.fgtetuwite*
■ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28,1866,
*.' The printing presses shall be tree W every
person who undertakes to examine the pro
ceedlngs of the legislature, or any branch of
government:- and no law shall ©ver be made
frt rAßtraln the right thereof. The free commu
nication of thought and opinions Is one of the
invaluable rights of men: and every citizen
mav freely speak, write and print on any sub
let". 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 public informa
tion, the truth thereof may be given in evi
enoe.”
Why We Sustain President Johnson.
When, on the death of Abraham Lin
coln, Andrew Johnson was suddenly
elevated to the high position of Presi
dent of the United States, he . found
himself standing face to face with great
and grave responsibilities. The armies
of the Republic had triumphed over
armed rebellion ; the work of the war
rior was done, and the labors of the
statesman about to begin. The position
was one which demanded great wis
dom, experienced statesmanship, more
than ordinary prudence, and the most
exalted and disinterested patriotism.
All our readerswill remember how anx
iously the nation listened to every word
which fell from the lips of the newly
made President. The dangers that
v threatened the country were plainly
seen and duly appreciated by the people.
The war had been sustained at the
most enormous sacrifices of blood
and treasure by the masses, because
they were resolved that the Union of the
States should not be destroyed. When
the armies of the South had surrender
ed, the great body of the people of the
North were ready and willing to grant
fair terms to the conquered. They had
been fighting to restore the Union, and
they wished to see the speedy consum
mation of their cherished desires. They
waited in anxious expectancy for an
enunciation of the policy which Presi
dent Johnsoirintended topursue. When
it was made public, iu the proclamations
to the different States recently in revolt,
fanatics and interested political mana
gers tried in vain to suppress the hearty
'approval which was given to it by the
people.
Immediately thereupon the Demo
cratic newspaper press of the country,
with the exception of a few papers which
have since seen the error of their course,
cordially endorsed the policy of Presi
dent Johnson, The Int< lligenc r was
among the very first to do so. In an
editorial prepared and published as early
as last .June, we reviewed llie reasons
for giving our support to Andrew John
son, and indicated the extent to which
we were prepared to go iu our approval
of his acts. That article was copied,
with approving comments, by nearly
every prominent Democratic newspaper
in tiic North ; thus showing that we
were leading in a direction in which the
party were fully prepared to follow.—
The conclusion of that editorial was in
the following words :
In every move which President Johnson
may nnikV In restore law and order, and to
preserve, protect and defend the Constitu
tion of 111" I'nitcd States, ho will have tin*
warm sympathy and the hearty and earnest
support*, not only of the Democratic press,
but of the Democratic masses throughout
the whole country. Thissupportand Hym-
Ihv will be given freely; the more freely
because it could never ho extorted, except
through the honest conviction that his acts
are right, and his policy calculated to pre
serve Ihe Constitution, tore-cement the
Union, and speedily to restore permanent
peace and prosperity to our war weary and
much distracted land.
The support which we then promised
to President Johnson has ever since
been freely given. ‘While we may have
differed with him "s to some of the mi
nor detail* of his plans for the mere
temporary government of the States,
we saw that was always moving
steadily iu the right direction. We
could not help giving him credit for
exalted and disinterested patriot
ism. His every act showed that he had
in view the best interests of the nation,
and that he was laboring with consum
mate wisdom, and with far seeing and
statesmanlike sagacity, to accomplish
the great work of restoration which
had been committed by Divine Provi
dence to his hands. Unmoved by sel
fish considerations, unin 11 ueneed by
the ties of party association, unawed by
threats and unseduced by the offer of
almost supreme power, he lias steadily
pursued the even tenor of his way.
Step by stop, slowly, wisely and sure.
Iy he has advanced in the only true
path of national safety. He has done
much already toward the accomplish
ment of the great task assigned him.
'Despite of the most bitter opposition
from such traitors as Stevens, Sumner
ami the many who follow them, he lias
succeeded in restoring permanent pence
to a land lately tossed to and fro iu the
wildest political commotion.
Had he been aided, asheshould have
been, by Congress, we might have been
able, even thus early, to rejoice,over the
pleasing spectacle of a perfectly restored
Unioift The opposition to the great
and wise plans of the President has not
come from the rebels of the South.
AVhen they laid down their
arms, they felt that they were
utterly powerless. They accepted the
situation, and declured themselves
ready to adapt themselves to the old
order of affairs. Willingly, cheerfully,
with an alacrity that was not expected,
they adopted the policy of President
Johnson and entered into his plans for
restoring ea<?h revolted State to the
Union.
In the meantime, the radical revolu
tionists, led by Ktevens and Sumner,
seeing that they could not long retain
power in a restored Union, and finding
that they could not turn the President
aside from his wise policy, devised a
scheme for thwarting him in his great
and patriotic designs. They set lip a
despotic Central Directory, known as
the Committee of Fifteen. By this
means they hoped to be able to keep
the iSouthdrn' States out of the Union
for years to come. They were disunion
hits in the beginning, and “they are/so
stilb They have always shown them
selves willing to sacrifice the best in
terests of tlie nation in order that they
might carry out their mad designs.
