Nebraska advertiser., 1868-02-27

and not Tar exceed fifty thousand.
The complaint that we have invested loyalty, II
respective Of al 9th er considerations, with tbe right
60 vote has besn answered BY The ioloEing pro-
vision Of the Presidents Organization proclamation;
"And with authority to exercise within the limits
OF said State ell The powers necessary ana proper 70
enable such los al people Of the state q North Carroll
IA 20 restore said stale 20 its constitutional relations
with the Federal Government"
Again speaking Of the Army
seAnd they arc e~njoined to abstain f. ON In any way
from me organizatien OF & state Government As mere
- authorized"
Which establishes beyond doubt that the original
intent Of the Pre- sident was that only loyal cih-
sens could take part in reconstruction.
In 1865 The President stated his own views in these
express words:
ar there were only Eve thousand loyal men IN a
State, or q less number, bat sufficient to take. charge
ef the political machinery Of The State, tbose i've
thousand men, or ,he less number, are entitled TO H.
a. all The rest shOuldbe otherwise inclined"
This 1 hold to be good doctrine to- Day and viii
be entitled 70 quotation in all time 10 come, IN every
contest Of loyalty with treason.
Subsequent 20 this time the Philadelphia con-
veption seems to have entertained the opisijn that
10 was necessary to extend the range Of loyalty ia
the South, OF that Union loyalty which did every
thing, dared ev erything, and suffered everything
for the success oftbe Federal arms, would becom .
@the five thousand or q less number" specified by
the President. Hence in that celebrated conclave,
Nlcu tucn sentiment as those q ntnEy a. " lac
were the current staple Of all Febeldom, as follows:
"YOu cali the cause lost; itisno lost. HIhad tri-
unphedl should have favored stripping them naked.
Tbey might have appealed for pardon, but -ould have
seen them d mned before I would have granted it. Fox
myself take M oath, i ask nc pardon"
That convention in its address to the country
declared Of these people, there is no section Of
the country where the Constitution AID laws Of
the United States find a moro prompt and entire
obedience"
~. 49, - 49, ,ost o- 80 tho osser,blv had
passing before it a procession Of ghosts from the
Memphis and New Orleans massacres, it was deemed
best 10 come back to the same proposition OF loyalty
and add a more emf hattie asseveration in this form :
They renew their engagement to bear true taltn
and allegines."
And had the case not been a desperate one they
might have paused with that but they continued
"thrOugh all time to come" Then the %sentence
in full read thus:
tThey renew their engagement to bear true faith
and allegiance through all time 10 come"
But, as If REMEMBERING that they were posted as
peEjurers for having broken just such q foEmei
vow. they rallied again and prolonged the sen
tence with this additional member
TO the Constitution Of the United States, snd to =
laws that may be made in pursuance thereof"
Thus, in order to get these rebels on The loyal
register, they pledged them, to all eternity, to
obey whatever laws might in future b, made IN
der the Constitution. Still they seemed to doubt
whether the loyal people would receive them back
into church unless they camo to the confessional
and Wero put upon probation ! but time was prec-
ious, and they could not brook the idea Of a pro-
baton. Hence they cnme up again promptly, IN
full force and coed order, marching TO tho sound
Of Dixie, with stars and bars flying, and again
make solemn proclamation "ln no one Of them
(the States) is there the slightest indication Of
resistance to this authority against its just and
binding obligations"
But remembering that evil-disposed Union men
might think threats TO subdue and TO reduce them
to.a state Of semi-slaYery the freedmen sounded very
much like q "slight Indignation" to resist binding
obligations, they dare not give up the White-wash-
ing process without another turn Of the screw and
application Of the brush. And here we have the
final consummatlon-the perfection Of political
Gudacity-the subiimity Of impudene9-the ne plus
ultra Of falsehood deifed. "The supreme author
ity has been acknowledged by Word"-good enough
as far as Il goes-"and act"-better, if true-@in
every States !" what more-tand By every citizen
within its jurisdiction" Why, Mr. President, If
all that had to be done in order 70 cause you and
/ and all our felloW-citEens to accord loyalty and
truth and devotion TO the rebel element Of the
South they who are charged with reproducing it
upon this floor demand our c0mmiseratiOn.
