The New York herald., 1872-05-24
The Ehect OF the Political Convul-
sions ON Congrcss-Good and Bad
LegislatfOn.

1t is curious to observe the effect the political
movements of the day are having upon the re-
publican Senators and congressman who have
been doing their best for the last twelve months
to weaken, if not to destroy, strong and hon
orable administration. The nomination of
Horace Greeley at Cincinnati, and the undeni-
able influence and responsibility of the liberal
convention seem to have suddenly opened the
eyes Of these politicians to the necessity of car
rying out by legislation the well known views
and repeated recommendations Of the Presi-
dent, and hence we find them in single night
rushing through the Senate such measures as
the Amnesty and Civil Rights bills, which,
during months of the session they have stu
pidly embarrassed and obstructed. In his in
augural address, nearly four years ago, and in
his subsequent messages to Congress, General
Grant urged, in strong language, the removal
of all disabilities imposed upon those who took
part in the rebellion. In these official recon-
mendations he only adhered to the generous and
wise instincts that prompted him while at the
head Of the army of the United States to grant
honorable terms to the Confederate soldiers
who lay at his mercy at Appomattox that in
duced him to protest emphatically against an
attempt to indict General Lee for treason in
contavention of the conditions of surrender,
and that led him, in his report on the 'condi-
ton of the South, shortly after the restoration
Of peace to condemn policy of oppression
and revenge. If the narrow minded politi-
clans in Congress, who profess friendship for
General Grants administration, had faithfully
carried out his views instead of following their
own intricate plots and intrigues, they would
have done, months ago, the work they accom-
plished in last Tuesdays night session of the
Senate, and they would have made it more
complete and satisfactory than it now is.
The Amnesty bill, which was passed in the
shape in which it came from the House, was
promptly signed by the President and is now
O law. 1t continues the existing disabilities
in the cases Of Senators and Representa-
tives of the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh
Congresses, officers in the judicial, military
and naval service of the United States heads
Of departments and foreign ministers of the
United States who took part in the rebellion.
These will number only few hundreds, in
Guiding Jefferson Davis and John G. Breckin-
ridge. The excluded are set down in the party
organs as about two hundred, which is, how
ever, too low an estimate, and it is claimed
that the exceptions will meet with general ap-
proval. On the contrary, we regard the re-
striction in the law as inexpedient and un-
popular. The great value Of amnesty was not
that it would remove political disabilities from
O certain number Of ex-rebels, more or less,
and enable them to hold Office, but that It
would bury the dead past and blot out forever
the last bitter remembrance of our civil strife.
In order to thoroughly accomplish that good
work amnesty should have been complete and
universal there should have been no excep-
tions whatsoever, SO that the very name Of po-
litcal disability might be obliterated from the
constitution and laws Of the country, and die
out from the memory of men with the
events that gave birth to it. The people now
desire to forget the rebellion and all connected
with it, and hence we regard the exceptions
made by the present law as Objectionable on
principle as well as absurd in their practical
operation. General Grant has himself con-
demned the policy Of excluding certain parti-
cipants in the rebellion from full pardon and
restoration because they happened to have
been previously of sufficient standing and
character to be elected to prominent positions,
and he would no doubt have preferred that the
law he has just signed should have been unre-
stricted in its operation. Nevertheless, the
action of Congress in passing the law in its
present shape is a step in the right direction,
for which we may probably thank the political
commissions which are evidently reminding
our representatives Of the duty they owe to the
people. The practical benefit of the law was
made pleasingly apparent Immediately the
intelligence of its signature by the President
was received in the House, by the prompt
swearing in of one Of the members elect from
unable to take his seat on account of disa-
bilities, and by the gratifying announcement
that every State and district is now fully rep
resented in the national House of Representa-
tives, for the first time since the commence
ment Of the rebellion.
The passage Of the Civil Rights bill by the
Senate was another concession to the exigen-
cies Of the times; but it was attended by a
piece of sharp practice scarcely fair to the
champion and father of the measure Senator
Sumner, who has been laboring nearly all the
session to secure this protection for the colored
race During his absence from the chamber
Senator Carpenter mutilated his associate pet
measure, which had previously met with con-
slant obstru ction and opposition, and rushed
it to vote in its altered form, when it passed
by majority Of thirteen. In its present
shape it imposes penalty for the exclusion of
any person on account Of color or previous
conditions of seryitude from any public inn,
licensed place of amusement or public convey
anca but does not aDply as SINNERS hill did