The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-03-22
Practical Operation of the Reconstruc-
tiOn Bill.

ton Bill
THE most interesting topic commanding the
public attention just now is the process of
reconstruction under the bills which have
lately passed Congress. The first result of
these measures has been to throw the hitherto
united, defiant, and sullen South into the
utmost confusion. A fierce discussion has
sprung UP in every one of the late Rebel
States as to what shall be done. Public men
are divided the press is divided; public senti-
ment is divided. We have already the nu-
cleus of two great parties at the South. 1t is
no longer a solid South against the North, but
il is a home contest between elements of
nearly equal strength. This of itself is
great gain. So long as the whites of the South
stood solidly together, the situation was un-
promising. Now for the first time since the
Rebellion broke out, we behold a divided
South.
The element of division is the question of
action or non-action under the Reconstruction
bill. The old fre-eating faction-the original
seoessionists and nullifers-as a class, are so
bitterly opposed to the admission of the negro
to political equality that they cannot consent
to act at all. The burden of their argument is
that the law is oppressive, degrading, and
acknowledgements which they un-
fortunately find ready coined in the veto mes
sage of President Johnson. They look with
longing eyes to the Supreme Court, and are
disposed, MiCawber-like, to wait for something
to turn up. On the other side, the more
moderate men-those who were driven into
the Rebellion, not from choice, but from the
force of circumstances-and an occasional old
leader who has sense enough to comprehend
the revolution that has passed over the coun-
try since 1861 urge prompt and cordial action
under the BILL Already, this class of men are
denounced by the fre-esters. The contest is
settling down to one between the fire-eaters, ON
one side, and the moderate men, whites and
negroes, on the other.
The policy of non-action must inevitably
fail. The work of registering voters will
soon be in full operation in every one of the
late Rebel States. If the fre-eaters do not
choose to take the oath and register them
selves, they will neither defeat nor delay the
work. They will simply exclude themselves
lIOm ClpdClOll III OllS pOllUlOdl pOWcI VI
the State. The negroes and the moderate
white men will certainly be registered, and
will 90 ahead with the work of framing Con-
stitutions and State Governments. In a very
short time the whole political organization
will have passed into their hands. The Pro-
visional Governments will have gone out Of
existence, and the new Governments will have
taken their places. No decision of the
Supreme Court can then reach the case; for
the reconstructed republican governments
will be the only ones in existence, and will
be promptly admitted to the Union. No de-
cision of the Supreme Court can ever annul
de tacto State Government, recognized by
Congress, and admitted to its share of power
in the Union. The Supreme Court will not
attempt it.
The work of reconstruction, therefore, under
the Congressional plan, is bound to go on,
and to be accomplished. This will become so
apparent that the ire-eaters themselves will
be forced to participate. Yet we expect they
will be so tardy and hestating about the
matter, so full of bitterness towards the North
and of prejudice against the negro, that they
will lose control of nearly every one of the
late Rebel States.
The negro vote is to be the great controlling
element in the South, until the political rights
and privileges of that class shall have been
placed upon secure and unquestioned
foundation. Politicians of all classes will soon
court it, and no party will dare to attempt tc
deprive them of their franchises.