Piatota =ifidell*mictr.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29,1865
"The printing presses shall be free to every
person who undertakes to examine the pro
ceedings of the legislature, or any branch of
government and no law shall ever be made
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nication of thought and opinions is one of the
Invaluable rights of men; and every citizen
may freely speak, write and print on any sub
ject; being responsible for the abuse of that
liberty. In prosecutions for the publication of
papers Investigating the official conduct of offi
cers, or men in public capacities, or where the
matter published is proper for imblic informa
tion, the truth thereofmay be given in evi
dence."
LANCASTER INTELLIGENCES OFFICE. 1
November 601, 1865.
Jarms F. DOWNEY is authorized to re
ceive money and subscriptions, and to con
tract for advertising and job work for us.
COOPER, SANDERSON CO.
MB. BUCHANAN'S BOOK
J. M. .WESTHAEFFER, Bookseller,
Lancaster 'city, will act as General
Agent for the sale of Mr. Buchanan's
Book in Lancaster county. All persons
desiring to canvass for subscribers to
the work, are requested to call on Mr.
Westhaeffer immediately. The Book
is in great demand and active canvassers
can dispose of it rapidly.
The Duty of Congress.
The Congress which aesembles on next
Monday will be powerful for evil or
good. Never was there a time in the
history of this country when there was
such need of wise and patriotic action.
The great problem of the restoration of
the recently revolted States to the union
cannot be successively solved unless it
is approached in a spirit of wise and lib
eral Statesmanship. Passion and party
prejudice must be laid aside, if Congress
expects to restore permanent peace and
prosperity to the nation. The near and
remote future of this country will be ef
fected beneficially or injuriously by the
action of the majority of Congress upon
the great and pressing question of re
storation.
It is the plain duty of Congress to pro
vide for the speedy return of all the se
ceded States to their legitimate relations
to the Union, under the Constitution.—
That this must be done eventually all
admit, and that it ought to be done as
speedily as possible is equally self-evi
dent to every mau who does not willing
ly close his eyes to the truth. No single
argument advanced by the radicals has
any force in it. The whole theory of
Thaddeus Stevens and his radical sup
porters is unconstitutional, full of absur
dities, and sure, if adopted, to prove
most disastrous to the best interests of
the country. Any attempt at a com
promise between those known as con
servative Republicans, and the radical
Stevens faction will be sure to be dis
astrous to the public good. By leaguing
together the Republican majority in
Congress may succeed in keeping the
Southern States out of the Union, but
they will do so at their own peril. They
will not even succeed in securing the
temporary political control for a contin
uance of which they will have shown
themselves willing to sacrifice every
thing.
Their plain duty is to heal the wounds
of war, to restore the pleasant bonds of
union that once bound all the States to
gether, to soothe animosities that exist
between the two sections, to provide for
a speedy restoration of the mild rule of
the civil law throughout the land, to
cherish and foster into full and vigor
ous life the .industrial interests of the
South, to do all in their power to put
the people of that section in a condition
in which, by promoting their own pros
perity, they shall be able to add to that
of the nation. If they are influenced by
wise and statesmanlike views they will
do this. It they attempt to keep the
Southern States out of the Union, and
to continue the strife between the sec
tions, the Republican majority in Con
gress will inflict a serious injury
upon the nation, which will be avenged
by an indignant people who will speed
ily sweep them from all positions of
h"o"nor and profit.
Political Regeneracy
There was a time in the history of this
country when the integrity of Congress
was above suspicion ; a time when every
question which arose was sure to be
fairly discussed, and to be decided in
accordance with Constitutional pro
visions, the laws and established prece
dents ; a time when country took the
precedence of party ; a time when on
any great measure affecting the interests
and the honor of the nation te people
felt that their representatives were to
be safely trusted. How is it to-day ?
Does not every man know that we have
reached a point where it is considered
certain that members of Congress will
speak and vote merely as partisans? Is
it pot sure that upon the most momen
tous issues ever presented to the consid
eration of any legislative body there is
every reason tobelieve that the opinions
of the present Congress have been pre
-determined by party bias? Is it not
known and acknowledged of all men
that a majority of those now holding
seats in Congress have deliberately re
solved to pursue a certain course of ac
tion in reference to the States recently
in rebellion, because they believe the
interest of the political organization
with which they act demands that those
States shall be kept out of the Union?
One would suppose that the mere sus
picion of such a state of affairs in their
public councils would arouse all the in
dignation of any free people; that proof
of its existence would call down upon
the heads of truckling politicians the
swift vengeance of an outraged popu
lace. That it does not, is proof of the
political profligacy of our times. Public
opinion is rotten to the very core. We
have ceased to demand purity of char
acter and uprightness of action from our
public officials. Corruption and fraud
are the order of the day. They no
longer attempt concealment, but stalk
abroad in open day. The people accept
the miserable condition of our public
affairs with au easy unconcern that is
enough to raise a strong doubt as to
their own honor and honesty. It would
seem as if the popular mind had grown
corrupt; as if public virtue no longer
existed among us. That the madness
that has seized upon the people will
pass away we hope and believe; but
until it does-there will be no restraint
upon the selfishness and the evil pas
sions of those in office. They will con
tinue to set party before country, and to
folloW the evil bent of their inclinations
regardless of the public good.
Conscience Money
The total amountof conscience money re
ceived at the Treasury Department for the
year ending with June last was $20,875. It
was received in sums varying from 50 cents
to $54".10.
The above announcement is made by
telegraph from Washington. It is de
cidedly suggestive. If over $20,000 has
been returned to the United States
Treasury by loyal thieves within a year,
inpetty sums of from 50 cts. to $5OO, how
much must unconscionable loyal scoun
drels have stolen during that time, or
during the reign of the loyal party?—
That is a sum for loyal editors and loyal
people generally to cypher at. When
any of them reach an approximate result
we shall be glad to hear from them.
THE Fenian flag was hoisted on Sat
urday over the Capitol of that Govern
xnent in Union Square, New York.—
They have agreed to pay $l,OOO altionth
rent for the building.
Frauds and Ex Post Facto Laws.
Our neighbor, the Express, has-been
remarkably short of editorial matter for
some time past. We
. .had about
eluded that its editor had curled himself
tip like a bear for a whole winter's nap.