Against these bold, bad men Andrew
Johnson lias stood up firmly and man
fully. He has adhered to his policy lie
cause he believes it to be right, and calcu
lated to restore the Union, to preserve
the Constitution and to advance all the
political and material interests of the
nation. Because they could not use him
as a supple tool for the accomplishment
of their infamous designs, the radicals
have made open and unrelenting war
upon him. He has notshrunk from the
encounter. Armed with all the panoply
of pure principle he Ups met them in
the onset and completely routed them.
In this contest he has the sympathies of
every true patriot in the nation. The
masses are overwhelmingly against Ids
enemies, and they will speedily lie
driven from the positions of power
whichjthey have abused, by the righteous
indignation of an outraged and indig
nant people.
Sumner had the meanness to expose
the weak and vacillating character of
the late President, whose friend he pro
fessed to he, in the Senate yesterday,
During the delivery of Mr. Sherman’s
speech, uh we learn from the published
proceedings of the Senate—
Mr. Suniuur interrupted Mr. Sherman, to
say that iimnodiately after the proclama
tlon of Mr, Llnoolnnespecting the veto of the
< IUI r bill, he had an interview
with Mr, Lincoln, and he (Lincoln) express
ed hie regret that ho had not approved it,
The Report of ®
In the last Presidential election 8,448
votes were.polled for General McClellan
in Lancaster county, apd 13,’469 for
Abraham Lincoln. ,Thus it will be seen ,
that, large as the Republicanmajority
is, two-fifths.of the voters in thfobouiity
are Democrat*. No dije who : knoiws
anything about the matter /will deiiiy
that the Democratic vote represents
fully two-fifths of the taxable property,
and of the taxable inhabitants of the
county. Of course they subscribe for
and read Democratic newspapers. Most
of them take no other paper than the
Intelligencer , and but few take either of
the Republican papers published in the
county. Common justice to them as
tax-payers would seem to require that
all public statements of general interest,
which are paid for as advertisements,
should be published in tho Intelligencer }
it being the only Democratic newspaper
in the county. The refusal of public
officers so to do is a gross outrage on the
rights'of the tax-payers. Have not the
men who pay two-fifths of all the taxes
of the county a right to know how their
money is expended? Have they not a
right to .demand that every statement
showing how the public money has
been appropriated shall be published iu
the newspaper which represents so large
a proportion of the tax-payers of the'
county?
In very fewcouiitiesofPennßylvania>
and in no Democratic county that we
know of, does political prescription go
so far as to refuse to publish all such
statements in at least one newsaper of
each party. Here in Lancaster city,
where the necessity for so doing is not
nearly so great as it is in the county,
Democratic officials publish all such
documents in the Republican daily
paper. The Commissioners of the
county, and the Frison Inspectors pub
lish their reports in the Intelligencer.
In so doing they do their duty, and pay
a proper respect to the very large pro
portion of tax-payers who take our paper
to the exclusion of others. We are sorry
to be compelled to reflect upon the Di
rectors of the Poor. They seem to im
agine that Democratic tax payers have
no right to know what becomes of that
portion of the public money which pass
es through their hands. We publish
their statement in our daily without
charge. We shall ask to be paid for
publishing it in our weekly. If pay
ment of a reasonable bill is refused, we
shall ask why it is done, in the name of
at least nine thousand of the tax payers
of Lancaster county. We represent that
proportion of the people of this county,
and we shall not sutler their rights to be
disregarded without entering our earn
est protest.
Attend to the Spring Elections,
We would earnestly urge upon the
Democracy of Pennsylvania the gram!
importance of attending to the Spring
elections. Properand prompt organiza
tion in the different townships will en
able us to obtain control of very many
election boards which carelessness will
give into the hands of our opponents. —
The contest upon vrhich we are about
entering will be one of the mostexciting
ever witnessed. The bold bad men who
are now in power will scruple at nothing
which may be calculated to ensure their
continuancein the positions which they
have so much abused. The experience
of some years past ought to be sufficient
to teach us that they will not hesitate
to resort to the most bare-faced and un
blushing frauds. The Democracy should
take immediate steps to secure the elec
tion of their most competent men in
the different townships in the State to
the important positions of Judges and
and Inspectors of Elections. Let us be
gin the campaign aright by carrying the
township elections this Spring. There
is time enough to do this important
work effectually, and barely time
enough. We hope all our country ex
changes will urge this matter at once.
Let the best men of the party be put
forward as candidates, and let a vigor
ous effort be made to carry every town
ship where we have any possible show
for it. A little of the right kind of ef
fort can effect wonders in this respect.
