The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1868-09-11

cised in way precisely most destruc-
tive to those great rights which the
! Constitution was made on purpose to
protect.
1t is undeniable that the reconstruc-
ton acts $50 called) violate not only
the whole principle and spirit Of the
Constitution, but they abrogate every
separate provision in it and all the
amendments including their own
amendment for the abolition Of slavery.
That declares that slavery or involun-
tary servitude shall not exist ''except
for crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted" But under
these acts any person may be, and it
! is notorious that scores and hundreds
of persons perfectly innocent of crime,
have been reduced to slavery or in
voluntary servitude" of the worst kind
to hard labor for years and for life
without the smallest pretence of a due
or legal conviction.
Good natured persons may suppose
that these outrages were not WiIfully
| done. | admit we are bound to put
/ on their conduct the kindest construc-
| ton we can consistently with reason.
/ But charity never wove a mantle
broad enough to cover such crimes as
| theirs. There is direct evidence, cor
roborated by strong chain of circum-
stances, which proves incontestibly
that they knew what they were about.
| ought to mention at least some of
the evidence to which l refer, and l
will.
In the first place it is literally i'm
! possible for them to have made a mis-
take. You must presume that MEM
Ders Of Congress had read the Consti-
tuition. Having read it they could
not believe thatit authorized the estab-
lishment Of an irresponsible despotism
III any part Of the country; for it is
radiant all over with the light of lib
erty and justice. They could not help
but see that it provides a jury trial and
habeas corpus for every citizen. They
must have known that it forbade
searches and seizures of person and
property without warrant. they
could not close their eyes on the words
which declare that no act of attainder
or bill of the pains and penalties shall
be passed that all judicial authority
shall be vested in the ordained and
established courts that every State is
guaranteed such form Of republican
/ government as it may choose, and that
Congress shall not regulate the right
of suffrage. There are some things for
which ignorance is no excuse. a man
/ who has studied the ten command
ments cannot be allowed to say that
he thought it right to murder, steel or
( bear false witness against his neighbOr.
The Constitution is as plain as the
decalogue.
Another thing. At the time when
these laws were passed, Mr.. Thaddeus
Stevens was the great leader of his
party in Congress. His vast intellec-
tual superiority entitled him to ''that
bad eminence." He lowered above all
others, like the King of the Titans sur
rounded by pigmies. Out of their un-
limited confidence they trusted him to
frame their measures according to the
views he was known to take upon
constitutional questions. He drew up
the Reconstruction law, laid it before
them and told them it was not con-
stituti0nal. He would stultify himself
by asserting that he f0undany warrant
in the organic law for such an act
When Democrats objected he said their
scruples were merely the splnters of
the Old broken Constitution, fostering
in their kidneys. Some of the smaller
radicals pretended to believe that the
making pOWer-the power bestOW-
ed on Congress to make war upon
foreign natiOns--w0uld justify every
kind of interdicted legislation against
our own people in time Of perfect
peace. He silenced that paltry twad-
die by the expression OF his profound
contempt. Afterwards in a printed
and published letter, he boldly avowed
that Congress had repudiated the Con-
stitution, and that the reconstruction
act was usurpation. He not only ac-
knoWledged that he himself had com
mitted that offence, but he turned
states evidence and testified that his
associates were equally guilty. His
testimony is directly to the point. He
knew the truth and he proclaimed it
unequiv0cally Now that death has
disarmed him OF his mighty power it
would not be magnanim0us iii us who
opposed him, much less in those who
followed him with servile admiration
in his life time, to veX his great spirit
by asserting that he falsifed the his
tory of his party IL regard to the most
important affair.
Again, when this bill was first pass
ed the President sent it back with
veto message in which he showed it to
be unconstitutional by pointing out
the particular articles and sections
with which it came in direct conflict.
And the demonstration was so clear
and transparent that any child could
see it. Not a man in either House
had word to say in reply. They saw
themselves arraigned before their con-
stituents by the Chief Magistrate of the
nation and charged with the violation
of their most sacred obligations; but
they stood mute and made no defence.
What could this mean but a conscious