Year: 1866

sense, since each House can examine the
loyalty Of the Southern delegates for itself,
and send back those who are disloyal With
equal strength he retorts upon the radicals for
calling him usurper because he has written
as many vetoes as Washington did; and, after
Indignantly demanding what he had usurped,
he quoted Jefferson and others to prove that
there is tyranny of the many more to be
dreaded in q republic than the despotism of
any President In this Mr.. johnson is un-
doubtedly correct. Our President is compara-
lively powerless; but this radical Congress can
legislate itself into Office for life, and become
an unendurable aristocracy.


In both these remarkable speeches Of the
President he bids his hearers to wait and see
who will be most faithful and who is the real
friend Of the freedmen, and he promises that
they will not have to wait very long. These
significant declarations will inspire the utmost
curiosity among all parties. From them we
infer that the President is about to take some
decided and important action before many
days, and the probabilities are that he will
commence by dismissing the radical members
of his Cabinet. We say that this is probable;
but If the President Is about to do anything, a
reorganization of the Cabinet is, in fact indis-
pensable. The radical strength In Congress
must be broken, and the only way TO break it
is to remove the Cabinet which supports and
inspires it, The fate of the veto of the Civil
Rights bill has shown that 80 long as the radi-
cal leaders can maintain their present ascend
ancy it is useless to attempt 10 check Congress
SIGNAL action. Besides this, there is no plan
which the President can frame that can be
carried out without the cooperation of his
Cabinet Ministers, and it is evident that some
of his present Cabinet retain their places for
the express and avowed purpose of thwarting
all his plans. As President Johnson Is prac-
tical, common sense man, he must perceive the
absurdity Of an effort to make Stanton, Speed
and Harlan assist him in any conservative
measures. Why, these very persons hold their
portfolios, not at the pleasure Of the President,
but at the pleasure of Mr.. Sumner and MI.
Stevens, ans will only relinquish them volun-
tarily when Mir. Sumner and Mr.. Stevens COM
mand. 1t is q matter Of public notoriety-it
has been repeatedly published In the radical
papers-that certain members Of the Cabinet
were about to resign when the Freedmen's
Bureau bill was vetoed, but concluded to re-
main at the request Of the radical leaders. An
administration thus divided against itself will
be powerless to assist the President in the ac-
tion which he is about to take. That this &C
ton is to be prompt and important is evident
from the fact that in both his speeches Mr..
johnson is careful to reiterate his promises to
stand by the conservative masses of the coun-
try, though everybody else may falter and fail,
and to prove himself, before very long, the
best friend Of the white man and the black.
The President weighs bis words well, and
when he makes such pledges as these we are
justified in expecting some setion more decis-
i've than . veto, which may b. voted down, or
speech, which Of itself will affect the radicals
very little. Consequently we lock 10 see these
remarkable addresses followed up by change
Of Cabinet and renewed energy in the work Of
reconstruction.