Let it be attended to at once.
Washington’s Birthday
For some years past the 22d of Febru
ary has not been celebrated by the
American people as it deserves to be. —
In the midst of angry partisan strife,
and with the booming cannon of a civil
war sounding in our ears, we have
almost forgotten to do proper reverence
to him who isso justly styled the Father
of his Country. This day is being
properly celebrated in many of our
cities. Here, in Lancaster, no public
demonstration is being made. This is
not as it should be; but we believe the
people feel the influence of the auspi
cious occasion, and remember, with
gratitude and rejoicing him who has
made the 22d of February a holy day
to every true American.
The great characteristic of George
Washington, his chief merit, that which
most clearly distinguished him among
statesmen, was the stern moral courage
which enabled him to stand up for the
right, no matter whence opposition
come nor how powerful it might be.
To-day, as the American people reflect
upon this, the great distinguish
ing characteristic of tlje first and most
revered of our Presidents, they will not
forget tire recent act of Andrew John
son. .They will recognize in him who
nOw happily presides over the destinies
of this Republic, the same devotion to
principle, the same resolute determina
tion to.do what he believed to be right,
which marked him 'who first sat
in the chair now occupied by Presi
dent Johnson. They eacli came into
power at the end of a great revolution.
Each had committed to ills hands the
great work of restoring harmony among
discordant .States, of building up anew
a nation whose very existence had been
in immediate peril. History tells us of
the patriotism of George Washington,
and the world bows before him in iu
yoluntary homage. Andrew Johnson
is even now engaged in forging out the
facts which must make liis history. He
has shown himself to be a statesman of
too true a stamp to yield to the demands
of party a single conviction of the re
quirements of public duty. To-day the
American people, without respect to
party, will 'couple his name with that
of Washington, of Jackson, and of all the
purer men of our past history.
A special despatch from Washington
to tlie Philadelphia Ledger says Mr.
Seward has written the President from
New York, nongratulating him on his
speecli delivered in tills city on Thurs
day last. The position of the President
is therefore fully endorsed by his able'
Secretary, This gentleman has now no
party ends to serve, nor is he ambitious
for further honors. Ail lie desires now
is to stand by the whole country and
those wlu) stand by it. His speech be
fore the Cooper Institute meeting is in
vested with additional interest and sig
nificance by the fact of his receiving two
or three despatches from Senator Nye,
and others in Washington, stating that
tlie President hud made aterriblespeech
—one that lie could not: possibly approve
or endorse, und one that must iupyita
bly break up the Republican party, JR'.
Seward was not deterred.
Occasional of the l‘rem by no means
accepts the facts of tlie President’s
speech. He is especially disgusted,
however, with Us “ dead-dCck' ’-tlons.—
Ag*.
ThtrPrestdent’sGreat speech.
We have put ourselves to some con
siderable inconvenience in
able to lay before our readers a fulliije
port great speech delivered f-:by
President►Johnson'' the'.lvjfest [as
semblage of people vjrtiich waitedron
him yesterday at the House, pit
is the fullest’andfreestexpression of hjs
opinions which beda- giv&n y to
the public. He speaks out with charac
teristic boldness and energy. Having
dared to do what he conscientiously be
lieves to be right, he adheies to his po
sition \yith ivfirmness L tliat Is a ifUtiLg!
accompaniment of his. well, recognized
honesty of purpose. He meets th? great
wants of the hour, proves himself en
tirely equal to the occasion, and con
fronts the issues forced upou him with
the air of a mau who never knew what
fear meant. He lays bare the infamouß
and revolutionary designs of such dis
unionists os Stevens and Sumner, and
those \yho stand by and support them.
He holds these, the traitors of the pres
ent hour, up to the scorn of an outraged
and indignant people. He shows the
masses how artfully they are plotting
the ruin of the Republic. He points out
the dangers which threaten, and warns
us of the revolution which is impending
over our heads. He speaks the truth
without any attempt at concealment.
His Bpeech will be read with iutense
interest by the honest masses. They
know and appreciate the man ; and in
Andrew Johnson’s policy they will
recognize the true plan for reconciling
all conflicting political elements, re
storing the Union on a permanent basis
and preserving the Constitution of our
country unimpaired, as it came from the
hands of the fathers of the Republic.
The Delegation of Tailors,
We had a pleasant chat this morning
with the Lancaster representatives of
the delegation of Merchant Tailors, who
recently went to Washington to secure
if possible, some change in the form of
the law by which all makers of wearing
apparel are taxed so heavily. The taxes
paid by this class of the community
seem to be most disproportionately
heavy, and it is thought that Congress
cannot fail to grant relief on a fair rep
resentation of the case.
The delegates from Lancaster con
sisted of Messrs. John Metzgar, Thomas
Coleman and S. S. Rathvon, all well
known to our citizens as being promi
nent among our most enterprising and
successful business men. The whole
deputation, comprising as it did dele
gates from all our principal cities, con
sisted of some forty-six of the largest
manufacturers in the country. Mr.
