The New York herald., 1867-02-09
The New Bill for tho scuth-Thc Right Be-
ginning nj Last. taseM

The right beginning ID tall the battle, and
Congress, In beginning at last at Appomattox
Court House, gets at the right end Of the thread
OF Southern restoration. The new bin from
the Joint Committee of Fifteen, like the pend
ing constitutional amendment, covers the difl-
Guilty. Chaos reigns from the Potomac to the
Rio Grande Over all that unreconstructed
region The Dred Scott decision against ''nig-
gers" ana poor Union whites fearfully pre-
walls Under Mr.. Johnson's State establish
ments the civil authorities too often wink and
connive at the doings of rufIlans and outlaws,
and when a military oficer undertakes their
punishment he is stopped by revocation of
his orders. Hence the new bill providing
temporarily to divide the territory Of the ten
outside rebel States into five military districts,
each under Union general, and ali under tho
supervision of General Grant and the laws and
regulations of = military government. This,
in wiping out all the unauthorized doings Of
Mr.. Johnson, ID going back to the point of
Lees surrender and beginning the work de
movo, and the authority and the power are
with Congress, and the occasion justiacs It's
proposed action.
} The opposition fre-eaters Of the House Of
course regard this bill as terrible Chinese
pepper or salt. "The death knell of civil
liberty" military despotism," eight for
our liberties" "ramparts of the constitu-
ton," "rock the land like an earth
quake,' "ilre, sword and destruction" and all
such trash, twaddle and fustian are the staple
Of their arguments. Give them birthstone and
inolasses, moOnshine and green cheese, dough-
nuts and b0nny clabber, preizels and lager.
fandangoes and fiddlesticks, and yon have
them. We have described the bill. 1t is a
simple, seasonable, lawful and practical mea-
sure of legislation. 1t only proposes to relieve
Mr.. Johnson Of the cares and troubles Of the
States concerned for short time, and to put
them under the care OF General Grant. We
think this capital idea. Mr.. Johnson has
blundered much worse in his efforts to set up
again the d:sjointed States of the late confed-
eracy than "little Mack" in his unfortunate
efforts to put them down. When General
Grant took them in hand the kid-glove policy
gave way to the naked bayonet and Quaker
guns were heard of no more. He saw that the
only argument with the Southern confederacy
was regular thrashing. and so he thrashed 1t
out of the boots Of JEFF Davis into absolute
submission. There never was a job SO difficult
70 neatly and thoroughly done-never in oil
The world, Just at that point when those rebel
States and their chiefs and followers lay
absolutely at the. mercy sf the govern
nent and were ready 10 comply with
any terms-just then, had Mr.. j johnson
nos been blinded BY his unexpected
advancement to the White House, he would
have called Congress together and laid this
whole business Of reconstruction before the
two houses. That was his path Of safety and
success. In taking the opposite course and in
holding TO It he has brought himself at length
to that pass from which he must back ont or
be cast overheard, like Jonah, into the depths
Of the sea, whale or no whale to pick him up.
Having foreborne until forbearance has
ceased to be virtue, Congress, assuming its
rightful authority, proposes now to cast aside
all this clumsy, slipshod patchwork Of recon-
struotion attempted by Mr.. johnson, and to give
General Grant trial. Is he not the man for
the task Does he not thoroughly understand
the necessities Of the rebel States on behalf Of
law and order, and do not the ruling politi-
clans Of those States thoroughly understand
himf We dare say that under this bill the
very name Of Grant will produce such Q change
all over the South among ell classes, rebel fire.
eaters, Yankees, native white loyalists, negroes
and all, that they will think the millennium is
coming and thank God for the end Of candy
Johnsen's policy Under his mesmeric sham
pooing the Southern politicians believe in the
delusions that he has given them only their
constitutional rights, and that the two houses
of Congress ~ they stand are illegal, and
somehow or other win be compeAed to give
way to "the Union as il was" and to the South
as it was in the Senate Of 1s60-'61, including
JEFF Davis, Toombs, Benjamin, Mason and Sli-
dell. But General Grant, under this bill, will
soon dispel all such mesmerisma We cannot
doubt 1t when the measure is advocated by
such sterling and intelligent Union soldiers rs
Generals Thomas, Sheridan, Schofeld, Baird,
Wood, Sickles and others, whose Southern ex-
perience and services, even since the war, en-
title them TO the highest respect
Az to the present status Of the rebellious
States, inside or outside, or half way, it Is
enough that they are not recognized by Con-
gress as reinstated In the general government
under the legislation Of the Executive. They
stand excepting Tennessee) as they stood with
the surrender Of the last Of their rebel armies,
subject to the terms Of Congress. Mr.. johnson
having no authority to prescribe the terms or
make the laws Of their restoration, all that he
has done, In being at last repudiated by Con-
gress. goes for nothing. Such, too, Is their cen-
dition Of general decentralization and confusion,
from bis blundering policy, that the efficient
Intervention Of Grant Is needed TO restore the
primary elements Of law and order. This
object he can soon achieve, and then the con-