The noise made about an alleged return
from the 77th regiment, a palpably
fraudulent affair, has, however, had the
effect of rouging him to a state of semi
consciousness. He growls savagely, but
it is evident that he is not more than
half awake. His article abounds in
mis-statements, ridiculous blunders, and
illogical absurdities. Hailhe been wide
awake at the time we are sure he would
have had more sense than to write such
a tissue of nonsense ; and we can scarcely
think he would have alluded to the re
ported return from the 77th regiment, if
he had known the circumstances under
which it was received. The facts in
the affair show it to be a case entirely
similar to the infamous Given fraud in
Philadelphia. We happen to know how
the matter stands. The Republican
State Central Committee, having plenty
of money at its command, sent a com
missioner to Texas to manage the voting
of the 77th regiment. That official re
turned in due time and filed his report
in the office of the Secretary of State at
Harrisburg. There was no return to
alter the vote for Senator in the 19th
Senatorial District, and none affect
ing the majority of I,V. S. Stenger, Esq.,
the Democratic candidate for District
Attorney of Franklin county. Mr. Dun
can was thus fairly elected to the Senate,
and Mr. Stenger to the office of District
Attorney. In such a dilemma there was
no recourse for the Republicans, except
one with which they have grown fa
miliar—the manufacture of a fraudulent
return. A few days since the Prothon
otary of Franklin county received what
purported to be the voteof Company A,
77th Reg't. P. V., and of Battery B.—
These returns were postmarked "Phil
adelphia, Nov. 18," and were sent un
der the frank of Mr. O'Niell, member of
Congress. According to these returns,
which had been forty clays coming from
Victoria, Texas, 10 votes were cast in
Co. A for McConaughy for Senator, and
17 in Battery B, making 27 in all; just
enough to beat Duncan by two votes.—
Battery B also east 17 votes for Rowe
for District Attorney, just enough to
beat Stenger. No return of a vote for
county officers was made from Co. A.
It was not needed. According to the
requirements of a special act for Frank
lin county, State and county officersare
all voted for on a single slip of paper.—
Full tickets were sent by mail to Texas,
but a letter from the Captain of Co. A,
announces the fact that "no tickets
readied the Company until ,otni: eight
day, 'titer the election, and that no elec
tion had been lu ld." The fraud in this
ease is apparent on its very face. No
votes were cast for the Franklin county
candidates for Sheriff and Treasurer, of
for any of the minor offices. These were
all safely elected by the home vote. No
doubt this was well known to the sol
diers in Texas on the day of election!
Such are the facts in the case to which
the Expr,,...; alludes. It seems to have
had some knowledge of the fraudulent
character of this infamous transaction,
for it speaks as if it were greatly in doubt
as towhether the returns made would
be received Or other than fraudulent by
the Senate. It therefore urges Mr. Me-
Conaughy to rely upon another dodge.
It advises him to contest the seat of Mr.
Duncan on the ground that deserters
voted for his'opponent. But it admits
in the same article that even this will
not avail. After abusing all who evaded
the draft as most infamous and un
worthy of any of the rights of citizen
ship, and calling on McConaughy to
contest on that ground, it says :
The law of Congress, denying the right of
voting to deserters, is most likely uncon
stitutional. Every State has the right to
determine who shall be its voters. - Unless
some new constitutional issue is raised, the
decision on this point will, in all probabili
ty, go against Mr. Met:onaughy, and in fa
vor of Mr. Duncan. If the Union party
gain a Senator in Adams and Franklin, it
will be by the Texas votes; and again they
inuot thank the soldiers to whom they owe
so much. The Union convention of the
Nineteenth District are culpable, and crim
inal, and responsible to the people of the
State, for putting in nomination ;1 man so
unpopular in his own home, so distasteful
to his own neighbors, as to run behind his
ticket—a ticket which, in the case of the
other nominees, won.
We have seldom seen any newspaper
get itself into such a complete muddle
over any matter. The only sensible
thing in the whole article is the admis
sion that the act of Congress denying
the right of voting to deserters is un
constitutional. True, the provision in
our Constitution is so plain that no man
can mistake its meaning ; but we are
astonished to hear the _Express admit
that the Constitution of the United
States or of Pennsylvania is any bar to
the arbitrary will of Congress and the
President. The editor of the Express
must either have been napping, or he
is about to repudiate some of the car
dinal principles of his party.
But the absurdities of the article to
which we allude have not all been enu
merated by us. The editor shows a won
derful grasp of intellect, and a mostre
markably logical turn of mind, by de
manding that the legislature shall at
the coming session so amend the Con
stitution of this State as to pre
vent all deserters and delinquent
drafted men from voting or hold
ing any offices of honor or profit.—
He thus admits that they now have a
full right to vote ; that the effort of the
Republican party to deprive them of
that right in the recent election was ut
terly in violation of all law ; and further
that the Legislature has no power to
legalize the act of Congress under which
they were in many instances deprived
of their votes. But how will he get rid
of those clauses of the Constitutions:of
the United States and of Pennsylvania
which declare that "no ex post facto
law shall be passed?" Will he have
that wise provision of the Constitution
first blotted out, by the process neces
sary to amend the Constitution ; and an
amendment afterwards made to the
Constitution to fix a penalty upon all
deserters and deliwi tient drafted men?
if the clause which declares that no ex
post facto law shall be passed be not
first annulled by an amendment to the
Constitution, we are at a loss to see how
the case of these deserters and delin
quents can be reached, even by Consti
tutional amendment. We have seldom
met with a newspaper article of the same
length which contained so many palpa
ble absurdities. Considering that it is
the first original political article which
we have noticed in the Express since
the election, we are, we confess, sur
prised at it. The editor of that paper
was once supposed to have some ability
as a writer. We have failed to see much
evidence of this since we have been
brought into contact with him. The
article to which we allude is perhaps a
little worse than usual, but not out of
character with the general tenor of his
productions.
Virginia Methodist Conference
The Virginiu Conference of the M. E.
Church South, now in session at Dan
ville, Vs., Bishop Early presiding, have
taken up the subject of re uniting the
church to the Northern, and by far the
largest branch of the sect. A preamble
and resolutions, introduced by the Rev.
Mr. Peterson, deprecating a return to
the North Church, and indicating the
objection of the conference to the pro
posed policy of a bishop for every State
or conference, against the abolition of
the Presiding Eldership, and against
the lay delegate system, were referred
to the Committee on the State of the
Church.
What the Figuies Teach
In another column will be found a
table containing the official vote hi the
recent State:election. , be „fseen
that the falling ,off in the Demodratic
vote from that cast for McClellan - was
no less than 60,576. .When we remem
ber that our opponents were In aposition
to swell the majority for Lincoln by the
most enormous and bare-faced frauds,
which they did in the army and else
where, to the amount of at least twenty
thousand votes, we do not wonder that
their vote in the recent election fell off
some 57,991. That was confidently
pected and predicted. But there is no
reason, except our own carelessness and
apathy, why the Democratic vote for
Auditor General should not have been
nearly or quite up to that of McClellan.
McClellan's vote was an honest one, not
swelled by frauds in the large cities,
and by the convenient manufacture of
false returns from the army. It was
the measure of the Democratic strength
in Pennsylvania. While the vote cast
for Lincoln can never again be reached
by our opponents, we can in any well
contested campaign poll for Democratic
candidates the same number of votes
cast for McClellan. The official returns
show that we have it within our power
to carry Pennsylvania whenever the
full Democratic vote is polled. Let every
Democrat, as lie looks over this table of
returns, resolve that he will do his
whole duty in the important campaign
of next fall. With an open campaign,
and proper organization, both of which
we shall have, we can certainly elect a
Democratic Governor, and a majority
of members of Congress. It must be
done. It can be done easily, if every
Democrat resolves to do his whole duty.
Let our failure at the recent election
teach us how to do our duty. Let us
learn a lesson from the figures ; a lesson
full of hope and of fixed resolve.