Metzgar having written to Thaddeus
Stevens in regard to the matter, the
delegation on assembling at Washington
on last Wednesday, found him ready
and willing to aid them in securing a
'hearing from the Committee of Ways
and Means. They were introduced to
that Committee by Mi. Stevens, who
facetiously remarked in doing so, that
he had the pleasure of. presenting Jirr
men —all tailors. There being just forty
five of the delegates present, the mem
bers of the Committee saw the point of
the joke, and enjoyed it accordingly.
Mr. Stevens then left the delegation in
the hands of the Committee of Ways
and Means. Their statement of the
cause of their grievance was politely
heard by the Committee; and many
questions Basked and answered. The
delegation left favorably impressed and
hopeful that their wrongs would., be
righted.
After having interviews throughout
the day with numerous members of
Congress, the delegation proceeded to
the White House in the afternoon, to
call on President Johnson. They were
introduced as a body by Mr. Owens, of
Washington, himself a prominent tailor
of that city. Mr. Milligan, of Philadel
phia, made a short speech on behalf of
the delegation, to which the President
replied in his usual happy maimer, al
luding to the fact that he hud himself
began life as a tailor. The members of
the delegation were at once put at their
ease, and some half hour was spent in
friendly conversation with the worthy
and affable Chief Magistrate of the na
tion. All left deeply impressed with
the integrity, the firmness, intellec
tual power and the disinterested patriot
ism of Andrew Johnson.
The War Upon the President.
Thaddeus Stevens does not shrink
from making open war upon President
Johnson and his policy. For days a
rumor has prevailed that the members
of Congress from Tennessee would be
admitted to seats. It was known that
the President was anxious that they
should be. He had so expressed him
self openly. Had lie sigued the Freed
men’s Bureau Bill Thad. Stevens, and
the radical crew whom he leads, would
have agreed to the admission of the
Tennessee delegates. So soon as Andrew
Johnson saw fit to veto that most infa
mous bill, the fate of every Southern
Representative to Congress was sealed,
Mr. Stevens vented his spite at once by
forcing the following resolution through
the House :
Resolved , Thai in order to cense agitation
upon a question which seems likely to dis
tract the action of the government, as well
as to quiet theunoertainty which is agita
ting the minds of the people of the eleven
States which have been declared in insur
rection, no Senator or Representative shall
be admitted into either branch of Congress
from any of the said States until Congress
shn 11 have declared such States entitled to
such representation.
It was a concurrent resolution from
the Committee on Reconstruction, and
was a directs 1 roke at the President ,aml it
was put til rough under the operation of
the gag law by a strict party vote of,
yeas 10!), nays4o. The witrbeLweeii the
radicals and the President must go on ;
but the people will sustain Andrew
Johnson, as they sustained Andrew
Jackson in his veto of the United States
Bank Charter.
The Earthquake.
When Thud. Stevens heard the Presi
dent’s veto message read he exclaimed :
“ there is an earthquake all about us.”—
The rumbling of it seems to have been
plainly heard in Lancaster. Certain
prominent individuals, publioans and
other officials, have been seized with a
sudden trembling. They stand togeth
er on street corners, and in the market
places, wearing a distracted look, whis
pering together like conspirators, and
gesticulating wildly. Thealarm which
agitates the boul of their guilty master
has cast its shadow upon their lives
Ever and anon they feel about carefully
to see whether their official heads are
still safe on their shoulders, They are
in terrible trouble. Where they can
find consolation we know not. If
they go to Forney’s Press they will read
this |most unwelcome injunction:
“Thev (the friends of Thad. Stevens,)
et id oinne genus,) must ABANDON ALL
aspiration por place.” Ob, intoller
ablelot! Ob, burthen too grievous to
be born ! Whet shall these affected of
ficials do? Let them imitate the wise
steward in scripture. Let them get up
a mass meeting, and denounce that
miserable old revolutionist, Thad.
Stevens, pigbt here in his own home;
let them pass a string pf long resolu
tions endorsing Andy Johnson. By so
doing they might Bave their official
heads from the axe. For this advioe to
Lancaster county officials, the creatures
of Stevens, we charge nothing.
John W. Forney, D. D.—dirty dog
or dead duck—you pays your money,
and you takes your choice. In the one
ease he is canine; in the other, canard.
Autfiorltatire Repudiation of the Presi
dent’s Policy.
