Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-09-10
THE FAILURE OF THE REPUBLs
CAN PARTY

CAN PARTY.
The Hon. Thomas Ewing was
thirty years since Wing United
States Senator from Ohio. He was
afterwards Secretary of the Treas
ury under Gen. Harrison and again
under Gen. Tyler. Since the disrup-
ton of the Wing party, Mr.. Ewing
has been a Republican, though he
recoiled at some of the excuses of
that party, and at last openly re-
VOTED from their destructive policy,
and has since acted with the Demo
cratic party. In q recent letter up
on the present disturbed state of
the country, he inveighs against the
Republican party bitterly. The
perversion Of the constitutional
relation of the States to the federal
| government, attempted through the
pending fifteenth amendment to the
constitution Of the United States, is
revolving to all his ideas Of a repub-
lican system. He insists that the
proposed amendment has not been
legally submitted to the Legisla-
lures of the States for ratification or
rejection, because the Senators and
Representatives from the Southern
States were denied admission, and
that the two-thirds required to pass
it must be two-thiTds of the entire
Senate and House Of Representa-
tives, and not of the fractional
number present. In this connection
he says:
"That which we have is no more con-
stitutiOnal submission than would have
been q resolution of a Republican caucus.
"But there is now also an attempt to
force this irregular resolution upon US,
without the consent Of the Legislatures
of constitutional majority Of the States.
| The Southern States not yet reconstruct.
ed are to be denied readmisson as States
until they adopt this amendment. They
are to be thus forced to give their free
consent to it. Besides, if the unrecon>
structed States ratify the amendment
pursuant to the resolution, what will it
avail? The whole action Of Congress is
founded on the assumption that they are
not now States in the Union, but some
kind of quidity, no one knows what
territories, conquered provinces, military
proconsulates-and not States, until
again admitted. Now if they adopt the
resolution in obedience to this mandate,
their action is nugatory. None but the
States of the Union can participate in
amending the constitution Of the Union,
and the whole Radical system of recon
struction rests upon the assumption that
they are not now States.
But the party, having determined to
carry the measure, constitutional Objec-
tons are, am we'll aware, unavailing-
impertinent, perhaps, since caucus reso-
lutions have become the paramount law.
| am, however, opposed to the measure,
totally and entirely, and to all the Jug
giery and thimble-rigging by which 1t is
TO be brought about. am unwilling to
change the constitution of the United
States for a trivial cause, even if some
| possible good might follow it-but here
| | can see none. The proposed amend
| ment is not in accord with the opinions
and feelings Of our people, and l would
| not have them lured or forced unwil.
liugly to adopt it. There is no more
reason for extending to the negro politi-
cal than social equality. Indeed, both
are proposed by ultra Republican re.
formers, and both supported by the same
arguments. The experiment OF negro
supremacy, where now in full operation,
has not generally produced results
which impress men iavOrably."
He says that a deprecated cur
rency--one below the standard OF
the civilized worlds an evil, but
not so great as assumed. The ten
| dency of q national legal-tender
paper currency to fluctuation is
much less than is generally suPr
posed. 1t is not, he says, the dea
preciated currency, but the heavy
annual interest of tho debt that
presses with such enormous weight