Thad. Stevens' Course
A telegram from Washington to the
Pittsburg Commercial says:
Thaddeus Stevens, who has been here for
some days, talks with the utmost freedom
respecting the course he and his friends in
tend to pursue. lie denounces the policy
of the President without stint, and will take
an early opportunity un the assembling of
Congress to enunciate his own views. There
is considerable pressure to prevent his re
appointment to the Chairmanship of the
Ways and Means Committee.
If the Republican majority in the
House have not had enough of Mr.
Stevens, by all means let them continue
him as Chairman of the Committee of
Ways and Means. It is true he made
himself the laughing stock of the whole
country last winter by his absurd vaga
ries ; but, a crack-brained radical poli
tician will certainly be best fitted to act
as the representative leader of the party
now in power. A statesman, or a man
of calm judgment and clear political.*o
- would be entirely out of p%ce
at the head of such a party of impracti
cable fanatics as will compose a major
ity of the House of Representatives.
We expect to see Mr. Stevens put back
into the position he occupied during the
last Congress. His appointment *ill
be in accordance with the eternal fit
ness of things. No one but some sour
tempered fanatic, with a mind full of
radical conceits, and a tongue trained
to the utterance of vile abuse, would be
fit to lead the Republican majority in
the present Congress.
Costly Carpet
A special ttest.latekk to the N. Y. 1k ,-
a d says :
One of the late acquisitions to the House
of Representatives is a carpet imported from
England, costing the round sum of seven
thousand dollars. It is very elegant in pat
tern and of the finest quality ; but the opin
ion is not wanting among the crowds of
daily that dav visit the Capitol and ex
amine the splendid appointments or the
Representative chamber that the fabric in
question could with greater propriety have
been had from an American loom, instead
of beyond the seas.
Such is a small specimen of the econ
omy of the great moral reform party,
which came into power with Mr. Lin
coln on loud-mouthed professions of re
trenchment and reduction of expenses.
It is a mere item, the smallest possible
fragment in the sum total of general
extravagance and reckless expen
diture-for which the administration of
the Republican party has been distin
guished. There is a time coming when_
an oppressed and over-burdened people ,
will bring that spendthrift organization
to a severe reckoning; and it isnot very
far distant.
The Bedford Trial—Acquittal of John
P. Reed, Jr.
The telegraph announces the fact that
John P. Reed, Jr., of Bedford, was ac- ;
quitted on S':Lturday of the charge of
having murdered one Crouse. The plea
set up in his behalf was that the shoot
ing was done in self defence, and from
what we know of the case, we have no
doubt it was completely made out The
case is one of those unfortunate ones
springing out of political animosities.—
The
man who was killed had made sev
eral assaults upon John P. Reed, Jr.,
and upon his younger brother, a weak .
and defenceless youth. At the time the
shooting occurred, Crouse made an as
sault upon John P. Reed, Jr., struck
him with a stone, knocking him down,
and was advancing with another stone
in his hand, when Reed drew a pistol,
shot him, and killed him almost instant
ly. The jury have pronounced the act
justifiable, as done in self defence. We
hope the time will soon come when past
political animosities will have been for
gotten. It is said that Crouse was urged
on to his acts of violence by outside par
ties in Bedford. If this be so, they were
the most culpable.
GOVERNMENT' JAIL DELIVERY.-It is
said that the President has ordered the dis
charge of such prisoners at the Old Capitol
as were arrested by the detective Baker,
and who have been confined there a length
of time, without any charges being triad()
against them. We are glad to record this
action, and trust the Executive will take
similar action upon all the places where
such prisoners are held. It is not gratify
ing to the American people to know that
any detective has the power to arrest people
and confine them at his mere will, for even
a short time, much less for a length of time,
without making any charges against them.
Nor is it consistent with our American ideas
of justice that a man should be allowed to
act in that way without being held to ac
countability.
The above comments are from the
Philadelphia Ledger. So far as they go
they are eminently right and proper,
and will be approved by every right
thinking man in the nation. But, they
are not half strong enough. They are
very weak utterances upon a point of
such vital importance to every Ameri
can citizen. All such acts deserve to be
denounced in words of indignation as
strong as the most trenchant terms of
the English language will allow, and
even then every freeman ought to feel
that npt half enough has been said. The
time will come when men will look
back with horror and disgust upbii the
acts of tyranny which have disgraced
our day, and when our posterity will
wonder at the tameness with which we
submitted to see our dearest and most
clearly ascertained rights trampled upon
by arbitrary power.
THE HAGERSTOWN MAIL concludes a
brief notice of Ex-President Buchanan's
Book in the following terms : " The
contents of this volume will be eagerly
read by an impatient and doubtless to a
large extent censorious public, but Mr.
Buchanan safely trusts the dispassionate
judgment of the future for a full vindi
cation of his mot ves and acts during
the dark troublous days of his adminis
tration, which Immediately prepeded
the ouburst of the rebellion,
An addition to the list of prisoners at the
Old (pitol was made on Saturday, by the
incarearation of a - couple of mysterious per+
sonagee, said to be from Richmond. Even
the officers- and attaches of the prison are
forbidden to hold verbal communication
with them. Fuller, the mysterious prison
er who was generally believed to be John
H. Surratt at the time of his incarceration,
and whose real name first reached the pub
lic through the-Herald several weeks ago,
has been released.
We clip the above item of news from
the New York Herald. The Baltimore
Gazette says, Fuller is the person who
was arrested in one of the Western States
several months ago and brought on in
chains to Washington, where he has
since been imprisoned. He was eficort
ed across the country by a military guard,
who refused to answer any questions in
regard to the prisoner's identity, and,
in fact, was treated as state prisoners
were in France before the destruction of
the Bastile. The accusation against
him was that he had swindled the Re
publican National Union Committee out
of a large sum of money prior to the last
Presidential election. After several
months, confinement, and in all
probability, after having, been com
pelled to make some terms with
the Government, he has been re
leased, and the agent of the press dis
misses him and his story in a few brief
lines. We know of nothing that more
strikingly illustrates the change that
has been wrought in the public senti
ment and public feeling of the country
than this man's case. Whether he be
guilty or innocent matters nothing in
this connection. Were his crime, if he
has committed one, aggravated four
fold, it would still have been but a light
offence compared with that of those
who have taken upon themselves to
punish him. Had this thing been done
only five years ago, into what
a blaze of indignation would not
the whole nation have been thrown?
We should have been told about the
Magna Charta that'was wrested by the
brave old English Barons from King
John; of the great Habeas Corpus Act;
of the Constitution of the United States.
