The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-01
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER I, 1869.
PRESCRIPTION IN THE souri,

A LARGE portion of the American people cor
dially endorse the sentiments contained in
Greeleys appeal to General Butler against
continued prescription for participation in
the Rebellion which was recently published
in The TELEGRAPH. The work of reconstruc-
ton is now nearly completed; the freedmen
have been converted into citizens in all the
States which formally seeded, and they will
gain the right of suffrage in the whole Union
as soon as the fifteenth amendment is ratified;
no organized opposition to the national
authority is manifested in any quarter; tho
Rebel swords have been turned into plough
shares and the Rebel spears into pruning
hooks; and as fitting sequel to
the triumpbs of peace already effected,
the political rights of the late enemies of the
Union should be restored at the earliest pos
sible moment If the policy pursued by
the nation since the surrender at Appomattox,
in reference to the Rebel armies and Rebel
property owners, is not a grevious error, it is
unwise to withhold this additional display of
magnanimity. No good can arise from per-
petuation of the bitter memories of the war
The one thing essential, fortifcation of the
practically accomplished; and this great end
being gained, it is impolitic to place
any considerable portion of America
under ban for their past actions The doc
trine of universal amnesty and universal suf-
frage has many enthusiastic advocates, and if,
as is confidently believed, the negroes are
about to secure the universal recognition of
their political rights, it is proper that their old
masters too should have a legal voice in the
decision of the political questions which
deeply affect their present and future welfare
In Tennessee, where the proscriptive system
has prevailed up to this time, it has accom-
plished no permanent good, even in a
partisan point of view, for the worst of
Rebels could not form a less reliable Re-
publican organization than that which
inflicted upon the nation Andy John
son, Senator Fowler Emerson Etheridge, and
Governor Senter. In the future, as in the
past, the men who participated actively AMI
prominently in the Rebellion will exercise
deep influence upon the political action of
the communities in which they reside. If
the Republican party, as party, continue to
ostracize them, they will inevitably antago
nize it, as body, and the resultant loss or
damage will be far greater than any advan-
tage that would accrue from their exclusion
from the polls and the right to hold Office.
But aside from these considerations, their
deep interest in the future welfare of the South
arising from their ownership of large portion
of the soil, renders their active and personal
cooperation in matters relating to local gov
ernment essential TO the oanaral welfara
Whatever may have been their errors or their
crimes, they acted under the impulse of what
they believed to be patriotic motives, and
thousands would now vote and legislate ac-
cording to the best lights they could obtain
It cannot be doubted that their aid would
hasten the recuperation of the South, aud that
war-devastated region should receive all the
help that any portion of her own citizens can
give. 1t has still very perplexing problem,
to solve, and all of its best talent is needed t,
promote in the highest degree, its future
welfare. ..