American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1867-10-05
!, o,-o,,d M. Iepislative mower granted

CIV of Northern and Southern extre-
nists. who, strangely enough, have
united on q common theory-agaln
thew are aiding each other as in days
past.
Having, then, disposed of this
question: hope satisfactorily
shall proceed to discuss the subject
before me, regarding, of course, the
State of Mississippi as State OF the
Union under the Constitution. AS
such, should her people ratify, APP
prove, or, by any act OF theirs, Will
ingly acquiesce in themilitary recon
stTuction acts? For myself, | an
sver most emphatically i'll the mega
tive. By doing SO we gam nothing
in the present, jeopardize all IN the
future. TO arrive at a correct solu-
ton of the question propounded, the
general scope and purposes OF tne
acts must be understood, and these
are to be gathered from the language
employed and the evils or necessities
that gave rise to the enactments. III
seems to be clear, beyond . reasona-
BILE doubt, that by these enactments
one of two objects must have been
IN Siew: either they were intended
vote, or they were i itGfX d2etari1 "a a,
to the utter overthrow of all the
State governments, as we'll as the
government of the United States,
and to build up q consolidated gov
ernment on the runs Which OBJ
ject preponderatsd it would be diff
cult to say; in effect they will accom-
plish both these ends if put in sue
cessful operation, and they can ac-
complish nothing else. And when
men so act that certain events must
follow their action, they are justly
'chargeable with desiring such re-
suits. To these unholy purposes,
then, the people Of Mississippi are
invited to give their sanction and
their aid; indeed, they are command
ed to do SO, under the penalty of
the high displeasure of the Radicals,
with the threat of more harsh meas
ures if they do not Let us see, then,
whether the acts do not prove the
object to have been what I have stat
ed, which is made still more apparent
when considered with the aid of The
lights furnished by the action of the
party under them, in send
ing emissaries to drill and coercs the
negro in his vote. ...-..-
The original act starts cut with q
preamble in these words: Where
as, no legal State governments Grad
equate protection for life or property
now exists in the States of Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Lou
siana, Florida, Texas and Arkansas;
md whereas it is necessary that |
)eace and good order should be en-
orced in said States until loyal and |
State governments can be
egally established, therefore, be it
&c. A preamble is usual
y employed to disclose tho rsasons
nd purposes of the act, and ought
o be key TO the legislative will
mt this is founded iii false assump-
ion and abounds i'll dangerous sig
ificanCo; the provisions of the act
rove it to bo a mere prctence; a
lask to conceal the defOrmities of
he Congressional monster. In the
rst place, it was not true that no le-
al State government existed in the
tate of Mississippi. 1t is a cardi,
al principle in our American system ,
nat the right to establish govern ,
ent rests with the people; it must :
nanate from their authority. In- 9
eed, this is universal principle, :
leoretically acknowledged even in 7
onarchies, and perverted only by :
le fiction of the divine right Of .
ngs, a fiction which Congress has !;
'actically employed aH applicable to /
self.
In 1866 the people of Mississippi i!
sem bled in solemn convention and !;
modelled their Constitution 80 as {
restore the relations of the State f
it'll the Federal Government, the G
nended Constitution being far more Il
publican than that of 1919, which g
ID been recognized by Congress as e
publican III form when the State b
rs admitted into the Union. In a
I the Constitution Of 1865 all the a
ate officers were elected and the a
ate government put in complete o.
GRAFTON; the State WAS recognized n
such by all the departments of al
yerum:nt, aud even by Congress G
elf by the appointment of the va ia
'us Federal officers in the State, S
d, indeed, by the acts under con- h,
ieration. The State government
d originated from the proper b,
lrce, the people, who were only b,
led by the President in restoring is
cir proper relations with the gov W
lment, that being all that was ga
cesSary. The Constitution declares al
1t Tile United States shall guar s
tee to each State a republican form in
government in the Union, of NJ
lrse; that IS, aid the people in es- in
such government. 1t does 70
say the President shall do this, 70
that Congress shall do it; just III
IN power, then, exercised by either of
1artment, as may be necessary, ev
] accomplish the guarantee. Con- of
'ss could do nothing more legiti- mn
tely than give such aid. The gov nv
ment so established derives no va th
ty. none of its powers, from the At
given to the people either IN
the President or by Congress, but so,