Year: 1867

ponents and surrounds himself with those
who are known to be his devoted adhe-
rents, is man who intends 10 resist
His word, even if he gave it, could not
be trusted. The law does not restrain
him, for he denies the authority which
makes it. phe.real situation at present
is that the President asserts his will
against the will of the people in, Cong,
ress, and will probably try forcible con
clusions with them. +s-.., .,a


The steps are easily seen. Congress
passes reconstruction law. 1t is full of
holes, and the Attorney-General drives Q
six~columned opinion through it, Congs
ress reassembles, and, although it has had
the fullest experience of the tIeacbery
of the President and oi its own inaceu-
racy, meuds its law and then ties up its
own hands for four months, as if there
could be no defect in its supplementary
law and the President were now to be the
most long suffering of saints. The mo
ment Congress is gone and safely out of
the way for the. third of a year, the Pres
ident and his accomplices discover the
weakness of the law, This once plain
ly seen, the President acts. The Secre,
tary of War is suspended. The Depart
ment General dearest to the people is res
moved and sent to fight the indians. ~
A proclamation, enjoining obedience, to
the civil authority, follows, and then
comes the amnesty. The civil authority
proclamation was incomplete without the
amnesty. The amnesty is pointless with
out farther measure. uia8 l 20


This measure, ofcourse, is the reopen,
ing of the registry for all the amnestied
class. The amnesticd persons indeed can
be registered only in direct contravention
of the act Of Congress. But what is
easier than for Commander to look at
the amnesty, and at the proclamation,
and to say that he can not exclude from
the registry those vino are eligible p
The President will have done nothing
about it. The Commander will simply
have exercised the discretion which Cen
eral Grant advised General Sheridan to
use. The State Conventian will be held
the Constitution framed, and Congress
will decline to receive it. The President
will insist, and upon the persistence of
Congress will in turn decline to recog-
nize that body. aU7arj'e


Or, again, suppose that the President
directs the reopening of the registries,
and the admission of those whom his am,
nesty restores That would be viola
ton of the law of Congress. The Press
ident would be at once impeached and
removed. But he knows that as well as
any one, and, if he issued an order to
reopen the lists, the conclusion would be
inevitable either that he did not mean to
permit Congress to meet at the Capitol
to impeach him, or that he meant to re-
sist the process. If he means nothing
at all, why does he invite impeachment? ?
If he invites impeachment, it is merely
that he may be removed from Office


In what precise way actual violence
might arise it is, however, idle to wcn>
der The point is to see that violence
is, uader the circumstan ces, highly prob
able, and that the country should be pre-.
pared for it. The time finds the Presi-
dent desperate and surrounded with evil
counselors. The elections are interpre-
ted id favor of his hostility to Congress.
The Democrats carry California the Re-
publican vote is reduced in Maine a
Republican delegate to Congress is de,
feated in Montana. at is approval Of
your policy" shouts the chorus to the
President. And if equal suffrage should
be defeated in Ohio; if the Copperhead
candidate should be elected in PeBnsyls
vania; if New York should falter at the
polls, and even in Massachusetts, the is
sue of prohibition should confuse our
ranks-the same chorus would shout to
the President that the people had re.
pented, and that any extreme action upon
his part would be supported by them.


Meanwhile we have no more doubt
that the loyal people Of the United States
intend to secure the results of the war
than we have that they fought it uncon'.
ditionally to the end. The President will
no more balk them .han Beauregard's
shot at Sumter baked them, or the Dem>
ocratic shout for surrender at Chicago
discouraged them. Let US only fully
understand the situation. Let us see
that the President deliberately -defes
Congress, and assumes to make his arbi-
trary will, which he calls the Constitu,
ton, the government of the country, and
he will learn, as he did year ago, what
the people really think and feel. Tt is
useless, therefore, to suppose that he
"would hardly dare" ia go so far. He
will dare any thing if His courage is susi
tanned, and that is sustained by Demo>
cratic successes. The Democratic party
dcspises him. but it gladly uses him.-
Its revenge upon him for his vehement
Unionism during the war is to try to
make him the instrument to restore the
spirit Of the rebellion to power. The
way to peace is now what it has been
since the open rebellion of the slave
power against the Government, and that
is the total defeat of the party which
cherishes the traditions of that power
And if peace has been for two years de-
iayed it is only because the treachery of
the Executive has constantly stimulated
the hopes Of that party. Had the Presi-
dendbeen faithful to the principle itwould
have reorganEed the Union. He may
still further delay, but no can not defeat
its tnal triumph Harper's Weekly.