The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-07-25
MORE MIsREP1EsHNTAr1oN.

The editors ofthe Rock Island and No
line Union are either ignorant of matters Of
which they write, or they mean to deceive
the public. In their paper of this morning
1.-THE 25th) in their leading editorial, they
say:
"Asde from the question of Constitutional
right, Republicans always argued against the ex-
pediency of admitting rebels to onr Halls of Com
gress, on the ground that by uniting with the
doughfaced Democrats Of the North, they might
succeed in repudiating the National war debt or
combine the rebel war debt with it.. This would
compel loyal men to pay rebels the money which
they squandered in trying to overthrow the gov
eminent. I'll ssa*t tSfl 90 -.s a.f.
sTt is almost impossible to imagine that even
Northern copperheads would allow fneir .reason-
able feelings to carry them SO fl; nae tne fdea
u,essaoe to conor n He distinctly asserts as
logical CONSEQUENCE the military plan of recon
struction. that this debt must be assumed by the
FEDERAL eoYornment. The President states that
This debt amounts to about one thousand million
of doaafs. This then is the democratic theory"
The idea that any position assumed by
President johnson, therefore becomes s'the
democratic theory" is SO supremacy ridicu-
lous that NO fair-minded, sensible, or intelli-
gent man will utter it. -'f
And the statement that the President
made any sort of reference to ,s'the rebel war
debt" or asserted, "as a logical consequence
of the military plan of reconstruction, tina,
this debt must be assumed by the Federal
Government" is wholly and totally false
He made no aAusion to ''the rebel war debt, y
or to its assumption by the Federal Govern
ment Here is just what he did say %
Extract from the Message alluded to.l
1t is exceedingly difficult at the present time t.
estimate the probable expense of carrying inte
full effect the two acts of March last and the bill
which passed the two Houses of Congress on the
18th inst. If the existing governments of ter
states of the Union ore to be deposed, and thei
entire machinery is to be placed under the exclu
sive control and authority OF the respective die
trict commanders, all the expenditures inciden
to the administration of such governments mus
necessarily be incurred by the Federal Govern
ment. It believed that in addition to the tw,
millions one hundred thousand dollars alread,
expended or estimated fer, the sum which woul'
| be required for this purpose would not be les
| than fourteen millions of dollars, the aggregat
| amount expended prior to the rebellion in til
administration of their respective government
by the ten states embraced in the provisions o
| erably augmented if the machinery Of thes
states is to be operated by the Federal Govern
| ment, and would be largely increased if the Unit
ed States, by abolishing the existing State gov
ernments, should become responsiblefor labilitie
incurred by them before the rebellion, in lauda
BILE efforts to develop their resources, and in N
| wise created for insurrectionary or revolutionar
purposes. The debts of these states, thus iegiti
mately incurred, when accurately ascertaineG
| will, il is believed, approximate hundred mi
| lions of dollars, and they are held not only b
our own citizens, among whom are residents
/ portions OF the country which have ever remain
ed loyal to the Union, but by persons who a,
| the subjects of foreign governments. 1t is worth
| the consideration of Congress and the countr
| whether, if the Federal Government, by its &c
ton, were to assume such obligations, larg
| an addition to our public expenditures would nc
seriously impair the credit of the nation
| or, the other hand, whether the refus;
of Congress to guarantee the payment
the debts Of these states, after having di:
placed or abolished their state government
| would not be viewed as a violation o. good fait
and Republication, by the National Legislator
| of liabilities which these states had justly an
| legally incurred. ,..-.-
| ANDREW JOHNSON.
| Washington, d. c., July 10, 1867.