Year: 1866

]


! The President has for some months plain
! y declared that in his judgment, Congress
is not a constitution al body; and the air has
been full Of rumOrs and SurmiseS as to his
probable action upon the meeting of Con
greSs. Indeed, the late story in the Phila-
delphia Ledger, although Immediately con
4 fessed to be false. was not SO improbable
/ but that the public mind was at once direct


ed more earnestly 10 the actual situation
! Nor ought that attention TO be relaxed. =
! This is not n time in which any good is to
be gained by refusing to consider every pos
sibilitv.


The case will bear to be constantly stated.
The President differs with Congress as to
the conditions of restoration which ought
to be imposed upon the late rebel States
I He speaks of their exclusion, and oftheir
! ''right" To be represented. and ofthe ''usur
patton" of Congress in requiring conditions.
but it is nevertheless true that he himself
united i'm such exclusion; that he denied
their right to representation by eXhort
ing them to form goverdments which shod
be satisfactory TO Congress and that he i'm
posed certain terms satisfactory To himself.
The theory now adopted by him Is utterly
subvervise Of the Government aud of "A har
monious Union, for it allows any State TO
make war upon the Union, and at any mo-
ment, by laying down its arms, to resume
all its relations within il without any guar
antee whatever of future security.


That such is not the theory of the pcO-
pie who have maintained the Government
during the war is made perfectly clear 6y
the autumn elections, aud nothing is plain
or than that they will rot submit 10 its prac-
tical enforcement. Ifthe President should
undertake to Withstand their resolution, he
could succeed only by totally OverpOwer
ing them and surrendering the Government
To its most envenOmed cLemies and the
Union to the care of those who hate it
His success would, of course. be the pres
cnt end of the American Union, and the
discontinue of the principle Of popular
government. But as his chief reliance in
the struggle would be upon the late rebels.
il would be well for him and bis friends to
remember that his opponents would be the
mass of the lately victorious people of the
l0yal States together with all the Union
men of the South of every color.


Every patriotic and thoughtful man is
naturally unwilling 10 believe that so gricv-
Ous a contest is possible; but with a man
like the President everything is possible.
No fear of being an alarmist should prevent
every man from looking steadiastly at the
facts. or from considering the drift of the
situation. The President has not ceased
to vituperate Congress as an legal body


The difference between them bas been pre-
srnTed to the people. and thcyhave declar
ed everywhere for Congress. That is not
result which is likely to pacify such a
man as the President. He knows that hc
is openly threatened with Impeachment
Mr.. Boutwell,. at meeting in Faneuil Hall
i'm Boston. announced that he should move
in Congress an inquiry looking to impeach
mcnt Mr.. Loring. in supporting the nom
ination Of General Butler, saws that he is
pledged to the same course. Is il probable
that the President will meet Congress and
send i'm his message as If nothing had hap
pcned9 Ii he be persuaded that he is like
" to be impeached, is il not possible that
he might endeavor to gain the advantage in
advance over the impeaching body?


These are questions that cannot fail to
suggest themselves to every man.


But we hope sincerely that the President
may not only hear but fully understand the
result of the elections. He has constantly
asserted his faith in the people. and GER
tainlv he has now heard from the people.
But as the spiritual medium always insists
when the experiment fails that the condi-
tions are not favorable, so the President
may contend that 1.-The people means the
whole voting population of the country. at
the South as well as at the North. Ii. how
ever. he plants himself upon that ground,
he should remember that even then the m?-
iOrity of an entire Congress must he held 10
indicate the popular will and that that
body has decided against him.


Since it has so decided the President
may now wisely and properly say and do
what he did when the civil rights bill was
passed over his veto. He NAV declare that
he differs, but al the same time he may sub
nit to the superior will. 1t is well for us
all TO anticipate that action upon his part,
without losing sight of the possibilities of
which we have spoken. That is the plain
way Of peace. and his own satisfaction in
walking in it would he beyond his most
ambitious dreams. Should he acquiesce in
the popular decision, public opinion would
forbid Mr.. Boutwell, and General Butler
from fulfilling their pledge.