The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-01-25
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1867.
Preliminary Points to be Settled.

great issue between President johnson and
the Union party. And, first, it NAV be pre-
missed that the question is not one as to the
effect ofthe war upon the status of the late
Rebel States, although conservative organs
usually assume that it is. The precise legal
effect Of the Rebellion upon the States which
engaged in il is a vexed and knotty question
upon which neither conservatives nor radicals
are agreed among themselves. Almost every
man you meet has his own theory in regard
to it. President johnson and the radicals,
however, start from common point which
practically avoids this question. That COM
mon point is the fact stated by him in
his proclamation for the reconstruction
OF the State of North Carolina, that the sup
preston of the Rebellion left those States
without civil government. Whether, as a
metaphysical question, they were then IN the
Union or out Of it; whether they had ceased
to be States altogether, or had merely ceased
to be in constitutional relations with the
Union; whether their corporate life was de-
stroyed,Or merely uspended?-however these
queries may be answered, ali are agreed that
there were no State organizations there, and
if for no other reason, for the very good one
that the President, in his military capacity
as COmmander-n-chief of the army and
navy, had Overthrown the Rebel State organiz-
atiOns, leaving nothing in their place. Upon
this fact, therefore, the absence of State
organizations in the late Rebel States, imme-
diately after the overthrow of the Rebellion,
bNth DraaiJ,y4
are agreed.
Nor, secondly, is there any dispute between
the two parties as to whether conditions NAV
rightfully be imposed upon the late Rebel
communities before they are invested with
power in the Union as States. The President,
before he would consent that these commun-
ties were entitled to resume their functions as
States in the Union, required them to ratify
the anti-slavery amendment to the Constitu-
tion and to repudiate the Rebel debt. This
completely estops him and his supporters
from denying the legality and rigntfulness
OF imposing conditions Of restoration upon
the late Rebel communities.
Nor, thirdly, is there any dispute as to the
right oil a State, with a legal State Govern
ment, and whose relations have not been dis
turbed by the Rebellion, to be represented in
the Union. The conservative organs con-
stantly and uniformly beg the question upon
this point. They persistently assume tnat
the State Government of North Carolina, for
instance, is as legal as that OF Pennsylvania.
But this is one of the chief points in dispute.
Nobody doubts the legality of the State Gov
ernment of Pennsylvania, while the legality of
the State Government of North Carolina is sub
ject to gravest doubts. Pennsylvania has not
been in rebellion, while North Carolina has.
Pennsylvania has not joined hostile con-
federacy, and waged war against the Union,
while North h Carolina has. Pennsylvania has
never lost her State organization, while
North Carolina has. All these points of diff
ference the conservatives shut their eyes to,
and clamor that we have as much right to
refuse representation to PENNSYLVANIA as we
have to refuse it to North Carolina. The
cases are not parallel, and the argument
drawn from them is worthless. North Caro-
lina's present position is due to the fact that
she engaged in rebellion and war against the
United States. Had she remained true to her
duties and obligations as a State ofthe Union.
her right to representation would have been
as unquestioned as that of Pennsylvania.
But having gone into rebellion; having dis
carded all her duties as a State; having con-
temptuously withdrawn her representatives
from Congress; having incurred all the
hazards OF revolution; having lost her State
Government in the operation, and now
coming up with one which dates back for its
origin to no higher source than a Presidential
proclamation, she has no ground of
vested right, or immemorial privilege, to
stand upon and claim representation in the
Union. Since the fact that this State was
without organization, and had lost its State
Government, as a consequence Of the Rebel
lion, is acknowledged by all parties, Congress
may well ask by what authority cOnven-
ton TOR the forming OF a new State Govern
ment in North Carolina was called? Under
what LGW was it assembled and organized?
And the true answer to these questions will
reveal the tact that this pretended State Gov
ernment in North Carolina has no foundation
in law, and hence is illegal and evolutionary,
The foregoing are the chief points which
need to be settled before we discuss the essen
tial issue between the President and the
peoples representatives assembled in Con.
0ress. That discussion we must defer to O
future article.
STATE STATUs.-The Supreme Court o.
Alabama decided Yesterday that the State