Year: 1866




the threat which he uttered on Saturday. 1t
does not matter for Whist reason he uttered it
His wishes in regard to the Pennsylvania ap-
pointments may have been disregarded; be
may have been aggravated by the predestined
failure of his reconstruction scheme in the Sem
ate; but, whatever his motives, he has at length
reached the logical conclusion Of the radical
programme, and we want to see the game
played out All through this quarrel the radi-
calls have displayed the utmost consistency.
They have struck repeated blows at the Presl-
dent; they have controlled his Cabinet; they
have dared him to change his advisers; they
have treated his vetoes contemptuously;
they have annoyed him in every possible
manner and they have abused him in
public and private upon every occasion.
To these outrages there have been merely
verbal responses from the White House.
Not until recently have radicals been re-
moved from ofice and even now the Presi-
dent has commenced ct the little end of the
hydra's tail, instead Of chopping OF its heads
like Hercules. But these removals, small as
they arc, have aroused the wrath Of Mr.. Ste-
vens. He has already ordered bill to be
prepared depriving the President of his consti-
tutional and time-honored prerogat've, and he
now proposes to impeach all the officials con-
cerned in tho affair. We sincerely trust that
he will carry out his threat and talk no more
buncombe about tho wonders he intends to
perform. n


We assume this posjtiQn ip relation to this
quarrel and state Sur views thus frahiinsly and
unreservedly because it is evident that the
people are heartily tired of having the govern
ment disgraced at home ana abroad by so vio-
lent feud. What respect can anybody enter
tain for country whose executive and legisla-
tive departments are openly and bitterly hostile?
When the radicals declare that the President
IL !asitor and the President asserts that Con-
sress is led by rebels Il is time that some soiu-
Mon Of the dfaculty should be discovered.
We have fought four years for the Union we
have sacrificed thousands Of lives and millions
Of money for the Union our gallant armies
under General Grant triumphed over the
Southern rebellion in order to restore the
Union, but We are now more disunited than
ever. This is somebody's fault; somebody is
to blame for 1t and the people insist upon
settlement Of the dispute as to whether the
President or Congress is responsible. From
neither the President nor Congress can they OBJ
tain any satisfactory response. Thus far the
President has the best of the argument but the
worst Of the quarrel He talks as though he
were right; but the radicals act as though
they were right. He insists that Southern
representatives ought to be admitted to Con.
gress but the radicals keep them out. He in
ssts that the South ought to be governed like
the rest Of the nation |; but the radicals keep
the South under the dominion of The bayonet
and the Freedmen's Bureau. He issues orders
and by command or the radicals his own Cabi-
net officers disregard these orders. In the
meantime here we are with half country,
heavy taxes. deprcciated currency and the
extremists Of both parties oaly restrained from
meditating revolutionary proceedings by the
certainty that General Grant, who Is acceptable
to all parties, will be our next President But
the next Presidency is still long way of and
this quarrel cannot continue until then with
out fcarfully inJuring the country. When q
Congressman is permitted to accuse the Presi.
dent Of treason, the Secretaries of malfeasance
in Office and honorable Senators OF npostacy,
without being once called to order for his vio-
lations OF parliamentary rules and without
vote Of censure being passed upon him, the
most Indifferent must be reused to an apprc-
citation Of the dangers Of the situation. Such
outbreaks are perilous to the public peace,
fatal to the reputation Of the United States and
indicative Of an animosity that cannot be too
promptly checked. The remedy which Mr.
Stevens himself proposes is severe one; but
it is much better than doing nothing. If the
President viii take no decided step, If he will
not change his Cabinet and call our leading
generals and admirals into his councils, IL re-
mains for the radicals to force matters to an
issue, just as they have always taken tho initia-
tive. We know precisely how the scheme of
Mr.. Stevens will end; we know that the
President will be sustained both by Con-
gress and the people. And II IL for this very
reason and because we hope that this now
attack will cause the President TO act aud thus
expose the weakness and punisr the pcrfdy Of
these malconten,s that we eagerly second the
proposal Of Mr.. Stevens and pray that he may
be young enough "within week" to make
good his threats and boasts.


The OPERATIONS OF THE EXCISE LAw.-Thcrc
are two conspicuous features in the operations
of the Excise law that must attract observation.
One is the humorous side Of the question, ~
presented by the many shifts resorted to in order