The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1868-01-25
DEMONSTRATION aud tEac EsrS5i-
e4csat.
F'rmn the New Orleans Crescent

RcputI.can leaders Ct all shades ara ter
G9ncics with respect to public opinion 1T
]ar-c, arc ROW seen to unite without ~scrtrl"
or rtmrr>c, in taking as their sole guide On
t.. question Of Southern reconstruction the
spirlt Of calculation with which hoy COM
pIicate and intensity the aGonics If their
Southern victim, Is so atroci0us chat, in
contrast with it, tie b'ackcst ticnd Of lloii
Pnight appear A,w0St as fair as an angel Of
liyht. Such q pitch has t,1cir cfIrGntcGS
+ ac'lcd that thcy no longer ~conSQ.t even
the empty show Of dccCncy as a cover to
their iuiluitous parts: n schemes, tie pivot
Of all Of which turns upon the issue of
Southern reconstruction. In other words,
convinced that the Northern majority will
repudiatc then ticket in the coming prc>i-
Denial election, and nevertheless dcS} crate.
~ bent On ciutching the power and the
sroils of aIW)thcr four wears Eaturnalia Of
corruption and mIsrule, they have resolved
to lug the negro vote Of the unrcconstructed
States into that election for the EXPRESS and
and sole purpose Of having it cast for their
candidates. Inspired by this dominant idea,
a radical member Of Congress recently sad,
in Il letter to a newspaper Of his district,
.>1he Republican party, to insure Success,
must have the unrcpresented States recon
rtructed and brought back in time to vote
for their candidate next November"
One Of the most signal illustrations Of the
nacitious unanimity of Republican leaders
in this plan Of aggravating tha wretched
condition Of the South as a measure 0fhcart
less party expectancy, may b" seen in the
course Of Senator Morton, Of Indiana. This
scuato~ rs the telegraph Informs Us, now
urges the passage of a bill ~'abrogating cx-
listing State governments in the rebel States,
and providing proper governments in'licu
thereof" 1t is not difficult, by collating
his remarks in support Of this proposition
with various features or the political >&tua-
ton, to perceive the important bc3ring
which, the measure has upon the vote Of
the ten unrecOnStructed States in the next
presidential election. It's immediate obj ct
is to circumvent, and as far as prudent to
superscdc, the very military authority which
Yves establish d by Congress to execute the
radical pan of reconstruction The radical
leaders fear that, under such district COM
manders as Hancock, Meade and Mcdowell,
acknowledging obSdiencc to such a COM.
mander-in-chief as President Johnson, the
swork of establishing negro supremacy in
the States of the several districts may be
So retarded or bat1ed as to deprHe the Re
publican party of the votes of these States
&or0 itso presidential tickct/oIn this view
they find the engine Which they had IN
vented as a means of remOving Instructions,
Itself proving an obstruction to the para
mountEdesign of the reconstruction scheme
-namEly, negro supremacy III the South as
the ba$ls If radical supremacy in the entire
Unionn This is what the senator means
when lie says, that 'to,day the military an
thoritT which they had set up was obsutct-
ing the proper operation of the law in some
of tho So States, Sand upholding the existing
illegal and un<horiz-d governments; >
and that there was danger that the work
of reconstruction would fall blythe very |
military power whi&h they had raised up to
forward it." z
IL is no doubt desired, as one of the con-
functions of thee State governments
provided in Senator Morton's bill, that in
case the pending reconstruction process
generally or partially fa2 to meet
the presidential emergency, they shall con.
trive to have the v te of every State in
volved in such f9llurc cast for the Republi-
can candidates. =
It is to be noted that Senator Moron docs
not pretend that there was gay need in the
South for military rule to reprcss either 3
remote or immediate purpose of rebellion.
His words imply that the sole design ef the
military rule establ shed there vas to for
ward a partisan work of reconstructio& IL
1865 his opinion il regard to Southern TEN
per was very similar to that of General
Grant as may be judged from these words
of a speech made by him in that year We
expect the people Of the rebel States
have come to love us, or that they will come
to love us in a few years. But the great
point now to be considered is the question
whether there is any longer in the Southern
States an intention to sesede from the u
Mon, and resist the authority Of the govern
ment Of the United States, or to establish a
Southern C~onfederacy. say lbelievc that
idea has been extinguished forever" Doubt
less the trouble with the South how is, in
the eyes of Senator Morton, and perhaps in
the eyes of General Grart, that the white
people of this section insist upon being
to the Union without the condition
IF avowed fidelity to radical politics, and
IF submission to negro supremacy as the
special guarantee of radical ~ascendancy.