Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-01-31

conform to it. Irepeat, that he is obliged
| by his solemn oath to defend that Instril-
ment from any and every assaiiant. Do |
make myself understood ?"
Perfectly, SIR"
ssWell, now. to proceed IN this c0nnec-
| ton little further. Congress, or, at
least the present Congress, claims to be the
only national representative of the will OF
| the people Yet the President is elected
as directly by the people, and is, therefore,
as directly their representative as Congress
| is But Congress claims to be nearer to the
| people than the President. Yet, while
members of the House of Representatives
are chosen every two years, Senators are
elected once in six years, the President is
chosen every four years. The President is
| chosen oftener by two years than Senators
are chosen-a fact which seems virtually to
equalize the respective nearness of the Ex-
ecutive and the legislature to citizens at
large. This point is not Of SO much i'm
portance as it would be if the functions OF
| the Executive were less arbitrarily defined,
or, let US say, more subject to the fiuctu-
ating demands of popular sentiment than to
the Stable requirements of the Constitution.
| If it be said that a member of Congress is
nearer to particular constituency, or that
| a Senator is nearer to a particular State
than the President, because each has been
selected to represent the citizens OF doml-
nant party of that particular constituency
OR State, it may be said of the President
that he is selected by broader constituency
than either-that is, by the people, or domi-
| nant majority in the Union, who, III select
| ing him, are presumed to subordinate local.
| consider ations tC those Of the general vel
| fare. A presidents office, after oil is said,
| is one that, i'll II crisis like the present,
I ~ 4>
cept his fealty to The law
Then you regard the Supreme Court as
equally independent Of legislation by Con
gress o.
ENTHUSIASTICALLY it is. The Supreme
Court is as much "a separate and distinct
branch OF the government as Congress or
the Executive. What right has Congress
to usurp the prerogative Of the people in
this case, more than in the other @
Pardon mean | right Ill suggesting
that no clause in the Constitution ac
tually prescribes what number of judges
shall decide case i'll the Supreme Court ?"
'The provision was hot necessary. =
Time honored usage nay, the regulation
OF the court itself-was and is sufficient.
4 majority of judges have always prevailed
in all courts, in England, France, and else
where as well as in the United States
This is an attempt to strip the Judicial
branch of the Government of d right
which it is competent to define and main
tain"
ct is your opinion, then, that a majority
Of the court can decide against the validity
of the pending bill, and ignore it if it should
pass both Houses %
''That is my conviction"
cit may be superfiuous to presume that
tie President is in no wise at fault respect
ing the partisan object OF both the bills
which have been alluded to ?"
"Quite superfuous. As [ explained at
the commencement, this so-called recon
struction bill is destined, if carried into
effect SO to increase and consolidate the
military tyranny which has already come
nigh to ruin the Southern States, that no
body of legislators not run nearly wild with
party idea could think of forcing it
through. The vast cotton interest, which
used to pay M enormous revenue to the
government, instead Of having been recu~
perated since the war, has nearly died out.
In the place Of tho revenue which 1t yield
ed and which helped to tighten the taxes
Of Northern citizens, there is now an al
most absolute blank on the books Of the
Internal Revenue Department, and the
| government not only has to bear this loss,
| but eXpond ali amount more than eqnal to
| IL W Sli)IiciL IL iCliDcIdIS CIuSl1IlH SySLGm
upon the patriotism and enterprise of the
| Southern people. Here is policy of re-
preston which chokes up the fountains of
revenue III the South, is continually MAX
| ing pauncrs there among both the white
and black populations, and cOmpels the
| government to fall back upon the North for
| hreofOurthS Of It's current revenues, and
! pledge its credit fer additional Means
| One-half the country, having spent its sub
stance TO fight tho other half back into the
| Union, finds itself, now that it has accom-
pliYhed its object, the scape- goat of po-
| litical party, which, for its own interests,
| prevents the defeated section from taking
| its rightful place again under the shelter of
the Constitution. This is not all. The
measures of that party will, in my iudg-
ment. tend to repress for an indefinite pc
Rod such a development of the resources
of the South as had been accomplished be-
fore the war. It is grinding out and dis
couraging the property-holding and intel
| llgent class Of citizens, to place all power,
| the whole conduct of affairs, in the hands
of the negroes and the few native whites
and Northern Adventures who would share
| it with them. Look at Tennessee, the re-
| constructed and model State There are
| fifty thousand negroes, and twenty thousand
| whites who vote with them making seven
| ty thousand IN all, entitled to the suffrage
These represent negro population of say
two hundred and seyenty-fve thousand :;
| but there are one hundred and thirty thou
sand white citizens, representing a white
population OF more than eight hundred
| thousand-the property owners, the bust
| ness and professional community of the
State-who are practically excluded from
participation in the government How
does that work
"No1," continued Mr.. Johnson with a
good deal Of vigor, every one knows, or
ought to know by this time, what my posi-
ton was and is in regard to secession. [
had to sacrifice something to yindicate my
| conviction that it was wrong and inaamiS-
sible; but 7 consider the extremists who
have violated their own express declaration
of the object of the war, and who are dis
| honoring the Constitution every day they
proceed with this damning policy towards
| the SOUTH consider these men, [ say,
far more inconsistent than, and quite as
reasonable as, any rebels who foughtin the
bo 1rI,