The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1867-09-04

Il
arc torritorios-which we believe to be
tho true position--tlcn Congress and
Congress alone can mako ssncedful |
rules and regulations respecting" us.
Congress in all eases Of the Territories
have established their organic laws,
and have prescribed who should be
voters and their qualifications. These
organic acts for tho Territories havo
always been recognized and sustained
rs the supreme law, so long as they
remained in that condition. And the
power of Congress in these cases has
never boon disputed until now. But
put us i'll any shape, rs States or Ter
ritorios, still The Legitimate authority
must rest with Congress to pass tho
necessary laws for reconstruction, for
certainly, no man of common sense
will contend, that any other depart
mcnt OF the Government can mtiAc
Maps. 1t is contcndcd, however, That,
according to the terms Of surrender, it
was understood that VIC were States,
and had the right to be restored to the
Union. Whom, how and by whom
were such terms agreed upon! The
truth is, no such terms were made and
no person ever claimed, that such was
tho case, until tho Congress passed
the Military bill. And ri.,!.! here, IS
tho starting point with those opposed
to the Congressional plan. They as.
sumo as fact, what is not so, and write
volumes upon false ascs. Eut sup
pose it was SO understood, and suppose
the only issue involved in the war was
the mainCcnnnco of the Union, would
any ono pretend that we had II rirh!
to reconstruct on y plan Of our own
Does any party contend that any ac-
tion on our part would, OF Itself, have
been sufficient for restoration without
thc action Of Congress 1t matters
not what opinion We may have enter
tainod ola refusal to admit us on the
| part OF Congress, yet we cannot deny
the proposition, that they have - right
to refuse, however unwiSc or unjust in
divi,luals may regard it. Again, had
tho President u right to reconstruct
these States under his plan =? Sup
pose, that il be true, that We were
States, that the war was carried on
for purposes above set forth alone, and
suppose We had entered into written
agreement to this effect, would any
man contend that these States and
Mr.. Johnson were tho only parties to
tho contract? Most certainly not,
power exists no whore to restore us to
the Union except i'll Congress.
We presume it will not be denied,
if we arc Territories, (which must be
The case, if the act Of secession was
warranted by tho original compact of
goycrmcnt-that Congress has power,
to "mako nccdrul rules and rcgula
lions" and has the right to rrcscriho
who shall be, and the qualifications of
voters. AS We said before, the States
Rights doctrine was buried with the
war, and in our present condition it il
well. For suppose, after our read
mission to tho Union, it wore to be-
come necessary to alter or amend the
franchise laws. Suppose tho present
experiment were TO prove q failure :;
why, under tho old doctrine of States
Rights our hands would be tied and
tho present laws would remain in
forco indefinitely, and the chances
are, that they could not be changed
without subjccting us to another civil
war. We invite special attention to
this point of our subject, for We do be-
licvo the course being pursued by The
opposition is calculated to lead to re-
suits which VIC would all avoid if pos
siblc. We take it for granted, that
all of the opposition will admit that
their greatest objection to the Militia
ry bill is the negro suffrage clause,
this is tho ground work of oN opposi-
tion to it. Now let us sec the effect
of this opposition. 1t is conceded that
tho colorcd people arc in the majority
in South Carolina, they have the right
to vote and to go to tho Convention
and frame constitution for the State.
Suppose then the whites adopt Mr..
Pcrry's policy and vote against y Con-
Ventlon and assert their opposition to
general suffrage. DO they suppose
that one colorcd man in thousand
would vote for them Certainly not.
Then the Convention would bo COM
posed almost entirely of colorcd people
who would mako constitution