New-York tribune., 1867-03-07
ECHOES EROM REREL STITEs.

So much freedom or action lS gwen 70 the
Southern people by the Reconstruction bill,
that their opinions are now of unusual import
anCe and for this reason we PRINT, IN another
column extracts from nearly oil the leading
papers of the Rebel States. What they thought
of the Freedmen. Bureau, or the Civil Rights
bill was of little practical matter toI
these were laws which no opinions could
affect. But the spirit in which they re-
ccive the Reconstruction bill Is of profound
interest 10 the North; for while that inn
pose, law, il offers n method by which the
provisions of that law may be in part nullhed.
The organic changes il i intended 20 make,
the harmony it il hoped it viii restore can only
be entirely secured 10y the voluntary action OF
the Southern people. Congress in making this
law provided for the abandonment of its ab-
-oluto couttUl OF tho Rebel States, and gave
them the power TO fix the period of their re-
storntion.
with scarcely an exception the Southern
journals declare the new Law an act Of tyranny,
aud, with equal approach TO unanimity, hold the
plan of reconstruction 20 be worse than military
mlc. The infamous act of Congress the in
famou, madness of Congress. the insult 70 the
South, ate the Southern definitions of the bill
III -
chiefly arouses this storm of indgnation-that
could bc borne-it is the method OF restoration.
" Any military riyor.r says The Charleston Dis
match, "is preferable % the voluntary debase-
"ment and iniamy, and tho permanent, ire
"tlicvabc ruin the Southern States will incur
s'by adopting the terms OF this bill" Impartial
suffrage, and the exclusion of Rebel leaders
from the worbIOf reconstruction, are the hated
conditions. 10 which we are told the South
will never submit IL demands as n
right that it shall rcCnter the Union
as it left the Union, without penalties, without
reforms without concessions. Ii admits no
crime in treason and rebellion, and therefore
no need for reconstruction = when Lee surrcn-
dcrcd, reconstruction was accomplished the
North is now the sole obstacle TO peace. These
are the doginas upon which the Rebel States
have based their peremptory demand for
representation, and these tho principles which
the North will never admt--cannot admit,
without cOnceding its actions for six years to
have been as cruel and causeless as the worst
enemies Of the UniQn assert.
We think il il plain that the Rebel States
are opposed to accepting the offer of Congress,
and yield to military rule only because that
cannot be helped. "The only good reason
"for not appealing TO arms in this con
"iuncture," says The Macon New Era, "is the
"hopelessness of success" Appeal must be
made to the Supreme Court; that falling
nothing is left but abjcct submission. In
these dark colors the picture is painted; a
people epslavod, sovereign States deprived. of
their rights are the themes of those who would
forget that bravery was coupled with treason,
and that sovereign States themselves destroyed
the rights they now long TO regain In this de-
spondent mood the South, anxious to exagger-
ate It's martyrdom, hopes the spectacle of It's
miseries will excite the pity of its yemorseless
foe. 1--WE are the abject slaves Of the most
mpypcipled tyrants that ever disgraced the
"earth." How long this hysterical passion
will last we do not venture to predict,
but at present we find the Rebel States
firmly resolved 10 suffer any penalty rather
than make a solitary concession of principle
to the Government. awe must do nothing )"
"let not our people aid in their own degrada-
"tion . eve can submit, but will not organize
Gan affirmation of disgrace" "we can live
"under such damnable tyranny, but if we
"consent to it, we deserve it, 1t ia in this
way that the generous and just offer of Con-
gress Is received, and the loyal States are ex-
pressly informed that q it is not for the peo-
"ple of the South to help them out of their
"dfficultiesn
We think differently. We hold that It Is for
the people Of the South TO help the nation out
of difficulties of which their treason and re-
belion are the sole causes. They cannot do
nothing without doing wrong 10 Us agl to