The Texas Republican. [volume] (Marshall, Tex.) 1849-1869, 1868-02-08

VIZ ~ 1seonservstasn Ac's 0ta,A
We prefer to argue this, not as a
question Of Law bat Of probable fact
II divides itself into two parts; first,
whether these acts will stand II N,
supreme Court should not prss npon
them and secondly, whether the
Supreme Court will pronounce them
void.
Independently Of possible dccis.
ions by that high tribunal, i, is
incontestabls that tho great body Of
the Soathsra whites, and q large pro.
portion Of the Northern people, be.
licvc the reconstruction acts uncon.
stitutional, and are not likely to
change their belief The Southern
whites, thus believing, and thus sup.
ported in their belief by great
party in the North, will never submit
to these acts except by military coer.
cion, But military coercion is costly
aud impasieucs under the pressure Of
taxation, will sooner or later compel
the Federal Government to withdraw
it, armies, whe. the unproppcd
structure will fall into immediate
collapse. The moral certainty of
this result, as the final termination Of
tho experiment (unlcss II be previous.
ly arrested by the Supreme Court
is 80 great that only hated partisans
can expect the negro governments to
be durable.
But the question is about to he
again brought before the Supreme
Court, and in such u form that the
Court cannot disolaim jurisdiction.
There is a we'll founded expectation
that the decision will DO against the
eonstitutionAlity Of the law and il
so, the reconstruction experiment
will explode at once in tho hands Of
its conductors. A lawyers reason
for expecting this result would rest
upon tn constitutional argument;
but the popular expectation is sup.
ported BY the admissions Of Rcpub.
licans. As specimen of these nd
missions We insert the following
paragraph from the Evening Post:
We wish thst some Of the wise.
acres at Washington would toll us
how soon the Soithern States are to
be reconstructed, il the acts of re-
construction arc themselves to he
tinkcred every few days. When
these acts were originally presented
We thought them unwise, impractica-
bic, and even unconstitutional, but
We were willing to acquicsce in their
adoption in order to secure a re.es-
adjustment Of the States, and pre-
vent the adoption Of what might be
worse. Once with in the Union,
with their equal constitutional rights
acknowledged, the States would have
full power to frame and modify their
institutions as they pleased
Tho Times, another Republican
journal, has a hundred times avowed
its opinion that the reconstruction
acts are not authorized by the consti-
tuition. Thaddcus Stevens has again
and again declared that in passing
them Congress acted outside the con
stitution, and he has spoken in the
most contemptuous terms Of the Re.
publicans who believe or pretend
otherwise. At least one Of the
Senators who voted for them has
co nfessed that he thought them un'
constitutional at the time, and that
he accepted them only to .sc"?c |
worse evils. Attorney General Stan
bury, who argued against the juris-
diction of tho Supreme Court in the
cases which came before it last spring
expressed himself against the consti-
/ utionality Of the acts, in his eighth
of January speech, with a vigor and
which has startled and
aiar med the Republican members Of
Congress.
II is probable that the Supreme
Court; when the subject was before
il last spring. shared the opinion Of
the Evening Post, Reverdy johnson
and so many others, that an adverse
decision would merely breed greater
Congress seemed, at that
timc, to DO so pcwfa'iy backed by
the Northern people, that decision
against the law could not have been
and legislation would have
been adopted to change the organiza-
ton and undermine the independence
Of the Court besides, it was supposed
that if the South failed Of relief in
the Supreme Court, it would ae-
auicscc and submit to the inevitable.
The judges were probably not sorry
tina: the cases came up in such a
shape that the Court could not take
jurisdiction OF them.
Since these cases were argued the
situation has in all respects changed
The domineering strength Of tho He
publican party, by which Congress
was supported, has been broken. Az
expectation that the South would
ever acquiesce is cxtinguished. Con
gress will no longer dare to reorgan-
ixc the supreme court or defy It's de-
cisions. The independence of tha.
tribunal, then impaired by Republi.
eau mcnaccs, Ia, been restored Aud
a. a case is about to come before It
Of which il has undoubted jurisd'c-
tio7. it will decide against the con
stitutionality Of the reconstruction
law. -,
A decision to that effect now, will
be of infinite more service than It
could have been last spring. Then,
il wouiu have inAamed the country |
now, il will pacify il, Had the de-
cision been rendered in the spring,
Congress would have had time to
devise and put into operation new
.chemc. But il the reconstruction
business falls though Mt this late day,
NO substitute can be consumased
previous to the Presidential election.
An adverse decision will damage and
disoreanisc the Republican party as
il could have done at no former time.
II will blast all the hopes they had
founded on tho negro vote. II will
restore the Southern State Govern
meuts to immediate vigor, and enable