It would have been said that the rights
and liberties secured to us by those great
instruments were so dear to the Ameri
can people that they would treat any
violation of them as little short of sac
rilege. It would have been urged that
the principles established by the Con
stiution had so impressed themselves
upon the minds—and the spirit of free
dom, which they inculcated had so pos
sessed the hearts of the citizens of the
Republic as to render the toleration of
any arbitrary act of the Government for
a single instant an impossible thing.—
And what is more, we should have be
lieved all this as confidently as we be
lieved any indisputable fact. Was it all
a sentimental pretence, then, what we
used to to tell the world about our love
of liberty ? If not, what has brought
about this inexplicable change ? We
have lived to see the day in which a cit
zen could be seized by the military au•
thoritics, carried through four or five
States and thrown into a prison, within
a stone's throw of the National Capitol,
and all this because he was charged with
a crime for which any common law
court could have tried him. We have
seen this thing done without even the
pretense of military necessity set up to
justify it, and the whole country has
read the story and gone silently about
its business. Democratic and Republi
can conventions ignore this and kin
dred matters; and the press scarcely
thinks it worthy of comment. We are
told that the Constitution and the Union
have been re-established in their pris
tine integrity and glory. We suppose
we must accept this as a fact, but still,
' desiring some further assurance on this
point, we propose, in order to fully sat
isfy ourselves, to listen, when the time
comes, to one or two Fourth of July Ora
tions.
The Radicals Talking Out
A large audience assembled in Dr.
Cheever's church, in New York city, on
last Thursday evening to hear addresses
on the present condition of our national
affairs. Speeches were made by Dr.
Cheever, Mr. Gilbert and others, in
which abuse of President Johnson and
his policy was freely indulged in. The
President was represented as the friend
of the rebels, the upholder of secession,
and a dictator who acted as if he owned
the country and could do as he pleased
with it.
Mr. Gilbert seemed to be wonderfully
anxious about the future prospect of his
party. He said :
The action of the ensuing Congress would
settle the question of the position of the
Southern States in the Union, and he be
lieved the irrepressible conflict would but
rage more fiercely than ever. If the dele
gates from Southern States were permitted
to occupy their seats in Congress as before,
there would be a two-fifths greater repre
sentation. The slaves before the war had
but a three-fifths representation. They had
now a five-fifths; and this would, as a
natural consequence, cause a much larger
number of delegates. These would combine
with the copperhead party of the North, and
the combination would control the entire
government.
We have ho doubt the irrepressible
conflict will rage until the Republican
party is blotted out of existence.
THE Erie Observer very truthfully
, says, it is a common thing to hear Re
publicans boast that they are a majority
of the people of the Union. The state
ment is false. The Republican is a mi
nority organization, always has been
and always will be. In the North it
dominates by a few thousand merely,
while the South is a unit against it. Of
the whole people of the United States,
!...five -eighths at least despise its princi
ples, scout its pretensions and mistrust
its leaders. The fact is lost sight of by
many that instead of being any longer
a government of the majority, our in
stitutions are at present moulded, and
our laws enforced by a usurping mi
nority.
THE Louisville Journal says the Ten
nessee Senate has passed a resolution
declaring that Jefferson Davis, J. M.
Mason, R. M. T. Hunter, Rob't. Toombs,
Howell Cobb, John Slidell, and Robert
E. Lee are worthy of death, and not fit
objects of national clemency. The re
solution was passed by a vote of five to
one. If it were submitted to the people
of Tennessee, or of the United States, it
would be rejected by a vote of ten to
one.
The Ohio Election
The following is the official vote of
Ohio on, the recent State election :
Alex. Long received in Adams coun
ty, 17; Ashland, 8; Champaign, 1 ' • Clin
ton, 3 ; Delaware, 2 ; Fairfield, 1; Fa
yette,l ; Hamilton, 90; Hardin,s6; High
land, 109 ; Knox, 53 ; Logan, 1; Madison,
1; Meigs, 4; Montgomery, 1; Portage,
1; Sandusky, 4 ; Washington 6 ; Wy
andot 1. Total, 360.
Aggregate vote on Governor 417,720
Cox's majority over Morgan 29,925
Cox's majority over all 29,346
There is a discrepancy in the soldiers'
vote as returned by the Clerks of Courts
to the Secretdry of State, and.„that re
turned to the Governor and Auditor,
and opened and certified by the State
Board of Canvassers. Gen. Cox's total
home vote is 2.•21,352,• soldier's vote as
returned by County Clerks, 2,281. The
soldiers' vote, as certified by the Board
of Canvassers, gives Cox 2,428, an in
crease of 147 votes—making his total
vote 223,880. Gen. Morgan's vote is in
creased 3 by the same count, making
his entire vote 193,700. This gives Gen.
Cox 30,080 majority.
It will be seen that the Democracy
greatly reduced the enormous majorities
which their opponents have had in that
State for some years past. There is hope
of their carrying the State in the nex
contest.
Gen. Canby has restored tile Methodist
Episcopal churches of New Orleans to their
congregations,
.Pennsylvanta Official 'Returns:
Belo . * we give the official returns of
the election held in the State of Penn
sylVaxda October 10th, 1865:
!Auditor Gen.lBnrveyor Gen
, :s 0 , -, ~,
1- 4 ~... 4 1 : 16
. - C
COUNTIES. P ... 5
. °
1 1I E.
1 i
Adam 5............... 24333 :Y,471 21634 2647
Allegheny 11139 6650 1 11162 6558
Armstrong 2810 2506; 2818 2507
Beaver 2242 1496 22,44 1500
Bedford 2432 2569 2431 2569
Berks 4816 10001 4830 10015
Blair 2501 1773, 2471 1794
Bradford 5242 23041 5169 2301
Bucks 5778 6131 5778 6149
Butler 2683 Z 361, 2691 2364
Cambria 1957 27161 1918 2749
Cameron 285 2111 1 132 207
Carbon 1414 16121 1412 1599
Centre ......... ...... 2745 29331 27431 2 9 37
Chester 7074 4947, 7066, 4952
Clarion 1177 1967, 11781 1972
Clearfield 1307 2087 ! 1309, 2081
Clinton 1427 178 a, 1422 1 1805
Columbia 1591 3007' 15891, 3016
Crawford 4188 2907 4190' 2922
Cumberland 3269 37101 32831 3713
Dauphin 4885 3261 1 48571 3285
Delaware. 2647 1335 26181 1332
Elk 237 539 233, 544
Erie 3847 2051 3814 ' ,
2041
Fayette 3098 3670 31101 3662
Franklin . 1 3620 34943 36151 3507
Fulton . 692 864 690 860
Forest. -. ............... 77 50 , 78' 55
Greene 1407 2542 . 1402 2523
Huntingdon I 2562 1589 2585 1598
Indiana . 3739 1620 3752 1630
Jefferson 1741 1662 1736; 1677
Juniata 1260 1485 1259 ! 1483
Lancaster 11409 5976 114101 5962
Lawrence 2204 , 9.2 :3 22651 919
Lebanon 3032. 1903 30481 1906
Lehigh I 35471 4531' 3508 , 4.540
Luzerne 6125, 6914 61101 6908
Lycoming 31921 3397 3153, 3438
McKean 581: 444 568, 440
sAI ercer .. 35821 2611' 3580, 2744
Mifflin. 1568, 1515. 15631 121
Monroe 411 1920, 411 1901
Montgomery 5910 6928 5884 6954
Montour . 837' 1209' 847! 12 06
Northam ptoil ..... 2772 4710 2767 1 4719
Northumberr d... 2424 1 2843 2419 2843
Perry 2387 2037 2285. 2047
Philadelphia .. .... 49969 29831 49924 1 09821
Pike 234 1 821' 236' 799
Potter I 792, 270 7951 265
Schuylkill 6002 2 6831 5986, 6845
Somerset 2580 1 1412 2577 1411
Snyder 1631 1
1126 1829 1128
Sullivan 312 583 306' 585
Susquehanna ..•••
3292 1999' 32x8' 1995
Tioga 3191! 965' 3190' 956
Union 1593! 1133 15841 1147
Venango 29111 2285 2906 1 2292
Warren 17341 971 1719' 959
Washington 44871 3949. 4466 3944
Wayne.. . 1577 1943 15671 1945
Westmoreland._ 4033 5097 4093 5108
Wyoming.. 1214 ! 1261 1211 1262
York . 45341 6917 4564 6922
. ,
Total 2:*3400:2157402379157 215981
*Mercer County 123 votes:for W.lll. H.
