The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-09-02
LETTER FROM THADDEUS
STEVENS.

LETTER FROM THADDEUS
STEVENS.
The Great Mistake OF COngress-HOw
II Was Made and Who Made It-NO
LAW Against the Removal of Dis
trict Comm andcrs.
LANCASTER, PENN, August %, 1867.
Hon. Thaddeus Stevens has so far
recovered mis- health that he expects to
start in few days on tour to the Up
per Lakes. The following letter from
him appears in the Examiner and Her.
dd:
COLONEL sCHOCK TO MR.. STEVENS.
COLUMBIA, PENN, August "a, 1867
"HoR. ThaddeuS Sterens, Lancaster, Pa:
DEAR SIR-Several of your intelli-
gent constituents in hisregiOn, no doubt
from want Of proper information. are
complaining of mistakes made by Con-
gressi in not passing laws at the last Ses-
sion restraining the removal of certain
officers engaged in reconstruction.
cOntcnded that you had passed an act
at the very close providing for that very
contingency, but which is not executed.
Will you be 50 good as to inform me
how far our representative is response
BILE for this omission, if omission it be 7
You know we are in the habit of dealing
familiarly with the member from the
Ninth. A brief answer will much oblige
your friend. SAMUEL SCHOCK.'
Mr.. STEVENS REPLY.
LANCASTER, Penn, August 26, 1867.
"CoIoaeI Samuel SchOck, Columbia, Penn. !:
"DEAR SIR-YOu are right in suppOS-
ing that Congress made mistakes, as is
the inevitable lot of man; but you
mistake i'm suppoSing that there is any
law 10 prohibit the removal of the dis
trict commanders without the consent
of the Senate.
"SOOH after the commencement OF the
last session of Congress reported bill
from the committee of the House of
Representatives which contained pre-
Wis oil prohibiting their removal with
ont the consent of the Senate. 1t pass
ed the House and was sent to the Sen
ate. The Senate struck ii out and re-
turned it to the House, who refused to
concur in the amendment. The result
was a committee of Conference, where
an animated contest enSued. There
were several other questions III cOntro-
vcrsy between the houses. which the
House offered To yield if this could be
granted The Senate perseveringly re-
fused, declaring that they would sooner
lose the bill As that would Illustrate
II 1...,-l,4,A,, nn,1l L., al
lowed. The House yielded, with a
warning of the evils it would intlict
upon the country. Some of the mem
bers of the Senate seemed to doubt their
power under the Constitution which
they had Just rcpudiated, and wholly
outside of which all agreed that we
were acting, else our whole work of re-
construction was uSurpatiOn; or, per-
hapS, they had a desire to be thought to
be gTavely conservative and magnani-
nous. These ideas seemed to control
the action of some half u dozen Sena-
tors, who preferred trusting the PreSi-
dent.
"My dear Colonel, a few Senators CT
great ability, undoubted patriotism and
purity, have become so saturated with
"lldl llltN dlO DlCSloSu W NdiA NOliSOA IL
tism-whOse meaning, | confess, am
unable to underStand-that | fear they
will forget the monster that was slain
in l776, and again in 1861, and will thus
do great damage to the creation of n
government now so capable of being
converted into political paradise.
This is liable to happen, not so much
by n direct and palpable attack upon
its framework, as by gradually forget
ting the vital principles of the declara-
tion of Independence. Strike out one
of the living sparks which give life to
the Goddess of Liberty, and the myste-
riOus and intense heat, whose welding
fires, near a century ago, and at pres
ent, are fusing the principles of free
dom and reducing despOtism to a Gin
der, will gradually cool, until the most
conservative deSpOt could thrust his
sword into it without affecting its tenn
per.
81 have said above that l did not
know the meaning of conservatism. |
have since seen the report of a speech,
said to have been made by an Ohio Sen
ator at Canton, Ohio, which, ifit be
truely reported, and is to be considered
as a definition of that doctrine, then it,
to me, is very alarming, worse than
Copperheadism. 1t is legislation with
ont authority, and reconstruction by
usurpatiUn. ;.
II am, very respectfully, your obcdi-
eIlt servant, ''THADDEUS STEVENS
THE money article of the New York
Commercial, of Wednesday, says: The
opinion here is that breadstutis range
at much higher prices than the large
crops Justify, and purchasers are conse-
quently confined to their requirements
for current consumption. Advices from
the West indicate that there is likely TO
be less disposition than during late sea-
sons to hold grain for unreasonable
prices; and it is anticipated that, when
the prospects ofthe foreign demand are
more definitely developed, every means
of transportation to the East will be
crowded with produce. This prospect
justifies the anticipation of a closer
money market ere long.