New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-08-31

a
Whether we can hope for any permanent 81 recon
perity under the present CohgreseoI ~ groes and
few whites nearly all Of the Southern The Control
# the whites were all enfTanchsea anu roes Justly aud
kindly &C. Gen. Rosecrans requested Sea and civilians
a WITH SGfT T eS 1eWs in CONNECTION with his own
To this Gen. Lee made q reply, CaIeAui
"and well-dgested statement" in when ne was
ioned by Gen. Beauregard, Mr.. stephens ana
others. The burden of this is said to be as
follows: .....t .,-... -
pe Of the south sincerely desire peace and mn
Of the Union He did not think i possible na ~
the Governments of the States OF the south Ieaeu al
the hands OF the negroes and Few aTe
lie 5elieres iTe whiies Of TIE SOi rere rehessd o. az
political disabilities ara therein gre Xxx t,"
sss Grbegranos and justice The Southern people IN
his opinion regard the questions OF slavery anu dsoS
s settled a. na Y p esabhsh the ono again try
the other 1t is the unanimous WSh hsys sstns peace
They long for IT, The people of the south are 1e hat
est nterest I'm having good and stable Government a.
viii nroteet them in their rights and their property under
which they may 20 TO work, that whatever tney my
accumulate by their labor may be secure lor
aud Children =,
In the first place, by what right has the
white man in the South to demand political
"ascendency9" If the white men of the South
are superior to the negroes, they need no law
to make it manifest. The superior race VIII
always control the inferior To ask for
legal status is to confess weakness. In the
North. we have hundreds of thousands OF
strangers coming to us; peasants from Ire
land, serfs from Russia Germans, and WeIsh
and English. They know less about our coun-
trv than the negro, for they are aliens; While
he has lived here for generations Ihey are
strangers to our laws, our customs, ana IAN
guage. Yet we ask no protection from theSe
myriads of foreigners. Nor do we promise 10
treat them with forbearance" We give them
an opportunity, and they must do the best
they can afterward SO long as man IS
neither a felon. nor an incapable, he has the
right to voice in the elections we are
willing to trust the negro, and the RUE VIC
impose upon ourselves we do not hesitate 10
apply to Gen. Lee.
But we are told these negroes are an inferior
race. and that the Southerners, if we only con-
cede that inferority, will treat them with
kindness forbearance, and justice" Well.
the Southerners, RObt. +. Lee and the rest OF
them, had the negro race in their power. They
were its masters They bought the negro and
sold him, and under the broad domain OF our
Republic the ownership was protected. What
" forbearance,n what kindness" what jus
"tice" was shownG Read the laws of the
| Southern States before the war, and find an
answer in that shameful history of oppression
and outrage. Education made crime-ehil-
dren tern from their pareiits-hccnsed con-
eubnage-labor stolen--the whipping post,
the cudgel, the bloodhound, and the iron
colar,-this is what the negro received from
the Southerner, and the right to do all this
was contended for by Robert Z. Lee upon a
hundred battle-felds. This was before the
war. What has been done sincef Have we
seen any Southern movement To educate or
elevate the new race? Where is the least evil
dence of the proposed Rebel Justice to the
negro9 Not only have the Southerners neg
lected the colored race but they have denounced
as tyranny every effort of Northern men to
elevate and improve it. When we see justice
proffered we may believe it. and not before.
There is something whimsical aud absurd
in this attempt of Lee and his colleagues to
dictate to the North policy which means the
reversal of all that has been done toward re-
construction. Repeal the Fourteenth Amend
ment abolish the Southern Governments with
draw the army, take power from the negro, and
give "ascendency" to the Rebel, and what
then7 In sixty days every loyal white man
will be an exile, every loyal black man will be
under laws of apprenticeship and surveillance,
and we shall have twelve Southern States in the
condition of Kentucky and Maryland. Will
these men hesitate to use that power2 Does
Gen. Rosecrans suppose that they would
stopi The compromise" he suggests,
degrading as it is, and representing nothing
but prejudice, would only be the beginning
Of series of agitations and compromises
having for their object the payment of the
Rebel debt and the guarantees" for which
that debt was incurred. We spurn the offer.
Let Robert +. Lee show himself as patriotic
and faT-seeng as Longstreet, and we shall
| listen to him. We do not mean TO degrade
the Southern white men, nor shall we permit
the degradation of the Southern black men.
Suffrage is withheld from Rebels now as a war
measure, just as we built batteries and raised
armies When they show themselves worthy
it will be given them, but beyond and before
everything else we must have peace. Peace
| is the only compromise to which we
will listen. This dalying with Lee, however
well meant is only an electioneering continuance
to help Seymour and Blair Gen. Rosecrans
forgets that the questions which he has re-
| ferred to Gen. Lee were decided by great
war, and that he contributed to that decision
at Stone River and Iuka. We shall listen to
Lee when he shows us that he has something
to say-payIng him the respect due to a man
who exercises, whether for good OF evil, a
tremendous power in this country. AS for the
brave old Rosie" he is out of his depths. He
is diplomatist, but his diplomacy is wanted in
Mexico. twas for Mexico, not Sulphur Springs,