Davis.
RECAPITULATION.
For Auditor General
J. F. Hartranft, Union,
W. W. H. Davis, Dem.,
Hartranft's majority,
For Surveyor General
J. M. Campbell, Union,
J. P. Linton, Dem.,
Campbell's majority,
Mr. Colfax's Bid for the Speakership
The Speaker of the late House is in
\Vashington, two or three weeks in ad
vance of the session, exploring the
ground and setting his traps for a re
election. Saturday night, in response
to a serenade, he made a speech which
bears evident marks of preparation,
though produced with well-affected re
luctance. Mr. Colfax's prospects for the
Speakership were already good but if
Mr. Raymond's friends should decide
to present him as a candidate, the
superiority of his talents would render
hill), although a new member, a for
midable competitor. Mr. Colfax accord
ingly acts like a prudent general who
takes precautions against the turning of
his flanks by some unexpected move
ment. The small mameuvers of a
truckling politician would not deserve
public comment, if they did not indi
cate the sentiments and temper of the
House on which they are designed to act.
Mr. Colfax is not 'a pillar of state "
but "a vane on the top of the edifice "
showing the direction of the wind.
Mr. Ex-Clerk McPherson had preced
ed him in a bid for re-election by an
nouncing, in advance, his determination
to exclude the names of Southern mem
bers from his roll. Both Mr. Colfax
and Mr. McPherson are competent
judges of the political views of the new
House. The know all the re-elected
members, man by man, and have un
usual facilities for ascertaining the
leanings of the new ones. Their mode
of recommending themselves is a con
clusive demonstration that the Radicals
are in the descendant, and that the
President will be compelled either to
modify his policy or postpone the ex
pectation of its success. This is what
we charged in the late political canvass,
and we lost the election only in conse
quence of the Republican disguises and
denials.
True, Mr. Colfax bestows on President
Johnson a lip-service of praise, while
opposing his policy in substance; but
this is a regular :part of the Radical
programme. It is for their interest to
avoid au open rupture and a split in
their party ; which would lead to a coa
lition of the recoustructionist Repub
licans and the Democrats, and bring
the Radicals in a minority. But it is
observable and mark worthy that Mr.
Colfax commends the President only for
what he has done to obstruct the return
of the States to their federal relations,
passing over in express silence all the
things he has done to facilitate and for
ward it. He is blind to all that part of the
President's reconstruction policy which
does not consist of negatives. He makes
the whole merit of the President's meas
ures consist in obstructing and prevent
ing the resumption of civil government
in the South till Congress could meet and
act. According to Mr. Colfax, the
commendable parts of the President's
plan consist in his saying to the South
you shall not come back till you have
done certain things; which things, he
takes pains to add, though very well in
themselves, are quite insufficient to ob
struct the too early return of the South.
To the President's three requirements,
namely, declaring the secession ordi
nances void,adopting the constitutional
amendment, and repudiating the rebel
debt; to these three Mr. Colfax adds four
more which he regards as indispensable.
First and foremost on this supplemen
tary list he places ilierecognitiou of ne- ,
gro equality, couching it, indeed, in
such language as not to make it an open
and contemptous slur on the anti-negro
suffrage policy of the President. After
culling out and praising such features
of Mr. Johnson's policy as could be re
presented as obstructive, he goes on to
describe still further obstructiVe re
quirements on which he thinks Con
gress ought to insist. " First that the
Declaration of Independence must be
recognized as the 4 Supreme law of the
land, and every man, black and white,
protected in his inalienable and God
given rights." Everybody knows the
interpretation put by the Radicals
upon such allusions to the doctrine of
human equality, as set forth in the
Declaration of Independence. " Sec
ond, the amendments of their State
Constitutions which have been adopted
by many of their conventions so reluc
tantly, under the pressure of despatches
from the President and the Secretary of
State, should be ratified by a majority
of the people•" And so Mr. Colfax
goes on enumerating and explaining
the things on which he says the Presi
dent ought to insist but has not. They
are merely a set of drags and
brakes to retard reconstruction, and
keep the South, for an indefinite
period, under military rule. Mr.
Colfax winds up this part of his speech
by an indirect rebuke of the President :
" The danger now is too much precipi
tation. Let us rather make haste slow
ly." The Republican House to whom
Mr. Colfax thus pays court by echoing
what be knows to be their sentiments,
will not deem it prudent to make an
open issue with the President on negro
suffrage ; but they will be fertile in ex
pedients for keeping the South out, on
other grounds, until negro suffrage is
conceded.— World.
THE HANOVER CITIZEN understands
that Mr. Joseph S. Gitt will commence
surveying, next week, a route for a rail
road between Wrightsville, York cdun
ty, and New Oxford, Adams county,
to connect at the former place with the
roads 'running to New York, and to be
extended from the latter place to the
West And South-west.
A Chapter from Mr. Buchanan's 800 k...-
Refutation of Charges made against
the President.—Exposure of the Cul
pable Negligence of an Unpatriotic Con-
CHAPTER VIII
CONGRESS PASSES NO MR ASITRES TO EN
ABLE THE PRESIDENT TO EXECUTE
THE LAWS OR DEFEND THE GOVERN-
We have already seen that Congress,
throughout the entire session, refused
to adopt any measures of compromise
to prevent civil war, or to retain first
the Cotton or afterwards the Border
States within the Union. Failing to do
this, and whilst witnessing the seces
sion of one after another of the Cotton
States, the withdrawal of their Sena
tors and Representatives, .and the for
mation of their confederacy, it was the
imperative duty of Congress to furnish
the President or his successor the means
of repelling force by force, should this
become necessary to preserve the Union.
They nevertheless, refused to perform
thisduty with as much pertinacity as
they had manifested in repudiating all
measures of compromise.
THEY DECLINE TO REVIVE THE AU
THORITY OF THE FEDERAL JUDICIA
RY IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
I. At the meeting of Congress a fed
eral judiciary had ceased to exist in
South Carolina. The District Judge,
the District Attorney, and the United
States Marshal had resigned their offices.
These ministers,of justice had all desert
ed their posts before the act of secession
and the laws of the United States could
no longer be enforced through their
agency. We have already seen that
tne President, in his message, called
the attention of Congress to this subject,
but no attempt was made in either
House to provide a remedy for the evil.
