The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1867-03-18
How it viii do its Work.

The effect which the military bill of the
Radicals will havc on the Southern people,
is graphically set forth by the Washington
f~RteliigeHcer, which says it has been the
proud boast of republican government that
it rests upon the free opinions ofthe people.
But the Congress of the United States prof
fers to the people Of the South a plan of re-
construction which wields the sword in
one hand and negro suffrage in the other
and, as if this was not enough. it demands
that they shall brand every citizen whom
they have thought worthy in the past OF
legislative or executive honors. as unfit
henceforth to hold any Office or even east
his ballot. The bill ignores the Constitu-
ton for oue-third of the Union. No mans
tireside is free from the intrusive tread of
the military. Noman's property is exempt
from its usurpations. Free speech is a
mockery, and, from the Potomac to the
Rio Grande, the word of an officer is more
potent than the voice of the judge. A peo-
pie born tree-our CONFERENCE.-The de-
%scendants ola WASHINGTON and Il MARSHALL
and a LowNDEs, and a HENRY. are to be per-
mitted to erect governments for themselves
if they will make voters of their recent
slaves. not yet accustomed to liberty, ig-
norant ofthe obligations of freeman, and
utterly unacquainted with the very rudi-
ments of the science of government! And
to make this incubus hideous, they are re-
quired to d~isfranchise and ~disqualify for
Office every man who in the past has prov
ed his capacity for public affairs, by serv-
ing his countrymen on the bench, in the
forum, or even as magistrate and constable.
The Tendency to RepudiatiOn-The
Views of PreSiden johnson.
A correspondent of the New York Citizen
sends to that journal a report, written
from memory, of q conversation with Pres
ident JOHNSON, from which we take the
following extracts:
WASHINGTON, March 6.
.
"And now, apart from the directly polit-
ical,n ~continuedthe President, what is the
main issue looming up in the immediate
future What issue is clearly foreshadowed
TO be the Aaron's rod which must swallow
up all minor questions? 1t is the great
financial issue, the issue of the national
debt whether it shall be paid or repudi-
ated? This issue has fbers extending into
the pocket of every citizen; for wherever
man has n dollar. or can earn a dollar.
the Government is now compelled to go for
its portion of his substance, and with the
vast machinery under its control the
money is fetched.N
"And what has been the course of that
Congress which has just ended, and which
this blind aristocracy of national debt sus-
tained in overriding my efforts for a return
to sound principles Ofinterual government ?
Look at the bill giving from four hundred
n eighty to six hundred millions of dol
lars-nOminally for back bounty, or as an
equalization Of bounties to the soldiers :
but really, as all intelligent men must be
aware, to be parcelled out as a prey among
the bounty sharks and claim agents, who
are the most reckless and clamoToug
adherants of the dominant majority in
Congress. Then look at the appropra-
lions amounting to another hundred mil
lions tor internal improvements. which
should properly be LETT to the laws govern
ing private industry and the progress Of
our national development. Look also at
the increase of all salaries with a prodigal
hand this ~Virtuous Congress first setting
an example against retrenchment by vot-
ing to themselves an increase of salaries.
Everywhere, and in an eyer-increasing
ratio, the motto seems n he: ALWAYS
spend and never spare ) u fresh Issue from
the paper-mill over yonuer' Slightly
pointing his pencil to the Treasury De-
partment) being the panacea prescribed
for every evil of our present situation"
Every effort to increase our annual tax
alton is resisted, for increased taxes might
help to awaken the people from their false
dream of prosperity under the sway of re-
volutionary and radical ideas but no adj
dition TO the national debt can be proposed.
no further imitation of our inflated curren-
cy, which the preponderating votes of the
Western States will not be certain to favor.
The war of finance is the mex wal we have
TO fight, and every blow struck against my
efforts to uphold a strict construction of
the laws and the Constitution is in reality
a blow in favor of repudiating the national
debt. The manufacturer and men of CAPT
tai in the Eastern States aud the States
along the Atlantic seaboard-a mere strip
Of fringe on the broad mantle of our coun-
try, if you will examine the map-these are
in favor of high protective, and, I'm fact.
prohibitory tariffs, and also favor a con-
traction of the currency, But against both
measures the interests and votes of the
great producing and non-manufacturing
States of the West stand iFreVocahlv arrav-