Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1867-06-26
Tbe opinion.-Northern Comments.

The Opinion. Northern Comments.
The New York papers, of Monday, contain
the Attorney Generals opinion ip full. Of
course, they comrent on it, but none Of them
favorably. Our extracts must necessarily be
brief. The Tribune says:
"Mr. Stanberry cuts the heart out OF the
military bilr If he is right, then Congress
is criminally wrong. A measure which was
carefully and anxiously devised by more than
two-thirds of The Senate and the House. and
not only adopted, but second time consid-
cred and passed over an able and ingenious
veto message, proves to be deluslon and
snare, and absolutely worthless as measure
of reconstruction. IF Mr.. Stanberry is right,
then we can no more reconstruct the South
under this bill than we could under the tax
levy OF our Common Councils, OR Mr.. Swim
burnc's last poem. The Senate was wrong
the House did not know what it was doing.
Mr.. Johnson's veto message was written IN
ignorance of the law, anl our generals nave
entirely misconstrue one of the plainest and
most emphatic bills OF Congress! Everybody
has erred but Mr. Stanberry! That officer
may BE- subtle ogcian and we'll learned in
the law, but we do not believe either his logic
or his facts"
1t concludes its com ments by saying:
"Congress should assemble in July, and
address itself again to reconstruction. we
must make this bill SO plain that even STAN
berry may understand 1t, ard so comprehen-
sive that the President caanot escape it's e1-
ecutiou. We regret that the Administration
has forced another issue upon the country.
We must promptly meet it,"
The Times says:
"We can only repeat :he hope we have
more than once expressed, that the President
will not follow this advice. If he acts upon
it at all, it can only be as advice. Whatever
may be the cogeucy Of the technical reason
ing of the Attorney General land We confess
that it is very strong,) the Presidents atten-
ton ought to be given-as that OF the public
will be-to the practical executing OF the law
in completing the work of reconstruction /;
and that depends far more on the actual aud
complete authority Of the generals in t!oir
respective districts than upon any technical
constructions of the law. Their mora. inhu-
ences and consequent usefulness very much
depend upon the realization of the fact that
they are in manner absolute-that their
power to dispose of faithless or obstructive
officials is as complete as their power to pre-
serve the peace-and that their acts are not
subject to reversal by distant political au-
thority. Let it be once understood that the
general is q mere subordinate, whose superi,
or is ready to listen 10 the complaints OF per.
sons whom the general has, for cause, remov-
cd, and, from that moment, the enemies OF
the law will take fresh courage, and the work
of reconstruction will be very seriously i'm
peded."
The Herald says:
"No man disposed to accept and act upon
this law in good faith can see in it any other
than the clear intent and purpose thus set
forth. But we do not say that sny lawyer
may not argue around it, or that lcga! acute.
ness, exercised for the specific purpose, may
not fiud in it places large enough for many
small men to creep through. Mchelieu could
condemn man upon any three lines he had
ever written, and no doubt the right sort OF
lawyer can nullify and defeat the most dis.
tinc' and positive statute that ever. declared
the will of a ruling power. 1t, indeed, re-
aures only very moderate ability to make
bubbles Of any sort. Is the recoustruction
law to be acted upon in this spirit? Are lie.
gal arguments to deprive it Of its vitality ?
Does the President, under pretence of telling
the commanders how to execute the Law, In
tend to tell them only how to defeat it? E7i-
IDENTIFY that is just where we stand. This il
the evident purpose now, and tits clear that
we are on the eve of new troubles. Above
all, it is clear that reconstruction cannot go
forward until we have another Executive.
How long shall that be2 This is now the
great question for the country to consider.
We have the Presidents platform in the two
opinions-we know what to expect from him
and we ought to determine a: once what
shall! be done.