Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-01-12
ANDREW JOHNSON AND THE H0R-
RORs OF RECONSTRUCTION.


thatin 1867 he removed Sheridan, to the
surprise of his cabinet, for similar as
sumption Of power, and replaced him
with Hancock. So he did. but let us
recur to history and see where the
responsibility lays for S~heridan's action
both in 1867 and in 1875. The reason
Johnson removed Sheridan in 1867 we
will rive in to. morrow's issue; his crimi-
nality with Sheridan in all these
transactions We viii now point out.
Mr.. Lincoln, the Federal Congress and
the great body Of Federal officers and
soldiers insisted during the war and up
to it's very close, thAtit wasbeing waged,
srst. simply to maintain the Union, and
second, that slavery should give way as
guarantee Of future peace. No other
terms we're demanded, except BY the
Wendell Philips extremists Hence
upop the surrender Of General Joe Z
Johnston. the terms Of c~Apitulaiion
agreed upon between himself and Gen
Sherman we're IN harmony VITA these
prufessions. we're wise and jas. and, II.
sbsy had been carried out vonld have
given pesca to the entire Union. and
woul5 hrrs saved the S0H9h from the
~iuuunsrahle trDubies 10 which II has
been since subjected, and rnasr which
uur siEtHr Southern States. Louisiana
and others are still Rg1nIzing. b these
terms the VARIOUS Southern STATES were
70 be restored a snce 70 prsUiHaly the
sEme status they held pris 70 the EEr
with general amnesty SO Ia Is the
Executive power Of ths Tinted States
q coumssd Prom 3 recent letter
Of General Johnston We make the iol
loving Interesting extract
ABINGDON. Ia. Sept =. ns
T. 6. Ru1hrtsk. Esg-
DEAE EH-Tuur favor 81 sbe 18Th
instant was forwarded from SEFsnnEh.
Genera Sherman and myself Egrnes
uVnn farua On the l6ta q April. lst5.
restoring the S.Eaes q the C0nfe5erscy
70 the c0Ddiion they had IN the Lnion
bef,ys accession These terms Esrs
pubHshsd II military narrative y ne
which appeared iAE EyrlnE Genera
sherman assured ns sAEt they were Il
a~eror5znee With ninufs political instrue-
fions EiTeu him 5T Mr. Lzssln etfsr
General Lee vas drivsr from his Ines
IN frort q Rsshuo0d. Weddnocou5t
there ore. ihst hs Successor ard ezt7si
zculS spprors then. II. Johnsoa
refused 70 rstify ibsr, bat tksT were SC
cepied b. the President q he Coufso-
erscy
YER truly. yoafs.
Jos. Z. JoHxsEos.
To these fair and liberal terms Of
cspItulsdoB, tsssd upon the minute
political instructions givsa bin BY Er-
Lincoln, andinsultiDgly tsampled under
foot By President johnson, General sher-
man alludes in the following letter, writ
ten only q month after, TO q brother
officer:
CAR. Mas ALExAsDRia. Nay Z. 1866.
Dear BOysman;
: / have noticed that on
fields Of battle brave men never insult
the captured or mutilate the dead, but
towards aud laggards always do. |
cannot now recall, but Shakespeare re.
cords how poor Falstaf, the prince Of
towards, rising from 4 figured death,
stabbed again the dead Percy and carried
the esreap aloft in triumph TO prove his
yalor. | DO want peace and
security and the return TO law and JUS.
tice from Maine to the Rio Grande, and
II 1t does not nov exist, substantially, il
IS Tor State reasons beyond my compre
hension. . =
Yours truly W. T. SHERMAN.
These terms we're honorable alike 10
the vanquished and the victor. They
put down the rebellion and fully restored
the authority of the general government.
If they we're in accordance with the
terms Of Mr.. Lincoln, and satisfied the
demands OF the brave men Of the Fed.
eral army who had shared all the dan.
gers Of the war, should they not have
satisfied our " trusted Senator" the then
accidental President2 But he indig.
nantly rejected them-trampled them
under his feet, and established "hil
policy" by which all the States of III,
South were reduced to a colonial vassal
age, from which Louisiana, Mississippi
Arkansas, Alabama. Florida and Soutl
Carolina have not yet escaped. 1t is nc
excuse for Andrew johnson now to say
that be has ceased TO sympathize with tn,
remoter fruits of his own ~wickednesr
and folly. The fact stands that, from
The rejection Of the Sherman.J ohnsou
terms Of surrender, have resulted all the
evils Of reconstruction, even down to the
terrible drama in Louisiana. And vel
for such craftsmanship, a Democratic
Legislature Of Tennessee is seriously
called upon to lift him over the heads 0
all her worthy citizens to the highesi
position Of honor and trust, and even a
the expense Of their own honor. Wa
there eve such ~efrontery az this7 Oh
shame, where is thy blush2