Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-10-18

1 That rebels who had held office under
our governments and afterwards enEag-
ed in rebellion, violating their oath Of
I allegiance to the United States, should
be deprived Of the right Of voting and
holding Office, subject to the viii Of
[ Congress.
That the national debt should be paid,
the rebel debt repudiated and the enan-
/ cipated slaves never paid for.
/ These terms were generous to fault.
Yet they were lived up to in good faith
by Congress and on ratifying them
Tennessee was restored to all the rights
Of loyal State. But they were denoun-
ced by the President and the Demo
cratic party in the most violent terms.
Referring TO them the JOhnsOn-Demo-
cratic convention at Philadelphia, re-
solved, s.
aThat no people has ever yet existed
I whose loyalty and faith sgsch treatment
long continued would not ALLEVIATE and
impair and the ten millions Of Ameri-
cans who live in the South would be
unworthy citizens Of u free country, dege'I-
crate sons Of q heroic ancestry, unit even
20 become the guardians Of the rights
and liberties begueathed to as by the
fathers and founders Of the republic, If
tey t0ot,ld accept sofh a1leOulp5aini,lg subalf8-
sUelless ne hurnaiation a.ss sought 10 be iapos-
sC5 upon them"
After such advice by the President
andfhe Democrats the Amendment was
rejected by the Legislatures Of every
one Of the insurgent States. Virginia on
Iy gave one vote for it, North Carolinia
/ IL, South Carolina /, Georgia 2, Florida
none, Alabama 2, Mississippi none,
Louisiana none, Texas 5, and Arkansas
3. Thus these mild terms of restoration
were contemptuously spurned by these
unrepentant and unsu bmissive rebels of
the South They were thus spurned
though ratified by large majorities in
the Legislatures of nearly all the
Northern States and sustained by the
] people in a popular election blythe over
wheIming majority Of over 400, 900 votesi
! What was next to be dOne7 LawIess-
ness and violence had become rampant
in the South. Bloody riots were organ
! lied with the system of a battle, and
! loyal men, white and black, cruelty
butchered. These loyaIists, Of both ra-
ces, appealed to Congress for protection,
the whites asking again and again the
enfranehisement of the blacks for the
protection Of both against their COM
mon prosecutors. An immense delegate
/ convention Of the loyal Southern white
I people was held at Philadelphia, at
which resolutions were adopted strongly
condemning the Johnson-Democratic
l policy and declaring that
''The Ioyalisrs Of the South look to
! Congress with affectiOnate gratitude and
disII055 terHaszeI MS
Z from persecution, exile and death itself;
/ and we also declare that there can be
/ no security for rs OF, our children; there
4 can be no safety for the country against
j the fell spirit of slavery, now organized
/ in the form of serfdom, unless the Gov
/ ernment by national and Appropriate
] legislation, enforced by national au-
/ thOK1ty, shall confer on every citizen in
/ the States we represent the American
1 birthright of impartial suffrage and e.
/ quality before the law. This is the one
/ s9g5icie5at remedy This Is our great and
! pressing necessity"
To this appeal Congress was finally
compelled, as the only remaining alter
native to give heed. Accordingly THE
PEOPLE of the South were taken as
/ the basis of reorganization Of civil gov
ernment. Upon that basis . system of
reorganization was submitted, ground-
ed in the great essential principle of re-
publicanism that governments derive
their powers fsfrom the consent of the
governed" !"
/ For the temporary. purpose of carry
| ing out this plan and for the suppress
sion of disorder, military government
was extended over the insurgent terri
tory. A large portion Of the Southern
| people, encouraged by such men as Gen.
iiL.Ongstrset, Gen. JEFF. Thompson and
/ Gov. Jos. E. Brown, set themselves to
work at reorganizing under the law
| Another portion, instigated by-such m
repentant rebels as Toombs, Perry and
Hill, went to work with equal zeal to
evade it. In this these latter were en-
| couraged by the Northern cOpperheads
and the President. With such encouE-
agement they applied to the Supreme
Court for an injunction against the ex-
ecution of the law but failed. The Pres
ident then reinforced them by The STAN
berry opinions, designed ito explain the
law away and render it a nuIlity. But
Congress assembled in July last and
nullifed johnson and Stanbery. The
Presidents next step in ecouraging the
Southern recusants was the removal Of
Stanton, Sheridan and Siclzles who had
been the most conspicuous and efficient
officers in executing the law.
Bus in spite of all this, reorga nization
went on and progresses still. Elections
lately held in two or three states on the
subject of calling conventions have re-
suited favorablY. Elections viii soon
be held in the rest of the states and
there is fair prospect of the best re-
suits provided the people will stand by
and support che Congressional pIah.-
VIII they?
The recent elections look unfavorable, |
yet we cannot believe that the people /
are ready for the overthrow of these |
measures, and we are the more certain |
of this when we consider what will be |
the inevitable consequences if these
measures are broken down. And first, |
there is great danger that it would re-
suit in our defeat in the next Presiden-
tiaI election and in eopperhead and reb- |
ell domination in this country. In eve
ry Southern State rebels would obtain /
control of the government, and loyal
men, whether white or black, would be |
reduced to practical serfdonn or eompeIl- !
ed to seek an asylum in the North
Freedom of speech and of the press |
would be destroyed and Northern en-
terprise and capital excluded from ten
States of the Union. The blacks would |
be denied education and a white aris- |
tocracy, based on serfdom, would rule |
the South, as before the war with a rod I
Of iron. There would be but one reme-
dy for this, and that is the idefnite con
tinuance Of military government. But
should the Copperhead party get into |
power how long would such govern
ment continue? How long before the
South would be restored to it's ancient /
sygraU in the co,I77 ellis of tho nations 3 And /