The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1867-03-28
The Voice of tiie Press ON the
Situation.
[From the Kosciusko Chronicle.

occupies the mind of every intelligent
thinking man in the South, is the sit
uation of the Southern States, under
the recently enacted ssMilitary Recon
struction BILL and what is the best
policy to be pursued in this, their
great emergency, It is but natural.
| that every true Southern man should
look upon the provisions of this bill
with loatliing and horror. That it IS
degrading and oppressive to the
highest degree, will not be gainsayed
by any one yet how are we to avoid
lit? The Congress of the United
| States have passed this bill by the con-
stitutional majority over the Presi-I
dents veto, consequently it is the law
of the land; the. President is bound
by his oath of office to see that it is
executed the same as any other law,
and it is the duty of the citizen to res
pect it in all of its provisions so long
as it remains as one of the statutes of
the country.
There is certainly great danger of
/ this being the result of "masterly in
activity" so strenuously advocated by
many. 1t may be rather humiliating
to accept these terms, to avoid more
serious evils Admit it; have we not
already suffered humiliation after
humiliation 1t is now too late to
talk of preserving chivalry, honorand
dignity, when the total Authorization
of the South-sweeping measures of
.eooo+;on ord 1;cfro,, obicov,,apf
with all the horrors of an indefinite
military rule, are placed in the scales
against the disfranchisement of few
leaders of the South. 1t is true that
we all dislike by our own act to dis
franchise our neighbor, but if by it we
accomplish a greater good to greater
number, is it not the best policy to do
so? We are Of the opinion that tie
true policy ofMe South, though painful
it mag be, to accept Military Bill as 1t IS,
fully comply acith its every requirement.
60 to work as speedily as possible to
organize State governments under its
provisions. The sooner this is done,
the sooner we will have representation
in Congress, and the control of our
own legislation, and the sooner will
peace, quiet and prosperity be restored
to our now unhappy country.
The Rienzi, Miss, Union endorses
Gov. Browns letter, and says:
Whatever may be the ultimatum in
this great controversy, is settled
There must be advantages in the early
adoption of that basis. The business
interests of the South is so crippled,
that it ought to be lifted out of the
stagnation caused by the existing state
of uncertainty. To postpone recon
struction under Stevens bill for the
sake of restoration under the simple,
unamended Constitution, would, in our
Judgment, be wise and reasonable de-
lay. But to postpone reconstruction
on the new plan-to be forced to
adopt something thousand times
more odious, three or five years hence,
i would be simplicity and folly. Every
year of military rule puts back the ma
terial interest of the South; and what
is still worse, it accustoms the North
ern people to the dangerous practice
of domineering. The. dangers thus
entailed, may be reasonably anticipa-
ted in the persistent pursuit of our
compromising ends; not as hating
place, at which our people only loses
time, property and quiet, to enter at
last on the same path that they have SO
bravely repudiated.
If the Southern States are ever to re-
organize under the military bill, we
should do so this year, and thereby
have the advantage of participating
in the Presidential election. If we
form new State Constitutions, and do
it soon-at next winters session-we
will have sixty or seventy more votes,
which may determine the result in our
favor. But postponement will shut
US out completely, and may be the
means Of subjecting us to radical rule
four more years. If we should reor-
ganize next year, our Constitution
could not be submitted to Congress
for approval until after the Presiden-
tial election is past. We of the South
have far deeper stake than the peo-
pie Of the North, in rescuing the Gov
eminent from radical control, and our
electoral votes would, in all probable
ity, turn the scale.
From the Selma (Ala) Times.
The Duty OF THE HoUR.-The
hour has arrived for action on the part
of the people of the South. To trust
longer to a political party at the
North, greatly in the minority, to re-
store constitutional liberty, while we
are "'twixt upper neither and surround
ing fires," would be inconsistent with
reason or common sense. With all
the facts staring us fully in the face,
it behooves every man who feels an.
interest in the future of our unfortu-
nate country, to consider wisely and
calmly the momentous question that
has arisen, and act promptly and firm
ly. Passion and prejudice must be
discarded, and the new order of things
that has been forced upon us, must be
gracefully accepted, however unpalat-
able it may be to the great mass of our
people. AS the Richmond Times well
says, ssour self preservation demands
that we should prepare to grspple with
new dangers and emergencies. e
The Constitutional Amendment was
bo1d f,,t RI no Int honor dinto4od ;fo