Year: 1866




Stevens to establish . loyal State govern,
ment for North Carolina. We may go fur
ther and say, that no bill, not reported BY 4
committee, has had more friends than this
had, at the time Of its introduction, among
the leading public men and presses Of the
North. It is pronounced by many compe-
tent to judge, solution Of the yexed qnes
tion of restoration. This bill has gone to a
highly intelligent and patriotic committee of
the House, and report is looked for at an
early day. -,


This bill sets out with clear and histori-
cal statement of the origin and nature of the
rebellion Its suppression--the steps taken
by the President, as commander-in-chief, to
preserve peace and order in the subdued dis
trict of country and it is then declared to be
the duty of Congress, as the civil and law
making power of the nation, to enable the
loyal people of said district to establish a
government of their own, republican in form,
as an indispensable step to the restoration of
the State to its former relations to the gov
ernment It is then provided that loyal
Convention of the people of the State shall
be assembled in the City of Raleigh, on the
j Goth of May, 1857, to frame Constitution !;
which Constitution shall be submitted to
Congress for approval, modification, or re-
ection If the Congress shall find and de-
clare the Constitution to be republican in
form, the State will at once be admitted to
all its privileges as member Of the Union !;
s but if it should not so find and declare, the
Constitution will be returned for further ac-
ton by the Convention.


The qualifications for delegates to the Con
vention must be such as are required under
the old Constitution for members of the
House of Commons; and in choosing dele
gates, what is called impartial suffrage is
adopted This is the very rule of suffrage
laid down by President johnson, in his let
ter to Gov Sharkey, in 1865. tits, in sub
stance, that every white man and every ne
gro who can read and write, and who owns
real estate of the value of one hundred dol
lars, will be allowed to vote.


1t is utterly idle for any citizen of the in
surgent States to expect or hope that these
States will ever be restored to their former
places in the Union until they shall have
provided in their fundamental law for abso
ute equality between the two races as TO po-
itical and civil rights. The bill introduced
" Mr.. Stevens embodies the principle of ne
:ro suffrage. 1t is merely a question of pol
cy as TO wncrrcr- sosc at
nee The action Of Congress on this sub
.ct as to the District of Columbia furnishes a
Observation-Disclosures the purpose ftbat body.
We think it more than probable that what
is called manhood or general suffrage will be
adopted. Every man, without regard to race
or color, win be invested with the ballot
And many rebels who have been pardoned
by the President Gor he pardoned all, with
certain exceptions, in his amnesty proclama-
ton of May 80, 1869 are behaving so bad
ly, that Unionists in all portions of the coun-
try are seriously inclining to the determine
ton not only to exclude them from Office but
from the ballot-box, until they sincerely re-
pent of their treason, and manifest a proper
spirit of submission to the national authori-
ty. 1t would be easy to cut such persons of
from the ballot-box, by extending the test
oath in the act to voters as well as office
holders


The oath in this bill is, we think, the best
yet devised for the insurgent States 1t does
not go back beyond the 4th of March, 1864,
but it provides for establishing sound
status Of loyalty from that period. No un-
repentant secessionist and latter-day war
man can take it without committing perjury.
No such persons will take it. If they should,
they will be scorned and avoided by all de-
cent persons. If they should take it falsely
they will be prosecuted for perjury in the
Federal Court, and the jurors who may try
them will do so under the oath. 1t is also
made the duty Of the District Judge who
administers the oath to institute rigid scru-
tiny into the antecedents of the person offer
ing to take the oath, and after full hearing
he may refuse to administer the oath to such
person. We do not see how the oath could
be improved, or that its administration could
be better guarded.


The machinery of the bill is excellent. 1t
is every way appropriate that the law officers
of the United States should be directed to
conduct the necessary operations to re-estab-
lish the law in the insurgent States.


Tt also provided that the present organiza-
ton, set up under martial law, is to be con-
tinued until the new order of things shall be
established. This is necessary to prevent
anarchy and to preserve peace and order
The present organization will thus glide out
of existence without any shock to society, to
be succeeded by permanent civil govern
ment based on loyalty and Justice.


The writer of this is ready to assume all the
responsibility that may attach to him as one
ofthe originators of this bill Indeed, he has
cause to be proud Of his connection with it
as it promises to be the foundation of perma
nent loyal civil government, without which
| our people will still languish under seces
SION rule, and be kept out of the Union, de
prived of every incentive and opportunity t.
improve their condition. 4
At any rate, our skirts are clear. We hav'
faithfully warned this people. We told them
in 1860, that secession would result in wa