The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-08-30
THE cIrANaE OF comsrANDERs.

We're Mr.. JOHNSON ON ambitious man, or n
\ mere partisan, we should ere this hayo seen
tho fires of revolution burning with lurid
light around the National Capital. For nearly
two years an active strife has been waging
between the President and tho majority of
Congress II is 10 the credit of the President,
that from arst to Inst he has strictly adhered 10
Tho Constitution and amid NIL the unconstitu-
tional legislation Of Congress, he hos never re-
| fused to execute the laws, and has never re-
sorted to Unauthorized means to evale or
nullify their force. AS fnr, therefore, as we
nre iable TO Judge, the President occupies
vantage ground in the eyes of the nation, in
that he has uniformly and pcrsistcntly oppos-
cd the removal Of nnoicnt landmarks And
could we be sure Of whit is called poetical
justice, we should not hcsitntc to say or believe
that the people-wc mean the majority of the
Northern pcople-musL ere long awnrd
tnr'ly prnise 10 Mr.. JOHNSON for his long,
fearless and resolutc defence Of thc Constitu-
tion Of The country.
But nfter the most ch, cful survey Tint we
are capable Of making of the political situation,
VIC cannot now see anything approaching to a
1
inc Northern people. Uc Nuvr or
our friends think differently. They believe
there hns hcen n great change in public
opinion: and focling of late, md that at the
approaching olediions in the several Northern
nnd Western States the party of the President
will be victorious. This We should he pleased
to SEQ; but we fear our friends are too san-
gninc,' and woulu have us believe they see
what really they only wish TO Sec
However we muy he disposed to conceal the
fnct from ourselves. or listen to the nsidious
wiles Of partisan press, wc have no doubt Of
the fact, that ihu mnss OF Tho pooplo of tho
| North orc OIL the side ofthc Republican party !;
and however they may differ from the e1-
irem'sts of their party, tho ultra Rndicals-in
cnse of any vital issue the pnrty would of
course stand together. We cannot, therefore,
agree with those Of our friends, who believe
that delivcrnnce is At hanI and that il is to
he effected by The ballot box.
IL not, what then? Why, We must accept
the terms now offered us, and enlenvor, under
this organic net, to become rcinsiatcd ns Sta,c
in the Union. Until reinstatcd, we are utterly
helpless. II should be our constant aim and
en'lesvor 10 shorten this probationary period
of our tutelagc. Our people should bo on
tl,eir guard, nnd do nothing rasllly. There is
disposition among many 10 rejoice at ihc re-
oont action Of tho President, i'll removing STAN
ron, S';ERIpAA and SIcKLEs. Wo cnn aee no
cn,isc for congratulation. The President has
mover failed to declare il as his purpose 10
execute tho laws; and although SHERrpAy ia
removed, military government, with all ita
concomtants under the Reconstruction Acts,
still remains. 1t mny be ihat HANCOCK will
prove moro acceptable to the people Of Louisi-
aim md Tcxns than SHERIDAN has done ; IL
may be that CAsnY, our newly appointed Com
mnnder, will prove less objestiua. bio TO the
people Of the two Cnrolinns than General
sItRLEs We sny all this mny bc There
c"n Of course ,bo no certainly on this point. As
we said before, the Acts of Congress, by virtue
of-whici' these military commanders exercise
sway over the ton Southern States, are still in
force, and are upheld by the President himself;
and in the order, making these now appoint
ments, tho President snys they [Gcns. CAHnr
and HANCOCK twill, when necessary to faith
ful execution Of the laws, exercise any and oil
powers conferred by the Acts of Congress upon
the District Commanders, and my and all au-
thority pertaining to officers in command of
Military Departments"
SO reads tho commission of these now nm
pointees; and our thoughtful readers will agree
with us, wo feel sure, when we say that a
change Of rulers is Of little effect, 80 long as
Fc arc governed by the military codo. These
new rulers will do one Of three things They
will either abrogate the orders of their prede.
cessors, and issue new ones, or they will retain
the body Of military law, developed by circum-
stances during the past six months, or what
is much moro likely, they will retain some.
and annul others-the only wiso course.
While good may como of these changes, the
result Is at best doubtful. Tho mere excite.
menI, unrest, md anxiety attendant upon these
changes, is prejudicial in It's effect on the
peace, tho business md prosperity Of tho
country. Wc are not prepared TO defend in
discriminatory tho administration OF General
SIcKLEs. We believe that lie lbs issued mapy
wise 6rders1 and agnin VIC believe he has paus-
ed others TINT were both unwise and tyranni-
cal. In The latter category we would place the
notorious flag order Of April ", 1867; also
tho order dopoaing Mr.. ZsALY, Of Columbia.
from his Office as Magistrate, which ye bolie,,
was haHty, Harsh, and altogether unjust, 60
Also tho sentence Of the two young men enesu..
ell in The late barroom broil in Columbia :, an
The recent 6ning Of Mr.. AIoNHLrY for not sail.
ing firsl-class ticket to colorcd woman . 20
tho late order animadvsrting in severe and
altogether upjusIianbly harsh terms upon
gentlemen Of nnblemished honor in the o.,e o,
tho Bnnk and Confederate Cavalry fund.-. Nor
must uo forget to mention the arbitrary de-
ciHon in the case of the Charleston Savings
Institution, still fresh in tho memory Of all our
readers, There mny have been other orders
Of General sicxLEs, moriting censure psrh.ps
more even than tLoso wo hnro enumerated.
But these will suffice for tho present.
He has been more often blamed, however,
for General Order No. 10; and yet We believe
that he issusd IL in good faith, with the hrm
eenyiction Of It's necessity At tho time, and Of
It's bene1cent effect upon tho people at large
in Nprth aRd'south Csrolins. We have always
been opposed 70 svety species of stay law. but
We can SO many ettsnustius 'diredims,anseI in