The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1868-08-08

told US so IN his dispatches TO foreign mIn-
isters and in his invitations to Senators and
members to return and occupy the seats
they had left. Congress told US so in its
resolutions and laws. Every recruiting
officer who desired to be Colonel of a new
reginent-every candidate who desired to
hold ofice-toId US so. 1t was this inspi-
ring thought of devotion to the Constitution
and the Union-the old Constitution which
Washington and Franklin, and Madison
made, the old Union which WAS the bond Of
peace for seventy years-which brought
volunteers to our ranks, and collected that
mighty host under whose tread the very con-
tinent seemed to shake.
This was continued till the very end Of
the war. When Mr.. Lincoln met the South
ern Commissioners at Fortress Monroe, in
the Spring of 1865, he expressly declared to
them that he only required that they should
lay down their arms, recognize the abolition
of slavery, and return to the Union; that no
other condition should be demanded We
were told that illegal force impaired the re-
lations of the States to each other; that the
force must be removed, and the relations
would OF themselves be restored
The war was brought to a close. John
ston surrendered TO sherman The last man
laid down his arm. The last arm was given
up The State Governments were then in
full operation and vigor; they had remained
unchanged they performed all the functions
of government in the preservation of civil
society. Some OF the og6ce holders had fed
some had been killed some were liable to
Indictment and punishment; but the forms
of government were there, and the State
Constitutions were as binding as they ever
had been. General Sherman carried out to
their legal conclusion the principles upon
which the war was commenced He con
quered armies, he subdued hostile forces
He cut with his sword the knot which tied
the States of the Confederacy together and
having re-established their relations to the
Union, ne said t? his prisoners, "gO to your
homes in peace
This was Union-this was peace-this
was enforcing the Constitution-this was
maintaining the Union-this was executing
Federal law, while it maintained the rights
and powers and dignities of the States un-
impaired This was fitting conclusion of
the war. 1t asserted Sherman's ability as a
statesman to be equal to his vigor as a sol
dier. The terms of that pacification viii
remain, for all time, the monument of his
wisdom, and foresight, and moderation. Its
rejection has been the source Of many trOu-
bles
But the President of the United States,
and the party which elected him, were not
satisfied. They annulled its terms They
insisted upon the appointment of Provisional
Governors that the ordinance of secession
be repealed; that slavery should be aboI-
ished that the Confederate debt should be
utterly repudiated, and promised that then
the States should be restored to their place
IN the Union. All was done. The States
were recognized to have sufficient vital
power to assent to an amendment of the
Federal Constitution, and to bind their ueO-
pie for all time. Congress and the Presi-
dent quarrelled, and when Congress met in
1865, he had not the power, and Congress
had not the disposition, to recognize the
restoration of the Union. A change had
come over their party schemes-visio1s Of
power and a reVolutionized Government had
fitted before their eyes. [Applause
Six months elapsed and the fourteenth
Amendment to the Constitution was pro-
posed You are familiar with It's provisions.
Citizenship in the States was to depend upon
the will of the Federal Government not of
the States; the rule Of representation was
to be changed so as to reward the admission
of negroes to the elective franchise, and to
punish their exclusion The ban of pro-
scription in the States was to be put upon
all who had aided in the rebellion, and to
question the validity of the public debt-in
the manner | shall do to-night-was to be
treated as a crime. If this were adopted
by a vote of the Southern States-these
States which now they tell you had com
mitted suicide six years before-they half
promised their Senators and Representatives
should be admitted to Congress.
Six months again lapsed, and anotb er
change had come over them. The radicals
had triumphed. The reconstruction acts
were passed Their State Governments,
which had been so often invited to perform
the highest acts, were abolished. Military
despOtism were set up in their stead. The
maintenance of order-the protectinn of
life, liberty and prOpeTty-the establish
ment of new Governments founded on diff
ferent principles-were committed to the
charge of military officer backed by the
short, sharp process of martial law and
drum-head courts martial Cheers.
WHAT Is NOW PROPOSED.
Eighteen months elapsed Presidential
election approaches. All the large Northern
States show great uneasiness Many openly
pronounce their detection. The radicals
are alarmed-they fear defeat They must
make up from the reOrganized States at the
South whatever they may loose at the North
They pass a law regulating the electoral col
es-determining what votes shall and
what shall not be counted in the election.
They declare that none Of the old States are
States-that no electoral votes shall be
counted except from states WHlcn nave DeeQ
reorganized since the Syring of l867-which
have adopted new constitutions-which
have adopted negro suffrage-and which
have been admitted to representation by
this Congress-
Do you understand the meaning of those
provisions? The State Of Alabama, two
months ago, rejected absolutely the Consti-
tuition which was submitted to vote of her
people yet that same rejected Constitution
is put in force by Federals arms and she IS
admitted to representation because it is be-
lieved that by its stringent oaths so many
whites will be disfranchised that her cleo
toral vote will be carried for the radicals.
Bah, and cheers
Mississippi also rejected the Constitution
submitted to her people, but as the oaths of
! that Constitution are not so stringent, and
the whites might have a Democratic ma
jority, she is denied representation, and her
electoral votes are not to be counted
Virginia IS supposed to nave white popu-
lation enough to adopt or reject her Cnnsti-
tuition, and then in either event to give the
electoral vote to the Democratic candidate