The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1870-11-12

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"A house divided against itsolf cannot stand.
The %ooHutry cannot always exist half slave aud
halT free; II must become all one thing or all the
other"
These homrly words Of Mr.. Lincoln,
which passed into u proycrb, and were
made the war cry Of u great party, have q
deeper meaning in them to day than ut
any previous time in the history OF the Re.
public. II Is not our purpose to inquire
to how great an extent the principles
which the late President advocated, and
the policy of the party which elected him,
contributed TO the mlfllmcnt of his predic-
ton, but II cannot he denied that the Pc
litical logic ON which this prediction Is
based Is u selfeyident truth. In the
records of the past-and these alone must
always he our guides In estimating the
chances of the t~tture-nothing is more
plainly taught than this. No nation can
long be governed by one system ut the
centre and another at the circumference;
no code Of laws or of morality can be en-
forced upon one portion of a people with
out ooncr or later extending over the
whole, and where two systems or two
codes Numerically opposed to each other
fANf ~ ~ NNAllNltlNlth VI AAAAtAl4lEAttAlA 70,
brought face to face, one or the other of
them must inevitably be driven TO the wall,
and pass out of existence. 1t would not
be difficult 70 prove, by reference 10 we'll.
known precedcnts, that this rule holds
good even in countries which make no
%pretensionS to civil liberty, but from the
very nature Of the case it must be apparent
that in u government such as this of ours
processes to he, liberty and tyranny can
not join hands and dwell together in
harmonious union. Gradually but certainly
the more powerful heaven crosses the line
of demarcation and finally peryadcs the
whole lump--and which shall prove the
more powerful depends upon the eternal
vigilance of the people, for it is the dispo-
sitlon of all rulers to extend and consoli.
date their authority, rather than con
line II within strict constitutional bouuds.
Unthinking persons are ready TO ilatter
themselves with the idea that the abnormal
condition of affairs which existed during
the war, and has continued more or less
ever since, is about drawing toa close, and
that when all the seeded States are re.
ceived again into the Federal Union, and
have their Senators and Representatives in
Congress, the work Of reconstruction will
have been accomplished, and the machinery
belonging thereto be laid aside forever. K
gmyer error than this never appealed to
human credulity Reconstruction, so far
from touching It's conclusion, is literally
but Just bcgul. For four years 1t has been
intrcnohing itself in the South, and now,
feeling secure In It's position there, il NOV
ing northward. The vanguard ofthe main
army passed the border some time since in
the shape of the Fifteenth Amendment.
Only a eompantiyclySmall portion of the
Radical party were really in favor of Civ
ing the negro the right TO vote and hold
Office At the North the majority would
have preferred making him d citizen
within the limits Of the late Confed-
emcy, and keeping him in a condition
of tutelage elsewhere but having started
the ball they were powerless to control 1t
for revolutions never either go backward
or stand still. So the amendment, which
could never have been fairly carried in an,
State, outside of New England, was
through fraud and rascality hitherto un.
heard Of In a country claiming to b.
free, crammed down the Threats of the
people. The people made q few wry faccs
but they submitted, and thus paved the
way for another and holder step In the re
construction OF the North. The election
business at the South Is, and has been iron,
the beginning Of the Radical regime
openly controlled by Federal officers and
the Federal army. There has been no sori
Of disguise about II, and the outrage was
defended on no other plea than political
necessity. IL the Southern people, white
and black, were let entirely alone. they
would vote the Conservative ticket and
send Conservatives TO Congress.