The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-03-07
EX-G0V. BROWN, OF GEORGIA, ON
RECONSTRUCTION.
An Able and Candid Discus
sion by a Prominent
sar Southern Man.
He Accepts the Sherman Military Bill.

Az @ANO"POS OnO OAOAAudu Iu1A1bd1 DILL
aa We have referred to the letter of
Ex-Gov. Brown to the people of
Georgia, but as it is an able discus
sion from a Southern man of high
position and influence upon a most
important question, we publish it in
full to-day. The letter is written in
response to an Invitation from leading
men of the State, to communicate to
them fully, freely, and frankly" his
views of the condition of the country.
Referring to his recent visit to Wash
ington City, they say:
6 Identified, as you are, with every in
terest of Georgia; having been the
recipient of the confidence and suf-
frages of our people inia degree, and
to an extent unparalleled In the his
tory of onr State; and experienced in,
and informed upon, all governmental
matters affecting the vital interests of
all classes of our people, it is but natu-
l,that In our present distressed condi-
tion, we should turn to you as senti-
mel upon the watch-tower, and ask
you, what of the night?"
To which Gov. Brown replies at
length, as follows:
' ATLANTA, February %, 1867.
GENTLEMEN-I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your kind
aud flattering communication. While
/ do not pretend that / possess the
influence you are pleased to attribute
to me, | confess with profound graft
tude the obligations am under to the
people of Georgia, who have so often
honored me with their confidence;
and have never withheld from me any
position for which have been a can
didatey from the lowest to the highest
within their gift.sla5saa1ge 81
IGYou are pieasedt to address me as
the sentinel upon the watch tower"
and you ask me, HWhat of the hight2"
Were | the sentinel, / should unhesi-
tatingly reply: The night is dark,
dreary, gloomy; no rainbow of hope
spans the black, impenetrable cloud
that t-overshadOws us. Scarcely ray
aof lights seen upon its margin. But
i am not the sentinel. Ihold no pub
lie position at present imposing that
responsibility, nor have / sought or
held any since the war, nor do l ever
EXPECT to hold any in future.
have no power to control events.
Were it even the desire of the peo-
pie of my beloved State to invest me
again with official authority, and my
own wish to accept, there is a power
higher than their will, which will de-
ny my eligibility.
/, therefore write, as indeed my
custom is, with perfect frankness,
without regard to the effect which the
communication of truth may have
upon my present or future popularity.
am aware that the facts which /
feel it my duty to communicate, are
unacceptable to the good people of
Georgia, but they are none the less facts
on that account. aad IS.
During my late sojourn in the city
of Washington, | conversed freely
with persons high in authority in
every department of the Government,
and with men of distinction of every
shade Of political sentiment which is
represented there. / was received, as
was Judge Walker, of the Supreme
Court of this State, who accompanied
me, with kindness and courtesy. My
object was to learn the true state Of
affairs, and / believe succeeded. The
result may be summed up as follows:
The party usually designated the
Radical party" is sustained by the
majority of the people of the North.
The Congressman of that party are
generally representative men.
The Democratic party is not sus-
tanned by the people of the North,
and is not gaining ground. As is al
ways the case after successful war,
the party in the Government which is
set down as opposed to the war, is un-
popular. a no3L
The reconstruction policy of the
President is not sustained by the
popular sentiment of the Northern
people.
The Radical party is at issue with
the President. The breach is wide,
and the contest angry. They have
over two-thirds in each branch of
Congress, and have power to pass any
measure they please over his veto.
By this means they are constantly
hedging him in more closely, and linn
iting his power. He stands firmly by
what he considers the right, and
avows his purpose to stand by the
Constitution, and maintain the just
rights of the States under the Consti-
tuition. He still holds the doctrine
that no State could or did go out of
the Union, and that at the end of the
war he had the right to reconstruct
republican governments in the insur-
rcctionary States. They deny his power
of reconstruction, and contend, that,
as the power to make war is vested in
Congress, the power to make peace,
and re-establish State governments in
the States lately in rebellion. rests