Republican Legislatures iibjjfcfe*
&osion in the Northern S&tSs
aij passing
ticjionmfthe revolutionary
and repudiating the; policy of
PresidentUohnsan. ; - '■! : -1 C
,-. 1 ; jhe York Tribune exultlngly
-announces the actioir of the Radical
members of the Legislature of Ohio, in
the following strong language :
The Union members of the Ohio Legis
lature have tho honor of being the first to
■ indorse tho House rosolationuor the exclup
Bioubf Rebel
iu Cougress.-.Ou theoveoing of its passage,
Ohio resolved: “ That in tho action of the
Union Representatives in Congress we
recognize an exposition of the principles
that made ns a party und saved our country
through the late Rebellion, and wo tender
such Representatives our nearty support.”
That is but one expression of the leeling
which sweeps over tho country likea whirl
wind, and which seeks out its honest and
honored representatives in Washington
with a declaration of profound gratitude
and respect.
The Republican majority in the Leg
islature of Maine have passed similar
resolutions.
While the Radicals are thus showing
their approval of the acts of the revolu
tionary faction in Congress, the Demo
cracy everywhere staud firmly by the
President. Resolutions endorsing his
acts and his policy have been passed by
the Democrats in the Legislatures of
Ohio, of Maine, and of New Jersey.
They staud by Andrew Johnson be
cause they believe him to be right, and
they will continue to sustain him with
all the moral and material power at
their command, so long as he does what
is right.
Defeat of the Frccdmen’s Bureau Bill
in the Senate.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trumbull, of Ills,
called up the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill
iu the Senate, with the design of pas
sing it by a two-thirds vote over the veto
of President Johnson. He made a
lengthy speech in its favor. When he
had concluded, Senator Cowan remark
ed that he wa- willing to let the speech
of Mr. Trumbull aud the message of the
President go to the country together.
There was no further debate. The ques
tion being called for, the Chair an
nounced that it was, “ Bhall the bill
pass, the President’s objections not
withstanding? Upou which the yeas
and nays were required. The vote was
as follows :
Vkas— Messrs. Anthony, Brown,Chandlei
Clark, (Jonnc.ss, CniAn.i reswcll, Fessenden
Foster, Crimes, Harris, Henderson, How
ard, Howe, Kirkwood, Lane of Indiana,
Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Nye, Poland,
Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague,
Sumner, Trumbull, Wade, Williams, Wil
son, Yates—:3l>.
Navs Messrs. Buekalew, Cowan, Davis
Dixon, Doolittle, Guthrie, Hendricks, John
son, MoDougal, Morgan, Nesmith, Norton,
Kiddie, Sauisbury, Stewart, Stockton, Van
Winkle, Willey—lS.
Absent, Messrs. Foot and Wright.
Mr. Polad, of Vermont, said his col
league, Mr. Foot, was confined to his bed
with sickness, hut if present would have
voted for the bill.
The bill was thus negatived, less tLan
two-thirds voting for it.
The Republican Senators who voted
to sustain the President were Cowan of
Pa., Dixon of Conu., Doolittle of Wis.,
Morgan of N. Y., Nesmith, of Oregon,
Norton of 111., Stewart of Nevada, Van
Winkle aud Willey of West Ya. All
the rest voted against him.
Conversion of the Express.
There is a class of Republican news
paper editors whom we could sincerely
pity, were it not that their course is of
such a character as to excite universal
contempt. Nearly every Republican pa
per in the country has boldly and bitter
ly denounced the Veto Message of the
President. 1 11 this State there have
been twoor three prominent exceptions.
In our city the Examiner comes out
fearlessly. Mt endorses Thad. Stevens
ami the radicals in Congress freely and
fully. That is honest. The Inquirer
is mute. We have yet to ascertain
where it stands. The course of-the Ex
press has been such as to excite con
tempt. Its vascillation has been such
as to make it an object of ridicule. On
Tuesday, the day after the Veto Mes
sage was read in the Senate, it had
an editorial condemning it, from which
we take the following extract:
Tiie true friends of Andrew Johnson,
those who stood by him when rebels ami
copperheads alike sought his ruin and de
feat—will deeply regret that he should be
so radically opposed to a measure which
passed both Houses of Congress by a two
third vote, and received the approbation of
loyal people North and South. In some of
his objections the President is certainly in
error, and tho difference between him and
Congress isso radical, on some important
points, that his veto cannot be sustained by
the representatives of the people.
That we regard as honest, aud as
strong enough. • Bu. itdid notstop with
that. The next day it publishes, with
fpproving comment, a long editorial
rom Forney’s Washington Chronicle
in which the President was abused and
ridiculed without stint. Among other
strong passages in the article were the
following:
If the President's reasoning is correct then
all the legislation of tho past four years—no
matter how salutary and saving in its con
sequences—has been illegal, unconstitu
tional and arbitrary.
And again :
This message of President Johnson will
fall like tlie cold hand of death upon the
warm impulses of tbe American people,
who have given so much of their treasure
and their blood to the cause of the Republic,
and have reposed such unstinted and un
questioning confidence in the Executive.
