Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-07-03
From The New York Times ,Radical).
Removal Of Disabilities--Rewerd of Par
fiSanSliin.

LIE DIl 1SuOf1uS pOlltlCal iedDiIItlSS
from certain citizens of the South has al
length passed the House 10y the requisite
two-thirds' vote, and will doubtless become
law. Some two hundred persons, at pres
ent disqualified, will thus be made eligible
for Office and many of them will forth
with step into positions to which they
have been elected under the Reconstruc-
ton acts
So far, this is good. We are, like Mr.
Brooks, ''in favor of going into the par
doning business, wholesale and retail, -
and shall be glad to see the vote of yester-
day repeated until the main body of exist
is confessedly desirable on general grounds.
The District Commanders have again and
again testified as to the hindrance which
! the work of reorganization experiences in
consequence Of the imposition Of disabili-
ties. In the debate on Friday. the same
fact was admitted by Messrs. Farnsworth
and Garfield. "If Congress does not re-
move political disabilities from white men
in the Southern States," said Mr.. Farms
worth, "the consequence will be that
there will be white mans party and a
black mans party there, and the black
mans party will go to the wall. :"
Mr.. Garfield was equally emphatic
&C The passage of this bill, he declared
sis absolutely essential to the es-
tablishment of the reconstructed Govern
ments.' It is plain from these similar
statements that reconstruction suffers
from the penal legislation already in oper-
alton. Not only does it deprive the States
of the services of able and trustworthy
men, but it forms a constant source of class
irritation, and in this way prevents the
harmony which must precede the return of
solid peace and prosperity.
| What is the inference Obviously this
that general evil should be met with G.
general remedy; that the mischief resulting
from the imposition Of disabilities should
be rectifed by the enactment Of measure
removing all disabilities as means Of pro-
noting reconciliation, local and national
| The result is that reconstruction is OBJ
>tIucted, and that class is arrayed against
class. Well, put an Aud to the obstruction
auC avert hostility by the adoption Of q
policy that shall affirm as a principle what
the bill which passed yesterday promul-
gates as personal and partisan favor. By
no other course will the difficulties which
confessedly exist be terminated; by none
else will the requirements OF justice, or OF
AN enlightened expediency, be fully salts
fed.
The plan of removing disabilities by o
series of retail measures would, at the best,
be open to grave objections. It is tantali-
zing and offensive to the multitudes not en-
braced in any single bill 1t conveys an
idea of favoritism in reference to those i'm
sense of wrong in the minds of
all beside. The present bill, for in
stance, wears an i3vidious look. It parades
two hundred persons as the recipients of a
| boon which is withheld from thousands in
every respect as well entitled as they to re-
| lief. It suggests system of bargain and
sale, OF subservlency on one slGe and pa
tronage on the other, of rewards doied
out % partisan adherents and punishment
Inflicted on ali WHO dare to be opponents.
This impression IS not weakened by the
debate in the House Or the tone Of those
who share the confidence of the Radical
leaders. The exclusion of Jones, of Ten
! nessee, and Houston, of Alabama, whom
tue Senate added to the two hundred COM
| pzised in the present bill, reveals a spirit
| far removed from patriotism or magnaulm
Ity. Both original Union men, they are
| now denied the consideration which Brown,
OF Georgia, and Holden, OF North Carol1-
! na, original aud persistent secesslonlsts, are
pe mitted TO ell Joy. That Jones is not a
very objectionable man is evident from the
remark of Mr.. Stokes, that 6 II that gen
tleman had sent petition to himself or
any member of the House or Senate, ask
lug to be relieved from disabilities, he
would BE- in favor of relieving him." Why,
then, the difference between the treatment
Of Jones and Houston and that OF Brown
aud Holden Simply and solely because
the latter are just now Radicals, and there
| tre worthy OF reward, while the former
are Democrats, and therefore deserving OF
| punishment. So far as present loyalty is
! no arHN ho Ct;l1fl
stand on an equal footing.
| lhe case is made still palmer by the re-
marks OF the Raleigh IN. c. Standard,
owned and edited by Mr.. Holden, the Gov
ernor elect Of the State, and one OF the
| persons named in the bill. In his paper
of Thursday last, Holden scouts tie notion
that mere attachment to the Union cOnstl-
tutes a claim to relief from disabilities, and
| insists that that attachment, to be Of any
avail, must be proved by Radical partisan
ship. We quote from the Standard of that
| date:
THE great Republican Party says you
shall not be parooned until you repent
| We'll, we all experienced in 1865 kind Of
| pensicostal repentance among rebels, which
| flowed from their lips like Water. That
will not do. They must vote, talk, write.
| travel, labor and spend their money for
| the Republican Party, the nation and the
| Government. as other loyal men do, before
we will ever listen to their cries Tor assis-
tance. Let them repent. That is the con-
ditiOn Of salvation. IG cannot be altered.
X = x < You must make your
self useful to the grand army Of Republl-
cans before they will have any use for you,
and you must become indispensable
good prigates before your disabilities Will
be removed by the Generals, Colonies and
Captains. You say you will not do this
Then stay where you are. Ii you can do
without the k-punlIcan Party, that party
can do without You"
We have seldom seen the doctrine pro-
mulgated so defantly as in these sentences.
But it has been understood from the begin
ming, aad it is the basis of the bid which
yesterday received ninety eight votes. The
two hundred persons whom it renders eli
gible for office have not been selected be-
cause of superior character or capacity, or
because they are more earnestly reconciled
to the Union than the average of their
neighbors. They have been chosen, as
Holden insimates. because of their active
partsanship, and the partisan service they
are pledged to render.
~ 20 Sbo hill