The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1867-06-27
CHE Uribuue.
OPPOSING RECONSTRUCTION.

/
! took possession of the Presidential chair.
he has been constantly engaged in oppos-
/ ing an early reconstruction of the late re-
| bellions states. As soon as the war had
been suppressed and The supremacy of
the Government established, the repre-
Sentatlyes of-thc people in congress assem-
/ bled earnestly went to work to mature
t q plan under which the late rebel states
| could again be admitted into the good
| fellowship Of the union of States 1t
| was & question such as never had been
| given to legislative body to decide up-
on. 1t needed earnest, mature delbera-
| ton. The future safety of the govern
ment depended upon it. But in framing
this measure the Republican majority in
| congress were also anxious to show the
people Of the South that they had no
| bitter anjmosity against them; that they
were very desirous for their early return
! into the Union, and willing to let the
past be forgotten. After many months
Of diligent work. plan, commonly
known as the constitutional amendment"
was finally decided upon. 1t was indors-
| ed with great unanimity by the loyal peo-
people of the North 1t was truly
peace Offering" given in a spirit of
friendship, and the very mildest that
could have possibly been expected by the
late rebels. At first they manifested a
disposition to ratify this measure and if
! they had not listened TO evil counsel all
/ Of the Southern States would long since
! enjoyed the benefits of the Union. But
Andrew johnson told the people of the
! South to reject the constitutional amend
ment, and all but Tennessee followed his
| advice. Reconstruction was delayed and
a new measure had to be matured. Af-
ter many weeks the Military Bill was
presented to Congress, and passed by
more than a twothirds vote in both Hous-
ses. johnson again stepped in to delay
reconstruction. 1t was given to him for
his signature and he returned the bill to
| Congress with his veto In his veto mes
sage he endeavored to show Congress
what II ''hideous thing this military bill
was and appealed to them to sustain his
veto but Congress thought differently and
the Military bill became a law.
1t was supposed by some that the acci-
dental Presi lent would faithfully execute
the law BIT in this they were mistaken.
To show hoE persistent johnson still OPP
poses reconstruction we make a few ex-
tracts from his veto me sage and f..m the
opinion Of StanbeFy on the powers of
the Distric+ commanders. which he now
indorsa~. It will be seen that he con-
strucs the law according to cilcumstan-
ces, Here is a paragraph from his veto
message:
The bill places al he people Of The
/ tea .States ti,sfcist ,santed stade5- the oLs0-
! ttte d51tiaat;oR Of miitn3y rulers, and
the preamble undertakes to give the rea-
son upon which it is justified II de
| ,.iares that there cct>ts IA those ,Stotes no
! legal syorernnse"ts and no ao5eyshste pro-
lection for t.re oT property and asserts tie
aecess'ty o. eatofctng peace atct good order
lcitbin Their limits. .
The above was written for the object of
/ defeating the bin when it was before Con
gress. Now however, a change of
| heart has come over him, and his pres
ent purpose is to render the law as inef-
,,n..1,l,lo ~ h.
powers of the Military commanders, as
follows:
This, then, is what is granted to the
! Military Iommaders: the power or duty
to protect all persons in their rights Of
| person and property, to suppress insurrec-
I ton, disorder, and violence, and to pu.i-
i ISL, or cause to be punished, all disturb
ers Of the public peace and criminals.
| and he may do this by the agency Of the
crimira' courts Of the State or if necesSa-
ry, he may have resort to miitry tribun-
ais Ttis comprises al he po,cers gtren
/ to the Military ComniaRdcr.
Again we quote from the message:
''The power given to the commanding
! officer over all the people of each district
/ IS Mat of on absolute nonarch-hts mere
| ,riH IS to haze the place Of all lam. : :
| he oioae Is oerhattei to determine ,ohat
! are the rights Of persons and property.
c1,d lie atg i1.-otect them an such q Uag
as Ia hiS discretion 'naSseen proper.
And now lock at this from Stanbery' 5
"opinion which johnson endorses:
II see no authority, nor any shadow
of authority, for interference with any
/ othe; courts. or any other .iurirdiction,
than criminal courts in the exercise of
criminal Jurisdiction The existing civil
/ authority in all Its other departments,
legislative. executive, and judicial, is left
untouched | find no authority anyw here
! in this act for the removal by the Militia
ry Commander of the proper officers of
a State, either executive or judicial, or
the appointment of persons to their pla-
ces
From the above extracts it will be seen
that Mr. johnson construes this law lii
rhatever way it suits him best From
which direction will the wind blow to-