On Thursday it published in full the
bitter radical speech of .Senator Trum
bull, denouncing President Johnson
and his veto of the Bill, with the fol
lowing approving comment:
On our first page to-day will be found
Senator Trumbull’s spceeh in review oftlie
reasons assigned by the President for ve
toing the Preedmen’s Bureau bill. Let
every one wiio wishes to understand the
merits of the eontroversv bet ween the Pres
ident and Congress, carefully read tlie
speech.
On Friday it had a long editorial in
the same strain from the Pittsburg
Commercial, in which the following
passage is to be found t
If President Johnson has a sincere friend,
and if that friend is himself sound iu mind
and heart, he will not fail, without loss of
time, and without concealment, to tell him
plainly that persistence in the part he lias
taken must lead to fatal estrangements.—
The President is not wise, no friend of his
can lay claim to sagacity or wisdom, if lie
supposes that Congress does not truly ,ep
reseut the fixed and unalterable will of the
people. Differences in regard to details are
to be expected and will be excused, but there
must be no sacrifice of principle.
That would seem to commit the Ex
press irrevocably against tlie policy of
Andrew Johnson. It is hard/br us to
conceive how it could manage to swal
low all It had said in opposition to the
President. Yet itmanaged to do it most
effectually. In Saturday's issue it had
a long original editorial taking back all
it had sqid during the week. How this
marvellous conversion was wrought, we
can only conjecture. It hour opinion
it was the effectof a careful, and, itmay
be, prayerful reading of the great speech
delivered by the President on the
There ig still some hope for the Express'
It may, if it continues to ipiprove, yet
be able to take rank as a decent and
loyal newspaper.
Forney, In his Sunday Press, says
Nearly all the Republican Union news
papers of Pennsylvania have spoken
strong and decidedly against the Presi
dent's veto message. We notice that
the influential journals of Cheater, Del
aware, Berks, Schuylkill, Lehigh, Lan
caster, Lebanon, Bradford. Tioga, Sus
quehanna, Lycoming. Columbia, Cen
tre, etc., have taken this course.
In view of a singular editorial in
Saturday’s Express we are led to ask
how tflftf .pgper rgnfts, Certainly not
as one of the influential organs quoted
by Forney,
Thad. Stevens Thirty Tears Ago.
£>Jn Tuesday's Intelligencer appeared
an account of the “Buckshot War,” in
which Thaddeus Stevens figured so
largely Bom ethi n g like tttirty years ago.
-Then, as now, he showed himself to be
'a bold, bad man. He was as willing
then to override the Constitution of
as he now is to destroy
Constitution of the United States.
Age sometimes moderates passion and
softens down the sharp characteristics
which make violent men notorious.
Years had : no, such- effect upon
Thaddehs Stevens. -Heisasoverbearing
in disposition, as reckless of conse
quences, as regardless of law, and as
ready now to risk the ruin of the nation
for the sake of keeping his party in
power, as he was to risk the best inter
ests of Pennsylvania thirty years ago,
for a similar base purpose.
In glancingover the files of the In
telligencer we find the following pen
and ink portrait of Stevens as he ap
peared in the sight of honestmen at the
time he commanded his revolutionary
gang in the “Buckshot War:”
Thaddeus Stevens, and we are gladtosay
it, is not a Pennsylvanian. His own his
tory proves that he came hither a stranger
to her people, and has eon inued, at all
times, consistently adverse to her interests.
He has been, since his unfortunate presence
in the Legislature, Pennsylvania's evil
genius, and if she bus degenerated at all—
and the three past years of her life prove
that she has—he planned the misfortune.—
We will not repeat here his utter destitution
of reputation—lor his career is one of that
kind which could ouly have been, run by a
villain at heart. Pennsylvania has three
blemishes on her escutcheon ; the Masonic.
Inquisition; the ebarteriug of the United
States Bank; and the present outrageous
condition ot afiairs. The first it is not re
quisite to say, he originated and completed.
The second was the 'fitting offspring of his
brain; for he read that infamous Bill before
the Ritner House of Representatives. The
last (the Buckshot war) is liisown by every
law of right. He began the anarchy^—it is
the sad consequences of his own plans. He
dissolved the Government. He is now urg
ing the Senate to goon in its path of de
struction. He is emphatically ‘‘the power
behind the throne.” The lust is a desperate
and final plunge. It will either make or
unmake him. If it is successful he can cover
up the festering infamy of his life, and save
himseli uud companions from impending
ruin. If it is unsuccessful he will be spurn
ed, not only from the Halls of Legislature,
but from the very State—- if the lawn permit
his escape.
That sketch of Thaddeus Stevens is
from the pen of John XV. Forney. It
was written almost thirty years ago—in
the days when Forney was honest,
truthful and trusted. Does he remem
ber it? Does he ever call up the mem
ory of purer and betterdays of his
life? Whkt a contrast mu9t they pre
sent when compared to his miserable
present. Then he was not rich as he is
now. He had not sold himself, his
principles, his honor, his self-respect,
allthatmen hold mo9t dear, fpr tbe
profits'of office. He was not then the
hired defender, the paid euiogistof men
whose principles he hated and despised.
