Year: 1867

we nave SOME very CURIOUS ana, Wltnal, IN


Southern aspect, some very ugly news from
Washington this morning. Judge Sharkey, o
Mississippi, as 1t appears, does not feel much
encouraged at the prospects of his application
to the Supreme Court for an injunction against
the execution Of the Southern reconstruction
laws of Congress He is convinced that the
court will do nothing for him, and that 1t il
inclined to avoid any judgment upon the sub.
ject until all the mischief" contemplated by
Congress shall have been accomplished in the
complete overthrow Of State rights" and the
destruction Of republican institutions in this
country. But he seems to think that the con-
stitation, as he understands II, is worth another
Southern fight for It and State sovereignty, and
be is resolved that the Supreme Court shall
decide the questions involved in his petition
in some form, II he lives, whether agreeable or
disagreeable to the judges If he cannot get
any satisfaction from the court on this petition
he will make up case for the Indictment and
arrest Of General Ord, commander Of the
Fourth Southern Military district, embracing
Mississippi, for treason against the State.


This bold alternative, Mr.. Sharkey calcu.
lates, will result In compelling final
determination Of this question of State
rights. He laments the supineness exhib-
itcd by many Of the Southern States and
leaders, and If this thing continues much
longer, the South, he says, is lost, and goes
down into the darkness of the catacombs of
Egypt-whites, State rights, negroes, the con-
stitution, Indians and all. BE is very anxious,
evidently, 10 push this business to State
rights solution, in the absence Of Congress.
Supreme Court till CONGRESS was out Of the
way was simply this-he did not intend to let
Congress get hit at him.


There is something very suggestive in this
remark-"h he did not intend to let Congress
get hit at him." II conveys the idea Of a
misunderstanding Southern scheme and conspi-
racy against Congress, and the idea, too, that
with Congress ont Of the way the coast is clear,
and that President Johnson will passively sub
NIT, like Buchanan in his day, should Missis-
sippi assert her sovereign State rights and
arrest General Ord for treason to the State in
carrying out the laws Of the United States
While, therefore, we are gratiRed to hear that
the President has had nothing to do with the
getting up this petition of fSharkey and Walker,
we do not like this apparent confidence Of
Sharkey in his revolutionary designs under the
wing Of Mr.. johnson. All such disturbers Of
the public peace in the. rebel States, and Of
the reviving spirit of law and order therein,
ought to be made to understand, without fur
ther indnlgences. that they must not any longer
presume to obstruct this work Of Southern
reconstruction, and that II they do not stand
out Of the way they will be put out Of the way
in limbo. under the reserved United States
rights of martial law.


Our Washington correspondent seems to
think that If General Ord shall be arrested by
the local authorities Of Mississippi on charge
Of treason against the State the Supreme Court
will be compelled to interpose and settle the
question. But there will be no necessity for
anything Of the kind. IT. on the application Of
Judge Sharkey, the Governor Of Mississippi
shall issue his writ for the arrest of General
Ord, on charge Of treason against the State,
and If any attempt shall be made to execute
this order, President johnson, in discharging
his duty. VIII promptly see to 1t that said Gov
ernor and all concerned with him are under
military law arrested and lodged for safe keep
ing in Fortress Monroe. We presume, how
ever, that General Ord, IL not interfered with
by the President, will be able to take care of
himself, and will, If fnecessary, act In q manner
which will speedily and efsctually silence all
revolutionary or seditious disturbers Of his
authority and Of the peace in Mississippi. Gen.
eral Sheridan made good example the other
day Of Mayor Monroe and some other unrecon-
structed rebels acting as city or State officials
in New Orleans. We like his decisive way OF
doing business when there Is danger in tenn
porizing. The three hundred thousand Union
soldiers buried in Southern soil have settled
this question of State rights in favor Of the
sovereignty and sovereign authority Of the
United States, and their Congress and that
decision will stand, and Southern refractory
Governors and Judges, by force of facts, argu-
ment or arms, as they may choose, will be
compelled to acknowledge it.


Southern men who now attempt to put OBJ
structions in the way Of Southern restoration
under the laws of Congress are the worst enc
mics of the South. We regret to find such
men still presuming upon the countenance and
support ofPresident Johnson. They have been
to him heavy and crippling load to carry,
and he should cast them of with any further
.efforts on their part to place him again In con-
flict with Congress. We would admonish the
Southern people that such leaders as Sharkey
and Walker, in behalf Of State rights, are lead
ing them in the old ruts Of the rebellion; we
would again remind those people that neither


President johnson nor the Supreme Court II
so inclined, can restore their States to voice
in Congress; but that this power rests exclu-
sively with Congress ITSELF and that the condi.
tions imposed by this Fortieth Congress are
fixed against ell contingencies to the end OF