The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1867-03-30


United States. The terms were strin- /
gent, but when further contest was
hopeless, Gen. Lee gave proof Of his .
wisdom as he had previously done Of
his valor, BY bringing himself to com
ply with the necessities of the occa- /
sion.
1t will be remembered that after
Gen. Lees surrender, negotiations
were proposed for an accommodation
between Gems. Sherman and Joseph
f. Johnston. The latter acting by
the instructions of the President of
the Confederacy, proposed as basis
of surrender general amnesty, to which
Gen. Sherman acceded- But the
terms were rejected by President
johnson, with instructions to Gen.
Sherman to accept nothing short Of
unconditional surrender. Gen John
ston with no adequate means ofresist-
ing, did not hesitate in making a
choice between the alternatives thus
presented, and of consigning his army
to determination after it had exhausted
every human effort to resist the supe
rior strength of its adversary.
These illustrious examples of con
forming to the necessities of their
condition, were followed by the PEG
pie of each of the Southern States
under the guidance of the men who
were chosen to conduct their affairs.
In our own State, while Gov. Clark
was calling the Legislature together to
accept the situation, regardless of the
clamor of ''twelfth hour vaporers," as
he styled a certain class, by order of
the President he was arrested, deposed
and sent into captivity. Judge Shar-
key was appointed Provisional G ov-
ernor, and by instructions from Wash
ington called a Convention, which
upon knowledge of the requirements
of the President, rescinded the solemn
ordinance of secession-confrmed the
abolition of slavery-and instructed the
Legislature at its next session
to provide the necessary guarantees
of protection to the person and prop
erty of the emancipated negroes. Gen.
! Osterhaus, the Federal General on
? q. I--l-----4 .s-osv
/ in the Convention on the motion of a
member from Adams Whose name is
| appended to a curt letter, which is
going the rounds, Indignantly denying
a rumor that he is IAN advocate of ap-
proving acquiescence" in the Sherman
bill) and who remarked in moving it.
that he felt more practically disposed
than formerly and further said
in another connection that, he
''was disposed to make out of
the disasters that have befallen
US the best we can,' &c, &c.
The Legislature promptly conformed
to the requirements of the Convention
as laid down by the President. 1t
gave the negro the right of suing and
being sued, testifying in the Courts,
holding property, making contracts,
&c; and voted to insert the Thir-
teenth amendment in the Constitution
of the United States.
Nobody that we are advised of,
asked "what shall we demand of the
United States government in order to
an accommodation of the difficulty
The inquiry was ''What is demanded
so that we of the weaker party to the
war, who have lost the privilege of
pursuing our own inclinations, may
put our house in order" And when
/ the question was answered, forthwith
the work was done, Nobody even
questioned the authority of President
Johnson to dictate q reconstruction
/ policy Independent of the law making
power, And while these measures
were progressing, it was not objected
that the people of the South, having
made the best fight their glorious ar
my was capable OF making, were bring
ing dishonor on themselves.
In the progress of events, it was de
veloped that the Legislative Depart
ment of the Government did not ap-
prove the policy of the President,
whose right to reorganize the South
ern State governments, it denied; con-
sequently it rejected his terms of ad-
justment, just as he had rejected the
terms of the Johnson Sherman ar
rangement. A contest eusued be-
tween the Executive and Legislative
departments. The South has looked
on quietly awaiting the result of the
/ struggle; and she has seen the former
go down before the superior force of
the latter. She has witnessed the de-
feat of the President; and the asser-
ton of the supremacy of the Legisla-
tive Department in the fact of his
prompt enforcement of the Military
Bill in compliance with its demands.
The voice of Congress becomes
therefore the law of the land, and it's
execution is assured by the action of
the President himself. The example
of ready acquiescenee which he has
set should not be lost. There is no
question of honor involved any more
than in the military and legislative ex-
amples we have cited. The terms
may be illiberal, unjust and harsh !:
but they are the laws of govern
ment which, by the dec ion of the