He was a man then ; not a mere cring
ing, fawning sycophant. * His pres
ent baseness is in no way more
plainly • shown, than in the efforts
he is now making to bolster up Stevens
and bis fellow conspirators in an at
tempted revolution infinately more in
famous and dangerous to the United
States than was the “ Buckshot War”
to Pennsylvania. And all men know
that he is doing this merely for the sake
of the spoils of office. Having betrayed
the best friends he had.in the world for
filthy lucre, he shows that he would not
hesitate to barteraway thebestinterests
of his country for the sake of sordid gain.
As soon after the delivery of the Pres
ident’s speech as the Radicals were able
to collect their scattered senses, they
rushed into caucus and adopted the fol
lowing resolution :
licsolvvl, That one member from cadi
State having u Union representative in
cither branch of Congress beappointed who
shall constitute a General Congressional
Committee, for the raising of means and dis
tributing of documents, and other political
information, to the people ol* the country,
and that said General Committee shall ap
point an Executive Committee of seven,
who, under their supervision and inspee
lion, shall attend to the specific objects in
dicated.
The country is to be flooded with doc
ument designed to still further embitter
the Northern people against the South.
We shall have tales of horror far trans
cending those related of “ bleeding Kan
sas.” Tusteadof “Gooduewsfrom Kan
sas —Another man killed,” —which the
Abolition papers heralded with so much
delight in ISSO, the Radicals will soon
give us “ Glorious news from South Car
olina—A Rebel cuts off a Freedman’s
legs aud compels him to run a foot-race
for his life!” “Striking manifestation
of Disloyalty—The Rebels Shearing the
Freedmen aud refusing to pay the Rev
enue Tax on Wool!”
Tiie Trijh-ne says “it is impossible
not to see in the recent utterances of
our President a determination to make
waron theadvocatesof Human Equality
before tlie Law." It asserts that “his
Veto Message is a declaration of war—
it can mean nothing else.” The Tribune
seems to forget who it was that fired the
first shot in this war. It conveniently
fails to remember Thaddeus Stevens'
assault on “ the man at the other end of
the avenue.” It altogether ignores the
fact that Stevens, in his coarse and
malignant way, asserted publicly that
the President deserved to lose-his life on
tlie scaffold ! This war was begun by
the arch-traitor at the northern end of
the disunion line, and the President has
accepted it because he could not avoid
it without delivering up his country to
disunionists. He has entered upon it
reluctantly, hut his first defensive on
slaught shows that he is resolved to
make it “ short ami sharp,”
The Press lias redoubled its efforts,
in behalf of Joint W. Geary, whose star*
has of lute been waning. Tlie cause of
its activity in that direction is not hard
to guess. Geary is a vain, weak man,
who can be flattered outof his boots, and
the editor of the Press is the prince of
flatterers. The fleshpotsoftbe National
administration having been put beyond
his reach, the editor of the Press is more
than ever anxious to get control of tlie
State administration. Geary being tlie
only one among the prominent Repub
lican candidates over whom he oould
exercise full and absolute authority, lie
is doing his very best to elevate him to
the gubernatorial chair. Geary would
be as much out of place in the Execu
tive Chamber of Pennsylvania as a
goose in an eagle’s nest, hut he would
suit Forney’s purpose adihirably. With
what a royal air the “DeLd Duck,” gal
vanized into life again, would dispense
the patronage of the State administra
tion. Happy the applicant who should
secure his approving quack !
Trying to (lead film Off.
As soon qs it was known that Presi
dent Johnson had vetoed the Freed
men’s Bureau Bill, Ben. Wade intro
duced into the Senatea proposed amend
ment to the Constitution, to prevent
any man from being re-elected to the
Presidency. That blow is aifiied righf
at Andrew Johnson. The radicals, fear
ing the spontaneous voice of the people
would call him to preside for a second
and full term over the affairs of the
nation which he is doing so much to
save, are taking this method lj|head
him off. We calculate the peojfle will
have something to say ip regard to the
adoption pf any such amendment. The
radicals will find that the days when
they could safely ignore the will of the
people are numbered.
Forney has now got a name which
will last him a life-time. During Mr.
Lincoln’s time he was a live dog, but
now, accordijig to President Johnson,
fle Is only a " dead duck. 1 ! '
Forney Advertises for Readers.
The Philadelphia Ledger is the great
popular advertising sheet of Philadel
phia All the people who want serv
ing men and serving maids, all clerkp
out of employment, all who have lost
pocket books, the very few who are
honest enough to notify the public that
such an article has been found, all
whose cattle have gone estray, all whose
dogs are missing, announce the fact in
the Public Ledger. It is too the great
medium for advertising public lecturers
and popular preachers. But the very
latest dodge we have seen is that of
John W. Forney. In Friday’s Led
ger. prominent among the new adver
tisements, the following appeared in
staring capitals :
ANDREW JOHNSON AND HIS VETO '
ANDREW JOHNSON AND HIS VETO !