THEY REFUSE THE AUTHORITY TO CALL
FORTH THE MILITIA OR ACCEPT VOL
UNTEERS.
2. Congress positively refused to pass
a taw conferring on the President au
thority to call forth the militia, or ac
cept the services of volunteers, to sup
press insurrections which might occur
in any state against the Government of
the United States. It may appear
strange that this power had not long
since been vested in the Executive.—
The act of February 28, 1795, (1 Stat. at
Large. p. 424), the only law applicable
to the subject, provides alone for calling
forth the militia to suppress insurrec
tions against State governments, with
out making any similar provision for
suppressing insurrections against the
Government of the United States. If
anything were required beyond a mere
inspection of the act to render this clear,
it may be fouvid in the opinion of Attor
ney-General Black, of the 20th Novem
ber, 1860. Indeed it is a plain cases
omissus This palpable omission, which
ought to have been instantly supplied,
was suffered to continue until after the
end of Sir. Buchanan's administration,
when on the 29th July, 1861, Congress
conferred this necessary power on the
President. (12 U. S. Stat. at Large, p.
281.) The framers of the act of 1795
either did not anticipate an insurrec
tion within any State against the fed
eral government, or if they did, they
purposely abstained from providing
for it. Even in regard to insurrections
against a State government, so jealous
were they of any interference on the
part of the federal government with the
rights of the States, that they withheld
from Congress the power to protect any
State "against domestic violence," ex
cept " on the application of the Legis
lature, or of the Executive (when the
Legislature cap not be convened)." Un
der the act of i 795, therefore, the Presi
dent is precluded rom acting even upon
his own personal and absolute knowl
edge of the existence of such an insur
rection. Before he can call forth the
, militia for its suppression, he must first
be applied to for this purpose by the ap
propriate State authorities,in themanner
prescribed by the Constitution. It was
the duty of Congress, immediately af
ter their meeting, to supply this defect
in our laws, and confer an absolute
authority on the President to call forth
militia, and accept the services of
volunteers to suppress insurrection
against the United States, whenever or
wherever they might occur. This was
a precautionary measure which, inde
pendently of existing dangers, ought
long since to have formed part of our
permanent legislation. But no attempt
was ever made in Congress to adopt it
until after the President's special message
of the Bth of January, 1861, and then
the attempt entirely failed. Meanwhile
the aspect of public affairs had become
more and more threatening. Mr. Crit
tenden's amendment had been defeated
before the Committee of Thirteen, on
the last day of December ; and it was
also highly probable that his proposition
before the Senate to refer it to a vote of
the people of the States would share the
same fate. South Carolina and Florida
had already seceded, and the Cotton
States had called conventions for the
purpose of seceding. Nay, more, several
of them had already seized the forts,
magazines, and arsenals within their
limits. Still, all this failed to produce
any effect upon Congress. It was at
this crisis the President sent his special
message to Congress (Bth Jan uary,lB6l,)
x ot
by which he end e vored to impress them
with the necessit ,for immediateaction.
He concealed n ping from them.
Whilst still clinging to the fading hope
that they might yet provide fora peace
ful adjustment of our difficulties, and
strongly recommending this course, he
says: "Even now the danger is upon
us. In several of the States which have
not yet seceded, the forts, arsenals, and
magazines of the United States have
been seized. This is by far the most se
rious step which has been taken since
the commencement of the troubles. * *
The seizure of this property, from all
appearances, has been purely aggressive,
and not in resistance to any attempt to
coerce a State or States to remain in the
Union." He also stated the well-known
fact that our small army was on the re
mote frontiers, and was scarcely suffici
ent to guard the inhabitants against In
dian incursions, and consequently our
forts were without sufficient garrisons.
Under these circumstances lie appeals
to Congress in the following language:
" But the dangerous and hostile atti
tude of the States toward each other has
already far transcended and cast in the
shade the ordinary executive duties al
ready provided for by law, and has as
sumed such vast and alarming propor
tions as to place the subject entirely
above and beyond executive control.
The fact cannot be disguised that we
are in the midst of a great revolution.
In all its various bearings, therefore, I
commend the question to Congress, as
the only human tribunal, under Provi
dence, possessing the power to meet the
existing emergency. To them exclusive
ly belongs the power to declare war or
to authorize the employment of military
force in all cases contemplated by the
Constitution; and they alone possess the
power to remove grievances which
might lead to war, and to secure peace
and union to this distracted country.
On them, arid on them alone, rests the
responsibility."
Congress might, had they thought
proper, have regarded the forcible
seizure of these forts and other property,
including that of the branch mint at
New Orleans, with all the treasure it
contained, as the commencement of an
aggressive war. Beyond question the
Cotton States had now committed acts
of open hostility against the federal
government. - They had always con
tended that secession was a peaceful
constitutional remedy, and that Con
gress had Lo power to make war against
a sovereign State for the purpose of co
ercing her to remain in the 'Union.—
They could no longer shelter themselves
under this plea. They had by their
violent action entirely changed the po
sition they had assumed ; and instead
of peacefully awaiting the decision of
Congress on the question of coercion,
they had themselves become the co
ercionists and assailants. This question
had, therefore, passed away. No person
has ever doubted the right or the duty of•
Congress to pass laws enabling the Presi
dent to defend the Union against armed
rebellion. Congress, however, still shrunk
from the responsibility of passing such
laws. This might have been commend
able had it proceeded from a sincere de
sire not to interpose obstacles to a com
promise intended to prevent the effu
sion of fraternal blood and restore the
Union. Still, in any event, the time
had arrived when it was their duty to
make at the least contingent provisions
for the prosecution of the war, should
this be rendered inevitable. This had
become the more necessary as Congress
would soon expire, and the new Con
gress could not be convened for a con
siderable period after the old one had
ceased to exist, because a. large portion
of the representatives had not been
elected. These reasons, however, pro
duced no effect
The President's special message (Con.
Globe, p 316) was referred, two days af
ter its date (January 10), by the House
of Representatives to a special commit
tee, of which Mr. TlONvard, of Michigan,
was chairman. Nothiiighivair heard from
this committee for the space of twenty
drys. They then, on JanuaryBo, through
Mr. John-H. Reynolds, of New York,
one of its members, reported a bill (Con.
Globe, p. 645, bill of H. R., No. 698)
enabling the President to call forth the
militia or to accept the services of vol
unteers for the purpose of protecting the
forts, magazines, arsenals and other
property of the United States, mid to
recover possession" of such of these
as " has been or may hereafter be un
lawfully seized or taken possession of
by any combination of persons what
ever." Had this bill become a law, it
would have been the duty of the Presi
dent at once to raise a volunteer or mili
tia force to recapture the forts which had
been already seized. But Congress was
not then prepared to assume such a re
sponsibility. Mr. Reynolds according
ly withdrew his bill from the considera
tion of the House on the very day it was
reported. On his own motion it was re
committed, and thus killed as soon as it
saw the light. It was never heard of
more.
