of the Administration TO
nullify the law; for we find 1t solemnly declared
by the Attorney-General that these socalled
wh1Sa @ CongTess ns mas f 0
whom Con gress intended TO be entirely subor-
dinate to the military arm. are superior & TO IL;
the South are, in fact, only auxiliary 70 the
civil power; and that John r. Monroe 6 has
raj Sheridan has no right TO interfere with John
"To abolish these Governments is the un-
doubted right of Congress II Andrew Johnson
shall attempt TO resist or nullify such an act,
DSsry 'Rs or egh tSen 4 % Se 6
bounden duty of Congress to impeach him and
remove him from Office for that offense. Nor
will Congress hesitate to pursue such a course
nor will the people fail fully to sustain them in
It, The very suspicion that the President in
tends. to interfere with reconstruction has
already aroused a feeling in the country in
tenSely hostile to him. Let him once meddle
with reconstruction in clear violation of law,
and the unanimous cry Of the people Will be,
'OH with his official headP"
We have quoted enough to show the ten
dency of proceeding which doubtless origi-
mated in the Presidents desire to befriend the
South. Now, as from the first, his attempts
to thwart the intentions of Congress, and so to
tighten the disabilities it has imposed, only
add to the difficulties of the position, and in
tensify the bitterness of the contest to which
he is party. This further experience was
not needed to exemplify the cruelty to the
Southern people Of those who in their name
wage indiscriminate war upon the policy of the
dominant party.
In judging of the work called for at the hands
of Congress, it is desirable to note correctly
the facts which form the ground of accusation
against the President up to the present time.
The Executives action has been confined to
the Attorney Generals opinion in regard to
the business of registration and the definition
of the classes disfranchised. The circular of
instructions issued from the War Department
relates exclusively to this branch of the sub
iect. The opinion of the law officer as to the
relative authority of the local civil power and
the military commander, and the action of the
latter in respect of removals and appoint
ments, has not yet been adopted by the Execu-
tive. There is a probability, after all, that
the determination on which the Chicago jour
Ii not ha
nounced. 1t is but a possibility, we fear,
since all the information received from Wash
ington indicates that the District Commanders
will be notified that the removing and appoint
ing power is not vested in them, whether the
particular instances in which it has been exer-
cised be acted upon or not.
Let it not be forgotten, however that though
the President nullifes the spirit of the law,
and to certain extent illustrates the intent
of Congress-, he does 1t in obedience to the
Interpretation furnished by the Attorney
General. This Interpretation was not obhga-
tory on him, nor will it excuse him in the
Judgment of the Republican party. But he
assumes it to be legal rendering of the Re-
construction law, and acts upon it on the plea
that he is bound by his oath of Office to ad-
minister the law as he understands it.
There is no necessity for going behind the
plea of the President and challenging its
honesty. Until the publication of the Attor-
OOOAA
universal that the Presidents administration
of the law was marked by good faith. Ger
tainly he neither obtruded his views upon the
military commanders, nor impeded the opera
ton of their plans. Their discretionary autho-
rity has been unlimited, and their exercise
of it has suffered no hindrance from him. If
he interferes now, it is because he is advised
that they have misconstrued the law. The
advice proceeds on merely technical reason
ing and on hypothesis which are not seldom
absurd. But it implies no resistance to the
law; only an unfortunate-perhaps an obsti-
te-misunderstanding of the letter arising
from disregard of the spirit in which Con-
gress legislated.
Evidently, then, all the requirements of the
case will be met by declaratory enactment,
setting forth the will of Congress, both as to
disfranohisementiand the power of the Gene
rails in terms so plain and emphatic that Mr..
Stanbery may no longer find room for doubt,
nor the President for interference. Mr.. Stan
berry interprets the scope of the disfranchising
clauses and the duties of the registers more
loosely than Congress intended. He over
looks the manifest denial of legitimacy to the
civil governments of the South, their reduc
tion to provisional status, and the temporary
supremacy of the soldier, and processes to dis
cover in the law evidence that the latter is not
invested with powers which Pope, Sheridan
and Sickles have exercised. Well, there is M
insuperable difficulty in either case. No new
ground is touched, that it should be incum
bent on Congress to raise fresh issues, or II
legislate more specifically in reference to the
existing Southern Governments. Only let the
purpose OF the law be made 80 manifest tha
neither the President nor the Attorney-Gene