Year: 1867

Recon Astrastisn-The ProsDooe aaA Probable


safe rssn M Political Resulss. sF n~ssgt


The extraordinary revolution that IL now
going on in the sentiments and conduct Of the
Southern people, under the operation Of the
reconstruction acts, will form one Of the most
interesting chapters in the history Of this or
any other country. A people who not long
ago were defiant and appeared to be imprAc-
tticable, and who more recently were sulleu and
apatheiic, are now putting their shoulders to
the wheel in good earnest to helm forward the
work of reconstruction. The strong COM
mon sense of the American people, the
facilities with which they adapt them
selves to circumstances, and their remark
able capacity for self-government, are strik-
ingly shown in all this. It is calculated
to inspire us with the hope Of future harmony
and the perpetuation Of the republic. Foreign
nations we're astonished at the power Of the
government and strength Of our Institutions, as
exhibited in the war and Its results but they
will be more surprised when they see in short
time the union and harmony Of the country
restored. They win see how eminently prac-
tical we are, and will admire the elasticity Of
our character and political institutions.


The information which we spread before our
readers yesterday from our correspondents In
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor
gia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee,
Louisiana and Mississippi, covering two pages
of the HERALD, is full Of interest on the all
important matter Of reconstruction. In fact,
it Is mass Of more valuable and
reliable Information than any investigating
committee Of Congress could have collected;
for it comes from a number Of intelligent and
unprejudiced men, spread all over the South.
and states faithfully what they saw and ex-
perienced. And what Is the testimony Of these
correspondents, one and all ? That the people
everywhere are waking up as from dream TO
their real situation. They see that there Is no
hope but In promptly yielding to the supreme
mandates Of Congress. However disagreeable
the provisions Of the reconstruction acts may
be to some of them, they know they are help
less and that it would be folly and ruinous to
resist The sblest and leading men Of the
South-men who are disfranchised and pro-
scribed by these acts of Congress, such as
Wade Hampton, Longstreet Beauregard, Lee,
Mallory, Orr and others-have led off with one
voice for submission to the will of Congress.
The press and the people generally are follow
ing. Of course many swallow the bitter pill
prescribed by Congress with wry faces, and
reiterate their old dogmas as tenaciously as
Meg Merrilies forced her head above water
when her enemies were drowning her and
shouted Charley, Charley, Charley; but this is
only spasmodic and . sort Of temporary agony.
The necessities Of their situation, common
sense, time and reconstruction win cure all
that, even in the remaining intractable South.
erners. Indeed, few weeks only have donea
great deal in curing it, % our correspondence
shows. aesat


But the most remarkable feature in the pro-
gressive work of reconstruction is the harmony
and afiliation between the late shareholders
and their emancipated slaves. They assemble
together in public meetings on footing Of
political equality and address each other as
friends and fellow-citizens Nor is there any
false pride, affsctadon or hypocrisy in such
language and bearing one toward the other.


The late masters Of the negroes have sense


enough to see that the interests Of the two
races are inseparably interviewer, that restora-
tion and the consequent prosperity Of the
South will be benefit to both, and that ex-
clusion from political privileges, from repre-
sentation In Congress, would be followed by
injury to both. Besides, as general thing,
there is kindly feeling on the part of the
whites for the weaker and less cultivated
blacks. Generally, too, the negroes are con-
scious, of this and look up with confidence for
advice and guidance from their late masters.
This is evident from the addresses Of the
more intelligent to the rest The speeches
delivered by some Of them lately, and their
conduct, as described by our correspondents,
show this to be the case. We see also, that
there is a determination on the part of both
races to cultivate these kindly, friendly and
confding relations.


Now, this is a state of things deserving par
ticular notice, and which was certainly not
expected by the old radical abolitionists of
the North. These radicals had erroneously
supposed the negroes hated the white master
race and would take the earliest opportunity
to turn against them. The teachings Of the
war, in which the negroes voluntarily fought


side by side with their masters, did not erad-
icate this error. The radicals have been ex-
pecting, since the war closed and the slaves
were emancipated, that these people would
vote and act In opposition to their old masters


They begin to see their mistake, however, and
are in terrible state of anxiety about the
consequences. No tide of Northern emigration,
however great nor any amount Of radical
speechmaking and preaching, can turn the
political current in which the blacks and the
whites Of the South are united and combined
for action. They both see their interests are
the same and irrevocably fixed in the same
section Of country.