The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1869-09-23

cal party IN this etlas aere fsfsaia| q
their attem1t 10 forse thp rejetted cenzti-
tuition and die defeated candidates On the
the people, by means Of oaths that such |
decision had not been rendered At the bal
lot-box. and that nothing less than the
.peruanent Acknowledgement Of 'erebelg ]
would temper the winds to the shorn
lambs Of 'sloyaIty" in the South, these
same spoilsmen met in jackson (on the
LIST july and adopted q platform pro
testing their innocence Of any such Pur-
pose as Prescription, and yet 50 evasive
and contradictory as to admit of either
liberal or q restrictive interpretation
Commencing on the first Monday In
October, they swore straight on. with
vim, through january, February, March
and April, that a majority of the regis
tered voters of the State demanded a dis
franchising constitution, and that the
necessities of the case absolutely required
it; but on the 1st Of July, they protested
that spirit of peace and amity towards
their opponents had come over them; and
the platform to which we have referred
was the consequence.
If change has come over them, it is
the most marvellous on record. Their
! convictions in favor of DISTINGUISHING
constitution found utterance in deliberate
oaths on the Holy Evangelist, almost
simultaneously with the protestations con-
tanned in this edition of their platform.
Their first Resolution on the subject of
political privileges, is in these words:
We favor the removal of the dis
qualifications and restrictions imposed
| upon the late rebels, in the same
measure as the spirit OF disloy atty
may die out. and as may be consistent With
| the sa ETY. OF the loyal people,. and we shall
hail with nnfeigned delight, the day when
| the spirit of federation now dawning upon
| our State. shall be so nrmly established as
/ to warrant Congress, and the nation in de-
claring disabilities and restrictions forever
| at an end-when there shall be no citizen OF
Mississippi, clamorIng for his rights.
Which is a committal in favor of the
removal of disabilities and the extension
to late rebels of political privileges at
some indefinite period when the safety of
the loyal people" will admit of it; and
declaration that they will be transcen-
IDENTIFY happy when they viii feel war
ranted in striking the shackles from the
said 'rebels."
But s'when" will they feel so warrant
ed? For light on this subject let us refer
to the evidence of J. TarbeIl, before the
Committee ofCongress. He is the author
of the resolution, and his evidence de-
livered short time before, is in these
words:
More definitely what's needed is: Ratifi
cation (of the rejected eonstituriOn) with the
test-oath for the Legislature and for all OIL
GERS from Governor to Constable To BE IN
| CORPORATED BY CONGRESS AS A
PERMANENT FEATURE OF THE CON
| oTiTUTI0N. (Vol. Evidence, page 276)
This, then, was what the righteous
Jonathan really meant by his remarkably
lucid and explicit July resolution. But
a permanent test-oath for all persons
''from Governor to Constable was not all
that was ''needed" by the saints, for in
the next paragraph he assures Congress
that they needed ''the entire official
patronage of the State and the federal
government" They wanted monopoly
of the spoils, and could only secure them
by depriving large class of citizens,
who happen to be the heaviest x-payers,
of their right to participate in the govern
ment.
The next resolution of this remarkable
platform is in these words
That the present modified condition OF
public sentiment in this S ate renders it wise
and expedient, that the Republican party
| should embrace the opportunity which is to
be presented in the approaching election OF
! ratifying the new Constitution. so far modi-
fed in the franchise and general provisions
1 thereof as to conform to the Constitution OF
| the United states, and the reconstruction
laws: and.that as soon as Mississippi shall
be fully reconstructed. according TO the true
\ intent OF the laws. all disabilities imposed
upon the late rebels, should be entirely re-
moved.
We must again have recourse to the
testimony of its author, (TarbelD deliv-
cred short time previous, to unravel the
| meaning VI THIS ISSOlutlOu.
Setting out with purpose to deceive,
he gave a reason which is false if his own
testimony to-Congress be true. In the
resolution he speaks of the modified con-
dition of public sentiment But in his
statement to Congress he said:
TITS not true that since the Presidential
! election. changes have taken place in our
favor. The same Intolerance and os-
trdcism EXISTS as heretofore, and the same plans
add purposes inspire leaders, schich prevent
changes" etc. (VOl. Evidence, page 277.)
So much for the modified sentiment
of which the sanity Tarbell spoke when
he addressed the people themselves instead
of Congress, whose vengeance he strove
with all his might to call down upon their
heads
But disabilities are to be removed in
view of this modified sentiment" as
soon as Mississippi shall be fully recon-
structed. But when, in the estimation of
these men whe prayed Congress to create,
for their benefit, monopoly of ''the en-
tire st tie and federal patronage" will the
State be ''fully reconstructed ?" For an
answer, we must again recur to their peti-
ton for permanent test-oath, and to
the following description which he gave
to Congress of the consequences of polit-
ical liberation:
Past offences blotted out, with universal
suffrage and universal amnesty, and another
election. are to be the signal for Rele aorcags
for then. as they THE rfht Isl say. 1.-THE future