The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-13
SPIRIT or THE PRESS.
EDITORIAL oPIEIoNs or THR LEADING 1oOhSAhS
UPON CURRBET ToPIos-oohflLhD h,hAA
BAY FOR rHn EvsEIEe TELEGRAPH
Afraid Of Restoration.

From he Boston Post, ........ .-..-
The radical writer's handle the restoration
question only as party pettifOggers Mr. LIN
coin used precisely the right phrase when ne
announced the problem to be the restoraslon ian
of the people of the Southern states 10 thelr
former relations to the Union: and he lnltiaVeu
the movement which was sure TO proVloe
solution of it by framing the provisional Oov-
ernment for North Carolina which MS SUCCESS
sor in Office faithfully copied. Inc o9Ieot Vi
restoration, then, is simply to bIlng paGk-
not a mart. but the whole of-the people OF
fbe South to their true relations to the Union.
None but partisans would dream OF or desire
ANYTHING less than this, and none but cow
ard leaders would so far take counsel OF their
fears as to run to the opposite extreme OF
tyranny. -.
But the radical leaders have been almost
relieiously careful not to employ the signih-
cant term restoration at all; they have used
reconstruction IN its stead. How can tne
autonomy of a great Union OF States Do re-
constructed, save by the consenting action OF
every one of themH 1t notoriously cannot:
And hence the steps taken to reconstruct
after such violent fashion are legtimately
revolutionary. Thaddeus Stevens confessed
that they were, and declared that all who
took part in the passage OF these several
Reconstruction laws knew them to be "out-
side of the Constitution"-that is revolution
ary The work of restoration is easy in
deed. by the side of the arbitrary legisla-
tion entered upon by Congress. The entire
body of the people of the South showed them
selves ready for 1t, and received the enco-
miums of General Grant, Senator Morton, and
other radicals for their excellent dispositions.
The Union might have been restored by De-
cember 1866 instead of that, we see to-day
that to the three States OF the South-Vir-
ginia Mississippi, and Texas to which the
amendments to the Constitution were duly
submitted as to integral States in the Union,
Congress has forbidden the casting OF an cleo
toral vote for President in the election to be
held this fall. This is enough to show where
all the opposition to restoration lies. Three
States, that are ready to testify to their obe-
dience to the organic law by complying with
its requirements in voting for President as
well as on Constitutional amendment, are
threatened with severe penalty if they
dare to infract a law of Congress by ex-
ercising the highest prerogative under the
supreme law
1t is held up by the radical press as stigma
on the patriotism of the great party of the
Union that it should have admitted to its
National Convention leading Southern men
who were actively engaged in the war against
the Union. On the contrary, it is to be re-
garded as the proof of the ability and fitness Of
that party alone to restore the long-lost
fraternity of the sections. A State is such,
not by reason solely of its territorial area
and its physical resources, but of its men;
and these men who are alluded to are among
the most intelligent and influential of the en-
tire Southern population. Radicalism, we
know, is trying the vain experiment of setting
up the inferior and the deg raded in place Of
the superior; just it is crying out for
peace while discussing plan for armlng one
race in the South against the other. But the
good sense and large views of the American
people will not suffer themselves to be con-
fused by the pettifogging OF such partisans.
To restore the South, the intelligence of the
South must by some means be won over. The
radicals are of too bigOted and malicious a
temper to be equal to such task, and the
Democrats have demonstrated for their part
that it can be successfully accomplished, for
the strengthening of all the national bonds.
1t is perfectly natural that the radical jour-
nails should snarl at them for this, and betray
their envious hatred by charging the success
full party with sympathy for the old plans OF
the Southern people. The dominant party
had such an opportunity once to practise
msgnanimity as no political party ever en-
joyed before. 1t might have bound the
Southern population to its cause forever. But
1t was not born for great and generous things.
1t would to-day a thousand times rather have
frsxmentary Union, to be deplored of all
patriots and men who love rational liberty,
than aduit that the Democrats had anything
to do with fighting the battles of the Union, or
came in for the least share of honor and
praise for the grand accomplishments of oui
common arms.
Therein it exposes its real character. In
its very accusations of its opponents it unwit-
tipgly publishes itself. How, pray, would il
have these leading men of the South deal
withi Shall they be perpetually disfran
chised, which is practically Mr.. Summers
thirty year proposalf What kind of peac,
and fraternity should we have, with the bes
minds of one third OF the population Of thu
country forbidden to interest themselves il
public affairs What would the States thu
,dehowered and palsisd amount to 2 Let u
not deceive ourselves by thinking that thu
infliction of such a penalty would not reao
with terrible fatality on ourselves. Burk
says, Hliberty is good to be improved, no
an evil to be lessened. 1t Is not only prl
vate blessing of the first order, but the vita
spring and energy of the State itself, whiol
has Just so much life and vigor as there i
liberty in it," We have a class of statesmen
now, however, who fancy that they can i'm
prove on the standard principles and axioms
They hold to restraints, and not to freedom
nominally that freedom may take no hurt
but really that they may themselves secur
all the advantage. - ... ~
The country looks at these things just a
they are, and not as they are distorted AM
disoolored by the ingenuity of radical malice
about to be foiled of its favOrite purpose
What the American people demand is tn
speedy and perfect iraterniz alton of the Who'll
country. II Rebel officers are ready to retur
to their old allegiance, then one great end o
the war has been gained. As for assortin
and placing population in the South for poll
ticG purposes, IL never can be done and th
COUNTRY will not wait to see it attempted
WhAt it wants and impatiently desires is pre-