Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-02-28
FEBRUARY %, 1868.

hands to hospitable graves, and the other
refused to vote man or dollar to carry
on that war.
But the matter does not stop here.
If men are to be held accountable for
their belief and opinions of this or any
other war then let this rule apply to all,
independent of party lines and party
favorites. The same will apply to the
Radical portion of the Republican party
who were opposed to the war during the
whole period that the declarations set
forth in the Crittenden resolutions were
adhered to, and only yielded their con-
sent to the war when the emancipation
proclamation was issued.
1t was disloyal, according to Radical
rule, for Democrats, after the 22d of Sep.
i tember, 1862, to oppose fratricidal and
fendish war for the overthrow of State
institutions; but perfectly loyal for Alb
olitionists to oppose the war before the
22d of September, 1862, when waged
only for the enforcement of the laws,
and for thesupremacy of the Constitution
and the. perpetuity of the Union! It
was grossly disloyal then to oppose Mr..
Lincoln and his administration, because
che was the Government - but now it
is perfectly laudable to denounce
Andrew johnson, because Congress is
the Government !! s,af..1s
The war was conducted with great
vigor and force till Johnston and Lee
were compelled to surrender, and then
every armed foe dispersed; and every
part of the. South acknowledged their
cause as hopeless, that the cause of seces-
sion was a failure, and that they were
willing to submit to the laws and retain
their places in the Union. :.
The people of every part of the coun-
try rejoiced that the war was over, and
that secession had been abandoned, and
expected the Southern States to assume
their proper position in the government.
Was this to be? Not at all When the
South laid down their arms, the govern
ment in place OF proving to the world
that it could afford to be magnanimous
in victory, became drunk with power
and arrogance, and refused to admit the
States to their proper representation in
the Congress of the United States, Tt
gardless of the Constitution which en-
phatically declares that "the House of
Representatives shall be composed of
members chosen every second year by
the people of the several States" And
further: "the Senate Of the United States
shall be composed Of two Senators from
each State, chosen by the Legislatures
for six years, and each Senator shall
have one vote"
In direct violation of these injunc-
tions of the Constitution, the Radical
| Congress refused to admit the whole
delegation of members from the South
duly elected to the Senate and House of
Representatives, and in justification of
their refusal, they proclaimed those
members not loyal to the Government |!
Congress did not investigate the cleo
tion returns or enquire in regard to their
qualifications. True, the Constitution
gives Congress power to protect itself by
declaring that "each House shall be the
judge of the election returns and quali-
fcations of its own members )" but there
is no authority to be found for refusing
any person elected from any State seat
in either House of Congress without a
full investigation of all the facts con
cerning the legality of the election, and
the method of holding the same; and
when member presented his certificate
duly authenticated, and there was no
Contestant, and when he took the proper
oath, that was an end of the matter;
but now, we have new test-a member
must prore himself loyal before he can
obtain seat in Congress.
Previous to this the Southern States,
in connection with the Northern States,
had ratified the constitutional amend
ment submitted to them by Congress,
prohibiting slavery in the United States.
twas expected this would be satisfac-
tory to the North, but it was not. These
Radical rulers were bound to extort a
more humiliating concession than this
from the South. Negro suffrage was the
next demand, and because the Southern
States refused to acquiesce, and agree to
be governed by race of barbarians de-
based by ages of slavery, the Radicals
became ferocious, and wholly denied
that there were any legal State Govern
ments existing in the South !
They denied the fundamental law of
the Constitution, which says: "The
powers not delegated to the United States
by the Constitution, nor prohibited to it
by the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people" There
is no one so presumptuous as to claim
that the right to regulate the enfran-
chising laws has ever been delegated to
Congress. The right is reserved to the
States, and was exercised by the peo-
pie of the State of Ohio last October,
when our people gave majority of fifty
thousand against negro suffrage in this
State, and thereby rebuked the tyranny
of Congress in forcing negro suffrage
on the Southern States, contrary to law
and in opposition to the will of the peo-
pie, and in derogation of another
! great principle of that instrument. which
says: "The citizens of each State shall
be entitled to all the privileges and inn
munities of citizens in the several
| States"
This is called reconstruction, and is
the programme of corrupt and tyran-
nical Congress to maintain its power
over an outraged and unwilling people
by granting political equality to 4,o0O,-
600 of imbruted negroes, who are now
clothed and fed by a bureau supported
and sustained by the overtaxed and un.
requited toll of the people of the North
ern States.
But it is claimed this is imposed on
the States as penalty for rebellion!- !
What law did the States violate, and
where is it to be found; and is there
authority conferred ON Congress to i'm
pose negro suffrage on the Southern peo-