The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-02-08
The New RecOnstructiOn BIZ.

From the WOrt0.
The crude and foolish bill agreed on by the
Reconstruction Committee on Wednesday and
carried through its second reading IN the House,
attests the strong necessity the radicals ieel
themselves under of doing something, and the
impossibility OF their doing anything that will
help them. They are like pickerel ierked out
of water and flung loose upon the dry land.
They hounce and founder, unable to "hop"
back into the element where they were wont to
cut their liquid way, and they eXpend theH
whole fund Of spasmodic energy to bring them
selves to the last gasp. bill to remand tne
Southern States back TO the CUSTODY OF marual
law is an extreme and desperate eXpedlehl car
rying with II a confession that the RADICALS nave
no resources OF craftsmanship, and are inca
pable of devising any civil measures to lit them
out of the existing deadlock.
In the first place, the production OF such a
bill is "a virtual retreat from the project OF i'm.
peaching the President. The sole purpose OF
dividing the South into five military Depart
ments for the administration OF martlal law,
yesting the appointment of the five commanders
in General Grant, and suspendlng the writ OF
habeds corpus, is to thwart and circumvent Pre-
sident johnson. If he were out OF Office, or
were expected to be put out of office no such wild
plan could be thought Of Such an attempt to
sail round the obstructing lsthmus OF the EX-
ecutive Department proves that there is no
longer any expectation of digging through 1t.
The only obstacle to Congress governing the
South as it pleases, without so extreme a resort
as martial law, is the opposition of the Presi-
dent; and method which assumes that obsta-
Gle VIII continue to exist is an admission that
nothlngi expected OF impeachment.
1t being thus virtually conceded that Mr..
Johnson Is TO remain in office, the question
arises whether this bill will suffice to muZzle
him. The pivot on which the contemplated
| martial law is made to turn is General Grant,
who is required to designate the officers and
| superintend the system. But General Grant
| must remain subordinate to the President, and,
Ill - Akl
| his command. 1t is not in the power of Con-
| gress to invert this relation, nor to transfer
| obedience OF the army to any other officer than
the President The Constitution declares that
| the President "shall be Commander -in-Chief of
| the army and navy and of the militia when in
| actual services" and an authority conferred by
the Constitution cannot be revoked by law.
| The chief command OF the army is authority to
direct all its movements to control all its Off
! GERS, to assign to each of them his duties and
exact his obedience. Congress can raise
armies, provide for their support and make
rules for their government; but it can issue no
command to any officer, nor interpOse any Off
Ger between the Commander-in-C Chief and any
portion of the army to interrupt the transmits
sion or break the authority of his orders. The
idea OF taking General Grant, and set of Otn-
GERS whom he is required to designate, out of
the control of the President, and relieving them
from their subordination TO him as Commander
! ln-Chiet, flies so directly in the teeth of the
| Constitution that it can never be put in practi-
| cal execution.
Another fatal objection TO this scheme is that
| IT suspends the habeas corpus IN time of peace.
The Constitution declares that 1.-THE pri vilege of
the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus-
pended, unless when in cases of rebellion or
| invasion the public safety may require it," AT
| present, there is neither invasion nor rebellion
| IN any part of the country. There is nowhere a
| single soldier in arms against the Government,
nor any refusal by any citizen to submit to its
| legal authority. Under such circumstances, a
suspicion of the habeaS corpus is peremptorily
forbidden, and Congress has no power to repeal
this or any other part of the Constitution. II
this bill passes, it will be null and void from
the beginning, and the Supreme Court will so
| declare it,
We Judge from the proceedings on this bill,
yesterday, and from the intimations made by
| MIR. Stevens, its introducer, that it is to
be driven through the House, without
debate, under the pressure OF the previous
question. We commend the prudence of gag
gng all discussion of this monstrosity, for never
was there proposition less fitted to bear the
| hight OF exposure. 1t is some consolation to
think that it will prove as futile as it is abomi-
na6le. So long as we have fearless President
| executed.