Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-09-02
KENDALL GEBEN. Aug. 2oy 1868.

l KENDALL GEEEN, Aug. 2oJ 1868.
Alerander Rrtherford, Chairman &c..
DEAR SfR-f duly received your let
ter of the 18th inst, as chairman of
committee of the Jackson Democrati
Association, inviting me to attend at tn
dedication of their hall on the evenin,
of Thursday next, and expressing tn,
belief that my association with Genera
jackson will enable me "to add to tn
interest Of The occasion. ~ . a " . 4 {
In reply, I have the honor to thank yor
and your committee for lremenib iberri m
in my seclusion, and.to inform you tha
my dutiesd e4sewhereo ON that evening
and my disinclination1 at the age of sew
enty-nipe years to mingle in politica
excitements, forbid an !, acceptance o
your Kind invitation. But .recognizin,
the duty of every living man to do wha
he cansto serve his Gcountry intimeCo
danger, l. have no hesitation in 7commu
nieating toyou and your association tn,
, views entertain upon the issue involved
in the elections Of this yeaf!CS
Ofthe men who are candidates I havt
nothing to say, 1t seems to me th,
duty of every true patriot in this mo
mentions crisis to think only of the grea
principles and results involved, -ani
overlooking all that is merely persona
in the candidates, consider them as
merely instrumentstin maintaining thost
principles and affecting those results. "A
vast majority of our Northern people
went into the late war for the preserva
ton of the Union. The war was sue
cessful and the, Union was preserved
The rebels everywhere laid downitheil
arms and peace was restored throughout
the land q All that was needed to make
that peace perpetual was State officers
in all the seeding States sworn to sup
port the Constitution of the United
States. o"' '.9" I'D gI,.sif
True, every man who had borne
arms against the United States, and
every one who had given them aid and
comfort had, under the Constitution and
existing laws, incurred the penalties O
death and confscation. From these
penalties they could be relieved only by
the constitutional pardoning power, OF
by trial and acquittal in the courts
The subject was exclusively. executive
and Judicial, and altogether beyond the
rightful Jurisdiction of the Legislative
power. Now, who does not know thai
had the amnesty proclamations Of
the President been allowed to have theil
legal effect, and the Southern States
been permitted to reorganize themselve:
under officers sworn to support the Con
stitution Of the United States, we shoul6
long ago have had peace and compare
tiveIprosperity throughout our borders
WHY'S it not so? 1t is attributable en-
tirely to- the usurpations of Congress
That body began by adopting the alb
surdity that the successful war for the
preservation of the Union had in fact
destroyed the Union: that in com
pelling the seeding States tc
remain in the Union our armies
had in fact thrust them out; and tha
however anxious the Southern peopl.
might be to stay in or. get in they coult
notdol so without asserting to such con
ditions1as Congress might prescribe. /
theisdccess ioflthe war put the Southern
States out of the Union, would its faih
ure have kept them in2 On this alb
surdity was based the entire. reconstruc
tion Legislation, of Congress. They as
{ sumedIthat the seeding States instead
of being portions of our great republic
were=altogether foreign. and that theil
people, instead of being repentant reb
els, were conquered enemies. Upol
these pretextssthey took them out of tht
constitutional supervision OF the execu
tive and judicial departments of ths
government and subjected them to the
unlimited powers of Congress, irrespec
tive of the constitution. Instead o
leaving them to be pardoned under tht
lawsiin existence when their crime was
committed, they passed er post. factt
laws, imposing upon them new and. un
heard of disabilities, from which theii
victims could, according to their theory
and practice, be relieved only by
the usurping and absolute power
which had imposed them; and wher
the President and Judiciary indicated {
disposition to exercise their constitu
tional rights, they sought to deprive
them Of their rightful powers by legis
lation and by threats of punishment by
impeachment. Thus, practically, has
Congress subverted the Constitution and
on this subject. taken into their owl
hands all the powers of government
Legislative, executive and judicial. ]
theirstheory were true, instead of being
false, as it is, where did they get thu
power to legislate over the ,secedins
States-to treat them as outlaws anc
put them out of the pale of civilized ant
republican institutions? Not, surely, il
the Constitution of the United States
And if not there, what rightful power
{ had they beyond that of any other body
of usurpers not bearing the title of mem
bers of Congress. to legislate over These
people at all2 The party which, has
produced all this wrong, usurpation and
oppression, calls itself Republican. Be
fore and during the war its leaders main
tanned that the Southern States had moi
republican governments, because the ne
groes had no right to vote. The same
men avejoined in imposing governments
upon those States in which large numbers
ofwhite men have no right to vote; and yet
these governments are republican enough
for them. And these Republican lead
ers have shown their regard for republi-
can government by the scheme lately
concocted at Washington and sent out to
be executed by their tools in the South,
for taking even from these new fedged
voters the right to vote for Presidential
electors-a right long exercised by the
people of every State in the Union ex-
cept South Carolina, them aristocratic
in the Confederacy. And this plan has
been actually adopted in Florida. and SO
faradefeated in Alabama by the veto OF
a Southern born Governor, who strange
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