Then after another pause of nineteen
days, and only a fortnight before the
close of the session, the Committee on
Military Affairs, through Mr. Stanton,
of Ohio, their chairman, on February 18
reported another bill (Con. Globe, p. 1,-
001. bill 1,003, H. R.) on the subject,
but of a more limited character than
that which had been withdrawn. It is
remarkable that it contains no provis
ion touching the recovery of the forts
and other property which had been
already seized by the delinquent States.
It did no more than provide that the
powers already possessed by the Presi
dent, under the Act of 1795, to employ
the militia in suppressing insurrections
against a State Government, should be
"extended to the case of insurrections
against the authority of the United
States," with the additional authority
to "accept the services of such volun
teers as may offer their service for the
purpose mentioned." Thus all hostile
action for the recovery of the forts al
ready seized was excluded from the bill,
It is difficult to conceive what reasona
ble objection could be made to this bill.
except that it did not go far enough and
embrace the forts already seized ; and
more especially when it was reported
we may recollect that the Confederate
Congress had already been ten days in
session at Montgomery, Alabama, and
had adopted a provisicnal constitution.
Notwithstanding all this the House
refused to act upon it. The bill was
discussed on several occasions until
Tuesday, February 26. On that day a
motion was made by Mr. Corwin, of
Ohio, to postpone its consideration until
Thursday, February 27. (Con. Globe
1,232.) Mr. Stanton, the reporter of the
bill, resisted this motion, stating that
such a postponement would be fatal to
it. "It will," said he, "be impossible
after that to have it passed by the Sen
ate" (before March 4). He therefore
demanded the ayes and noes, aud, not
withstanding his warniug,Mr. Corwin's
motion prevailed by a vote of 100 to
74, and thus the bill was defeated.
It may be proper to observe that Mr.
Corwin, whose motion killed the bill,was
a confidential friend of the President
elect, then present in Washington, and
was soon thereafter appointed Minister
to Mexico.
NO APPROPRIATIONS PROPOSED FOR
THE DEFENSE OF THE GOVERNMENT.
But even had Congress passed this
bill, it would have proved wholly inef
ficient for want of an appropriation to
carry it into effect. The treasury was
empty ; but had it been full the Presi
dent could not have drawn from it any,
even the most trifling sum, without a
previous appropriation by law. The
union of the purse with the sword, in
the hands of the executive, is wholly
inconsistent with the idea of a free gov
ernment. The power of the legislative
branch to withhold money from the
executive and thus restrain him from
dangerous projects of his own, is a ne
cessary safeguard of liberty. This exists
in every government pretending to be
free. Hence our Constitution has de
clared that "no money shall be drawn
from the treasury but in consequence of
appropriations made by law." -It is
therefore apparent that even if this bill
had become a law, it could not have
been carried into effect by the President
without a direct violation of the Consti
tution. Notwithstanding these insuper
able obstacles, no member of either Ho use,
throughout the entire session, ever even
proposed to raise or appropriate a single
dollar for the defense of the government
against armed rebellion. Congress not
only refused to grant the President the
authority and force necessary to sup
press insurrections against the United
States, but the Senate by refusing to con
firm his nomination of a collector of the
customs for the port of Charleston, effect
ually tied his hands and rendered it im
possible for him to collect the revenue
within that port. In his annual mes
sage he had expressed the opinion
"that the same insuperable obstacles
do not lie in the way of executing the
[existing] laws for the collection of cus
toms on the seaboard of South Carolina
as had been interposed to prevent the
administratration of justice under the
federal authority within the interior of
that State." At all events he had de
termined to make the effort with the na
val force under his command. He trust
ed that this might be accomplished
without collision ; but if resisted, then
the force necessary to attain the object
must be applied. Accordingly, while
informing Congress " that the revenue
still continues to be collected as hereto
fore at the custom house inCharleston,"
he says that " should the collector un
fortunately resign, a successor may be
appointed to perform this duty."
THESENATE REFUSES THROUGHOUT THE
ENTIRE SESSION TO APPOINT A COL -
LECTOR FOR CHARLESTON.
The collector (William F. Colcock)
continued faithfully to perform his du
ties until some days after the State had
seceded, when at the end of December
he resigned. The President, immedi
ately afterward, on the 2d of January,
nominated to the,Senate, as his succes
sor, Mr. Peter Mclntire, of Pennsylva
nia, a gentleman well qualified for the
(Alice. The selection could not have
been made from South Carolina, because
no citizen of that State would have ac
cepted the appointment. The Senate,
throughout their entire session, never
acted upon the nomination of Mr. Mc-
Intire ; and without a collector of cus
toms duly appointed, it was rendered
impossible for the President, under any
law in existence, to collect the revenue.
CONGRESS REFUSES AUTHORITY TO COL
LECT THE REVENUE BY FORCE.
But even if the Senate had confirmed
Mr. Mautire's nomination, it is ex
tremely doubtful whether the President
could lawlully have collected the re
venue against the forcible resistance of
the State, unless Congress had confer
red additional powers upon him. For
this purpose Mr. Bingham, of Ohio, on
the 3d January, 1861 (Con. Globe, p. 236,
bill H. R., No. 910), the day after Mr.
Mclntire's nomination to the Senate,
reported a bill from the Judiciary Com
mittee further to provide for the collec
tion of duties on imports. This bill
embraced substantially the same pro
visions, long since expired, contained
in the act of 2d March, 1833, commonly
called " the Force bill," to enable Gem
Jackson to collect the revenue outside of
Charleston "either upon land or on board
any vessel." Mr. Bingham' a bill wa s per
milted to slumber on the files of the
House until the 2d March, the last day
but one before Congress expired (H.
Journal p. 465), when he moved for a sus
pension of the rules, to enable the House
to take it up and consider it, but his mo
tion proved unsuccessful. Indeed, the
motion was not made until so late an
hour of the session that even if it had
prevailed, the bill could not have passed
both Houses before the final adjourn
ment. Thus the President Was left
both without a collector of customs, and
most probably without any law which
a collector could have carried into effect,
had such an officer existed. Mr. Bing
ham's bill shared the fate of all other
legislative measures, of whatever char
acter, intended either to prevent or to
confront theexisting danger. From the
persistent refusal to pass any act ena
bling either the outgoing or the incoming
administration to meet the contingency
of civil war, it may fairly be inferred
that the friends of. Mr. Lincoln, in and
out of Congress, believed he would be
able to settle the existing difficulties with
the Cotton States in a peaceful manner,
and that he might be embarrassed by
any legislation contemplating the ne
cessity of a resort to hostile measures.