But even all this did not satisfy that most in
approaehable and incomprebensible body. They
feared some part Of that most righteousfy loyal
element might fail to play their part before the
work Of reconstruction should be completed, and
hence q saving clause in these words:
oThough disloyal in sentiment and purpose, and
neither the honor, the credit, or the interests Of tho
nation would be safe II they were readmitted to a share
In its councils. We have no right, for such reasons, to
deny to any portion OF the State or people rights ex-
pressly conferred upon them by tho Constitution OF the
United States"
Then let these gentlemen move an amendment
60 the oath taken in the Senate 81 do ~profanely
swear to support the Constitution of the United
States, though l am disloyal in sentimentand pur-
pose, and neither the honor, the credit, or the in
terest Of the nation would be safe if was readmit-
ted to q share in tho councils Of the nation. SO
help me Satan" No other oath would meet the
case, and te no OthOr power could they successfully
appeal for aid.
From that day to this Democratic orators have
eulogized the loyalty Of the rebels Of the South. and
1he House and Senate have resounded with their
praise and yet q Louisiana editor, on the dav the
Philadelphia Convention was in session, knowing
its elements and spirit, said
''Let us walt and hope, for as sure as effect follows
cause, the convention assemblies at Philadelphia is
the entering wedge to iRaugurate civil Strife"
Before 1 leave this question of loyalty / desire to
east some light upon its present status by calling
upon a distIngu ished southern witness. / call TO
the stand Robert Toombs, of Georgia, who thus
writes 70 Cory, Of Cincinnati, relative to the com
3ng campaign;
cater the reception Of yours Of the 9Th Instant,
with the proceedings OF the Cincinnati convention, !
accept with the greatest pleasure the position TO
which I have been assigned, and will cheerfulv give
my utmost effort to promote, establish, and v~itslise
those princfpIes.p
81 therefore accept any man as a brother in peaoe
or war who viii honestly stand By and defend them.
I will be with him as long as the weakness OF human
ty will enable me TO- stand by the truth to my own
hurt"
therefore, sink or swim, survive or perish, I am
with the West aud the South Tor the maintainance OF
the Cincinnati platform Of april -. / viii take i'm
that basis. and will urge the true men Of the so-caIled
ten rebel States to fall into line. You can fully count
On them. have tried them "
"I regret nothing in the past hut the dead and the
failure. I am ready to-day to use the best means 1
can command TO establish the principles FOR which ]
fought.
every respectfully and truly Jour friend,
ROBERT TOOMBS."
This testimony settles the fact that the rebels Of
Georgia unite with northern Democrats to-day to
vitaliEe the principles for which the rebel Toombs
fought. And these are the men they would admit
into Congress, and this is the exposition Of their
loyalty and because Congress prefers the Union
men to these complacent traitors we are denounced.
To meet the Wanting charge Of our military bill
being q despotism it has only been necessary 70
show, in the axiomatio uttoranee Of the Senator
from Maine, that "We began to reconstruct as
soon as we began to conquer !" and the military
bill Is only in aid OF reconstruction as a police reg
ulation. Without the emancipation proclamation
there never had been reconstruction, and without
the much denounced civil rights bill emancipation
would have been only a speedy mode Of rushingthe
Whple cOlOred element OF the South into incalcu-
liable sorrow, Suffering, or death. But emslcipa-
tion and civil rights bill, both TO be Of permanent
efficacy, demanded the constitutional amendment
abOlishing slavery, declaring citizenship, with
other c~oncomitants Of manhood and nationality
while the key 20 the treasure house Of God-given |
rights, the rudder to the newly launched vessel.
and the emblem Of authority and dignity, was
known to be the ballot. With these RcknoW lodged
IN authority, perpetuated in application, respected
in their prOvidentIal wisdom, and duly credited for
she honor they have already secured from foreign
Powers, the work Of recOnrtruetion viii be eonsum-
mated, treason fOiled, and loyalty enthroned.