The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-01-31
eyaded IN thasway, Congress had changed

/
Mr.. HENDRICKS said at oil events h
was made finally to 90 TO the exclusion Of
persons who bad not taken az, oath.
Mr.. BUCKALEW read from the Const;-
tuition of 1889 the requirement of an oath
to be taken by executive aud judicial
State officers.
Mr.. EDMUNDS referred to the opinion
OF the Attorney General specifying the
classes excluded, and said that to be
State officer man must have been ap
pointed by State, not by a township.
MIR. BUCkALEW reiterated that such
classes were disfranchised. He then went
on to combat tho portion Of the argument
Of Mr.. MORTON not answered by Mr. JOHN
son. He understood the guarantee by the
Constitution of republican forms Of govern.
ment to States to be guarantee in their
favor, not against them and he argued
that it was for the purposes of protection
from invasion or instruction and the Sc
curity of republican form of government,
either that originally established, whether
amended or not, or one established by the
people Of State. This power was not to
create or establish, but simply to preserve.
1t did not justify reconstruction on the
present plan, or as q substitute for the war
power, as had .been claimed; but did i'm
pose upon Congress the clear duty of re-
cognizing governments there that are re-
publican in form. 1t did not authorize the
dictation of the provisions of the funda-
mental laws or the Constitution, which
was attempted by this legislation. Instead
of guaranteeing republican forms of 60
yernment, the reconstruction laws sub
verified it, and invaded those principles,
and sought to overthrow them. 1t was an
insult to common sense to call them
republican forms Of government. They
were really military relationships, bringing
them down to the level of republics that
had long ago fallen. Could republican
forms of government be maintained by the
rule of the bayonet over all the rights OF
person and property-crushing out the
dearest rights guaranteed by their fathers?
| Suppose a war of races should arise, they
must vote men and money to meet that
state of things, until even more despotic
system was established. He appealed to
them to pause in their course. If they
did not, no one could doubt that their mo-
tives were to retain their present unjust
share of power in the nation. This legis-
lation was intended as a guarantee to
themselves and against the people, so that
they could hold it despite the Constitution
they trampled under foot, in the face of
all history, which condemned their course.
He denied that the President had any
more right or, under ordinary circum-
stances, any more business, than Congress
to set up State government. At the close
of the war he had certain powers in estab-
fishing provisional governments, but could
notinterfere farther with theirgovernments
without submitting the questions to q vote
of the people. The President, in his policy
of reconstruction, did not impose any
terms; the Secretary of State merely
wrote an advisory letter to those engaged
in reconstruction, setting forth what would
be agreeable to other States. The Presi-
dent left it all to the people themselves,
which, he argued, was the only constitu-
tional way of forming constitutions. He
said that conventions of delegates elected
by the people could form valid constitu-
tions without submission to the people,
citing the present Constitution Of Pennsyl-
vania and the Federal Constitution of 1857
as instances in point. The senator from
Massachusetts, (Mr. WilsoD) had said the
powers of hell could not prevail against
the reconstruction measures. If the in
fernal powers took any interest at ell in
this Government, doubtless they would not
try to prevail against them, but if they had
sympathies at all, would sympathise with
the authors of those measures. Laugh
| ter