CONGRESS ENDS, LEAVING THE LAW AS
THEY FOUND IT
The Thirty-sixth Congress expired
on the 3d March, 1861, leaving the law
just as they had found it. They made
no provision whatever for the suppres
sion of threatened rebellion, but delib
erately refused to grant either men or
money for this purpose. It was tliiB
olatien of: dntylthich, compelled, Pre*
dent Lincoln to • !knit. - a proclamation
oniverting the new Congress, in special
session, immediately after the attack on
Fort Sumter. Urgent and dangerotie
emergencies may have arisen, or may
hereafter arise in the history of our
country, rendering delay disastrous,
such as the bombardment of Fort Sum
ter by the Confederate Government,
which would for the moment justify
the President in violating the Consti
tution, by raising a military force with
out the authority of law, but this only
during a recess of Congress. Such
extreme cases are a law unto
themselves. They must rest, upon
the principle that it is a lesser evil
to usurp, until Congress can be as
sembled, a power withheld from the
Executive, than to suffer the Union to
be endangered, either by traitors at
home or enemies from abroad. In all
such cases, however ; it is the President's
duty to present to Congress, immediate
ly after their next meeting, the cause
which impelled him thus to act, and
ask for their approbation ; just as, on a
like occasion, a British minister would
ask Parliament for a bill of indemnity.
It would be difficult, however, to conceive
of an emergency so extreme as to justify
or even excuse a President for thus tran
scending his constitutional powers whilst
Congress, to whom he could make an im
mediate appeal, was in session. Cer
tainly no such case existed during the
administration of the late President.—
On the contrary, not only was Congress
actually in session, but bills were long
pending before it for extending his au
thority in calling for the militia, for
enabling him to accept the services of
volunteers, and for the employment of
the navy, if necessary, outside of ports
of entry for the collection of the revenue,
all of which were eventually rejected.
Under these circumstances, had the
President attempted, of his own mere
will, to exercise these high . poWers,
whilst Congress were at the very time
deliberating whether to grant them to
him or not, he would have made him
self-justly liable to impeachment. This
would have been for the Executive to
set at defiance both the Constitution
and the legislative branch of the Gov
ernment.
The Mexican Question from a French
Standpotnt
The appointment of General Logan as
Minister to Mexico is made the occasion
of au article in the (barrier des Etats
Unis, the organ of Imperial French sen
timent in this country. The Courricr
expresses its astonishment at the ap
pointment of General Logan as "Min
ister to a defunct Republic, whose seat
is nowhere," and thinks it " very cer
tain that Mr. Logan will not set out for
a destination which lie will seek in vain
on any map." The act• is the more as
tonishing, the Courrier says, because
there was no " pressure of Congress,"
and no "exigency of public opinion
calling for it' —aud it accomplishes only
the end- of "insulting France and the
Mexican Empire, without serving in
the least the defunct Republic to which
the embassador is accredited." The
Coarrier compares the sending of a
Minister to the "Republic" of Mexico,
under present circumstances, to the
Confederate States, "when naught
remained to it but Galveston," and
suggests the action of France in the Case,
by asking how the supposed procedure
would have been regarded by the Gov
ernment of the United States.
_ .
In noticing the late emphatic declara
tion of General Grant with reference to
Maximilian, the Courrier says:, It is
impossible for us to pass without remark
symptoms fatal to the good understand
ing between this country and France."
" What," the Courrier enquires, "would
the citizens of the United States have
said if Marshal Bazaine, during the war
of secession, had publicly expressed the
hope to see the Federal armies defeated
by the South?" The Cm crier repudi
ates all idea of alarming the country,
but states that "there are more reasons
than there should be for a greatestrauge
meat between France and the United
States. They should explain them
selves, however, once for all, for the two
countries have an equal interest in
knowing to what their mutual inten
tions will lead. The French Govern
ment has borne patiently many little
provocations, but we deceive ourselves
if we imagine it would sell its honor
cheaply if it is called into the ring."
These remarks of the Courrier are
worthy of thought and consideration.—
They no doubt express the sentiments
entertained by the Imperial French
party in Mexico; and as Napoleon is
not in the habit of expressing his opin
ions until the time for action arrives,
they afford the only means of arriving
at probable conclusions as to his manner
of looking at and estimating the course
adopted by the United States Govern
ment. In that view they will be held
important until we have news from
France as to the opinion of the French
Government upon the appointment of
General Logan as Minister to "a defunct
Republic," as the Courrier calls the par
ty opposd to Maximilian in Mexico.—
Age.
" West Virginia."
It is a Republican paper from which
we take the following paragraph :
Several
,Virginia papers are discussing
the feasibility of reuniting the State by
the absorption of West Virginia. The
subject has come up in consequence of
the attempt of the State of West 'Vir
ginia to get possession of the counties
of Berkeley and Jefferson, against the
wish of the inhabitants, by the same
fictitious proetss by which the State
was originally divided. If there is any
legitimate process by which the two
Virginias can be consolidated into one,
Congress will readily give its assent. Two
Virginia Senators will thus be got rid
of. In fact Congress would not have
consented to the division of tile State if
the result of the war had been foreseen.
It was an act of faithlessness and des
peration.
The partizan majority in Congress
have already got sick of their job.
In more than one quarter among the
Republican journals we have noticed
the cool avowal, that could the men in
Congress have foreseen what stripe of
politicians would be elected to the Sen
ate and Congress from "West Virginia,"
that so-called State would never have
been formed.
It does not modify or excuse the dis
honest character of that proceeding,
that in point of fact the pretended State
does not, and never did exist. Its cre
ation under the circumstances is in di
rect and open violation of au express
provision of the Constitution ; and the
Republicans in Congress and in the Lin
coln Cabinet who connived at this vio
lation of the Organic Law have suc
ceeded only in upholding a fraud, the
fruits of which they have latterly found
exceeding bitter, but they have to swal
low the dose, for it was a dish of their
own cooking. It seems they are now
ready to undo the wrong they have done
in this matter. it is a pity their rePen
lance is not induced by any higher prin
ciple than that which impelled them to
the commission of the wrong.—Hart
ford Times.
Mrs. Lincoln and Her Husband's Monu-
ment.
[From the Chicago Tribune.]
We published the other day a news
paragraph that Mrs. Lincoln had or
dered in Zwickan, Germany, a monu
ment for the grave of her husband, our
late lamented President. The paragraph,
according to our recollection, first ap
peared in the London correspondence
Of the Cincinnati Gazelle. We now
learn that there is no foundation for the
statement. Mrs. Lincoln has ordered
no monument for the grave of her hus
band, nor does she intend to do so. She
has left that work in the hands of the
Lincoln Monument Association at
Springfield.
Mrs. Lincoln isresidingat the Clifton
House in this city. Since the decease
of her husband she has made her per
manent abode in Chicago, living in
great retirement, and devoting herself
to the education of heryounger son. Her
eldest son, Robert, is completing his
studies in the law office of Scammon,
McCagg & Fuller. The other, so well
known to all frequenters of the White
House by the familiar name of "Tad"
—a bright, fun-loving boy—is attend
ing one of our public schools.
WE PUBLISH this morning a master
ly exposition and history of what is call
ed The Monroe Doctrine. It is from the
pen of no less a personage than Ex-Presi
dent Buchanan, the most accomplished
and wisest of our retired statesmen.—
Much as politicians and rivals have
abused Mr. Buchanan during the past
eight years, none of them deny him un
common abilities and an unblemished
character, which is a good deal to as
sert of a public man in our time. The
article upon The Monroe Doctrine is
sent forth in an unpretending dress, and
all who read it, can readily comprehend
a question, about, which we hear same
thing daily.—Norfolk (Va,) Post. ' .