New-York tribune., 1867-09-03
nnn.1or,TOy TIE VAR PATH.

UpOn it, For lls Icius"' w -
in its plain intent there can DC no 'A'"1V'
even ignorance cannot be pieauco !" MS
case for ignorance is lncaplclty' anu 'h"'
il an unavoidable Ohense Mt. Johnson may
therefore take his choice OF expIahatiodS' VIII"
tho cortoipty that he can make none ChaI 'no
country will accept. When we ma Ill the long
80, of his official action, year after year,
thing Int direct opposition to the laws, the
nonoIus;on ia inevitable that he is criminal
or ;ncanoble. and in very respect for the Presl-
5oncv tbe neoplc will not permit it to be hlled
hv a Iaw-breakcr or an imbecile. we may
t,;oIk Il wiser to wait and endure as we have
ndured: but, wise or mprudent no man can
doubt the great fact that the indignant spirit OIL
the nation will not lOEg tolerate the monstrous
anomaly of q President whose sole business Is
to defeat their will. The issue between the
President and the people is upon the immediate
execution of the laws, and cannot be post
poned till 1860. We want Peace now, not two
wears hence; and if the nation cannot obtain it
through the President, it is unmistakably re-
solved to got it over him.
Unfortunately for the majority of the people
who would much prefer to find him ooedlent,
the President prefers to resist. lie seems re-
solved to force them to measures which they are
still desirous to avoid. His new organ, Ihe Dos
ton Post. tells us that che has determined to be
"master of the situation; that he has exhausted
" every effort at harmony and Cancellation, and Is
"rcsolyed TO resist TO the utmost. Mr.. johnson
"declared to party Of friends to-day that,
"haying exhausted every effort at concillatl0n,
che should now unfnchingly enforce every
Constitutional power to save the country from
"impcndng ruin; that the simple issue was
| Constitutional Government or Military Des-
"potism, and he had fully resolved upon the
"course he should adopt to fulhll
"the plain requirements of his Office" And
| it. actually assures us that "the President has
"takcn the War Path in earnest" Is 1t any
| wonder that these scmi-Otlicial declarations OF
nancrs which are known to have the confidence
of the President, and which ENJOY inohopoy
| of his news, should have aroused the people 10
| a sense of new danger Without them the
removals of Stanton, and Sheridan, and SIckies
would bc enough to prove that Mr. Johnson Is hoV
vet ready TO abandon his hopes OF defeating the
will of the people Politically, we may be
Iikcned 70 n people stricken by n pestilcnce or
bv some other great and general calamity, OF
which the limits are underlined and the end
whereof 10 man knowet: truly. We know to
what sore and bloody straits a bad Govern
mcnt, long continued and too tardily circum-
vented brought us; and nov, when we have
President with all the political vices of Mr..
| buchanan, we have too much reason to fear
that 1867 will be at least "a bad rs 1851.
| That vague ili-bcgOttcn and hybrid monster
| baptizcd "My Policy" to which nO man, not
! even its bcgcttcr, can attach fixed form
and purpose. is the natural parent OF pro-
! geny of minor doubts, of ugly and swiit-run-
ming rumors, OF threatening portcnts, ana os
continually shifting panics. This Is the mis-
| chief which one man in other lands and IN
other times has been able To do, but FROM
which this Republic during nearly the century ol
;ts existence has been exempted: for Mr.. John
son il our first thoroughly bad President In
those "Statcs lately in rebellion IN which
lusty hope, of bloody corp deid' are begin
ming to develop thcmscvcs-in Maryland
which, if not a Rebel state, at least swaIms
with Rebel spirts-wc are told that the enemies
of peace and order have taken heart OF grace.
They anticipate nothing less than the declara-
ton of martial law throughout the United
States. Congress is 70 be prevented from as
scmbling next November by force OF arms.
The President, in short. j. to assume supreme
authority These hopes and rumOrs may bo
partly mfoundcd; ont the bitter question is
how they came 70 be entertained and prOmul-
gated at alll The Governor of State might
give an impression that he intended to pardon
all the thieves but could he do so without
some act or speech unworthy of the dignity oI
! the equity OF his office When the President has
arraycd himself with the full impressvcness
and power Of his place against the loyal masses,
we do not blame the unicgcncratc, political
| sinners. OF the South for supposing, vaguely
enough perhaps, that he has gone over to their
side. They would be less or more than men if
they were not instantly encouraged and melted
TO fresh acts Of persistent dsobcdencc. The
grief of genuine and unsullied loyalty must be
the JOY of treason.
In this emergency. we wish TO hear nOthin 9
of the purity Of tho Presidents intentions
We must Judge public men by their acts, and
the quality of their acts is to be determined
by results The irresponsible and ill-tempored
exercise of power is a phase of politics to
which in this country we have never been ac-
customed. and God forbid that we should ever
become 50 The quarrel of the President is
with the people, through their representatives,
and in this struggle tit is to bo determined
whether Presidents shall be our servants
or whether we shall be theirs. Let the reader
turn to the Constitution, and then study the
simple and wcll-defined duties of the Execu-
tive. Let him then consider the extraordinary
assumptions of Presidential authority which
have cOnvulsed the country, and ask himself,
whatever may be the motives of Mr.. Johnson,
if official eccentricitics TO use the mildest of
words) may not sometimes rise to the bad dig
nifty Of high crimes acknowledgements.