The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-07-29
Watching the President.

THE prophecy of large number of in
tellipent politicians, that it would not be
long before President Grant would be
"J0hnsonized by the Radical majority
in Congress, seems to have become veri-
ty. 1t is not charged that General Grant
has in any manner opposed the Radical
reconstruction policy, but the ultraists al
ready complain that he does not enforce
the last Congressional orders in regard to
the reconstruction of Virginia, Mississippi
and Texas, in their own malicious spirit.
They expected that the President would
understand the last reconstruction laws
either as meaning no reconstruction at all,
or as exclusively leading to an ultra Radi-
cal representation of these States in Con-
gress. 1t must be plain to everybody now,
as it was plain to us long ago, that the last
reconstruction laws would have been re-
garded as finality, if by the aid of the
Executive and by the interference Of the
military commanders, Virginia, besides
adopting the general constitution, had also
adopted the Acknowledgement and test oath
paragraphs, and if the people of that State
had elected Legislature which would
send two unmitigatede enemies ofthe South,
and of Virginia itself, to the United States
Senate That this was not done to its full
extent (partially it is done by Gen. Candy,
who requires an iron-clad oath to be taken
by the members elect to the Legislature,
before they are qualifed), seems to
have impaired the confidence of the
Republican party in the last reconstruction
acts, and at the same time to shake the
confidence of the ultra Radical members
of Congress in the ability and intention of
the President to interpret these laws so as
to make them mean the opposite of their
letter, whenever the interests of the Rad
ical party require it. Such a President
these ultraists are determined to watch
cosely. In order that they may succeed,
we advise them to follow Marat's plan,
and have the President attached to
heavy ball during the whole tern of his
administration, so that his slightest move
ments can be observed by the Radical
watchmen, and thai he may not hold con-
verse with any one, nor interfere with
anything, except by the express permits
sion of the Congressional majority.
What hubbub the Radicals made during
the impeachment trial that President John
son had assumed monarchical preroga-
tivesl And yet it is the Radical party
which intends treating the American Pres
ident like a king of so-called constitu-
tional monarchy. If the President de-
sires to be President and to exercise pre-
negatives which the Constitution has con-
ferred upon him, they will abrogate some
of those prerogatives; force Cabinet
upon him which would represent only
the ideas of the majority in Congress;
and, instead of being his advisers, be-
come his watch-dogs and whippers-in
They succeeded in fastening Secre-
tary Stanton upon Mr.. Johnson's Cabinet;
they dared to curtail him of nearly all his
prerOgatiyes. To certain extent they
even succeeded in making General Grant
an accOmplice in their nefariOus schemes.
1t is very doubtful whether the people
will permit Congress to play the same
game with President Grant, which was
played with President Johnson, even if
Grant should not resist future attempts to
humiliate the National Executive The
people have right to sustain their Presi-
dent and to protect him in his constitu-
tional authority precisely as they have
right to restrain Congress within the limi-
tatiOn prescribed by the Constitution If,
therefore, watching the President means
anything else than the right of every body
TO see that the President faithfully executes
the provisions of the Constitution and the
laws OF the country, our ultra Radical
watchmen may be assured that they will
be themselves watched, and that by mil
lions of eyes.-MissOuri Republican, July
21