SEE THE PRESS TO-DAY.
SEE THE PRESS TO-DAY.
It strikes us as being something new
for the editor of one daily paper to call
attention to his leaders by paid and
displayed advertisements in thecolumns
of a rival sheet. It looks queer, and a
casual reader might argue, not without
very good apparent reasons, that he
who had to resort to such means to se
cure a perusal of his articles was rather
hard up. As an act of courtesy to For
ney we have concluded to make some
extracts from the letter which he ad
vertises so extensively. .We do this the
more readily, because we believe he
echoes the real sentiments of the party
to which he belongs.
He starts out with the announcement
that a certain class of men in Washing
ton, whom he designates as Copper
heads, were serenading the President
and rejoicing with exceeding great joy
over the event of the day—the Veto
J fcssagr. The letter, be it remembered,
was written on the evening of the day
wlieu the document was sent to Con
gress. Forney says, and those who
know him best know he never lies:
NO JOY AMONG THE RADICALS.
Not a Union member of either House,
and not even an officeholder, so far us I
could hear, took part in the demonstration.
Very significant that. 'He then goes
on to state the reasons why the Repub
lican members of Congress refused to
join in the general rejoicing, and to de
fine their position in regard to the
President. It will be seen that the rup
ture is not a sudden, but a very wide
and permanent one. In Forney’s opin
ion Andy Johnson has been coquetting
with the Copperheads for many months
past. Hear the ex-member of the
Kitchen Cabinet:
EVERY REFCHLICAN OFFICIAL DOWN ON*
THE PRESIDENT,
Up to this writing I have not conversed
with a yinglQ individual—Senator, Repre
sentative or citizen, who avows his willing
ness to support the policy foreshadowed in
the veto message of the Freedmen's Bureau
Bill. I saj* this, you will observe, before
we have received any intimation from the
people ot the States, their legislators, news
papers or politicians, and before either
House has taken action upon that extraor
dinary document. In one respect it is far
better that tlie relations between the loyal
people and Mr. Johnson should be clearly
defined and understood. The suspunse
which has prevailed in regard to his exact
policy, succeeding and yet rapidly changing
the almost unammousupprovaf of his an
nual message, v. as almost insupportable.
HOW HE HAS ItKKN COQUETTING WITH THE
COPPERHEADS.
You will recollect that, prior to the New
York and Pennsylvania elections of last
year, ulthough the President was repeated
ly called upon by the prominent Union
men in both States, and solicited to declare
in favor of the regular Union ticket, or at
least against the Copperheads, he refused
to take sides with the friondsofthe country.
In our own State, it cannot be denied, that
he promised to give Mr. Cessna, chairman
ot the l. nion State Central Committee, an
answer—which answer was .never received.
In New York he was so utterly, demoralized
by the visits ofthe Democrats who demand
ed his indorsement of their platform that he
was only inferontially quoted in favor of
the Union candidates. In both these States
brave men who had fought against the
rebel enemies headed the Union tickets,
and yet, although they stood upon plat
forms earnestly approving the President's
course, aiid pledged to him the lovai sup
port oi the people, he refused to abandon
his neutral ground and allowed the Cop
perheads to claim him as their supporter.
HE RECEIVED VISITS FROM WALLACE, Ct.Y
MEU AND JOHN VAN Hr REN, TO THE EX
CI.rsiON OK THE RADICALS.
Relegations ofthe loading and most pro
scriptive Democrats paid regular court, and
wore received almost in state at the Presi
dential mansion. From Pennsylvania we
had such men as Senator Firmer and Wal
lace—the slanderers of Andrew Johnson in
lsw, who led the Copperheads in the Leg
islature when they refused to allow him to
speak in the Legislative halls; from New
York we had such men as John Van Huron,
who was almost a guest, and the daily con
fidant of the President.
THE ANGUISH OF THE RADICALS THEREAT.
Meanwhile, the Union members nf Con
gress watched these extraordinary proceed
ings with undissembled sorrow. ~
THEY EXERCISE GREAT AND TENDER FOR-
ILKA RANGE.
Mortified as tliey were to see him enter
taining and listening to tho Copperhads of
the North and the traitors of the South, hu
militated by his ill-digested, incolierent,
and illogical harangues as he received and
answered all sorts of delegations—they
sought, in every instance, to suppress their
apprehensions. Thus everything was done
to avoid, postpone, and render impossible,
the condition of things which, it now ap
pears, has been for months craftily, sedu
lously and treacherously preparing.
THEY woo HIM STRONGLY TO RETURN, RUT
IN VAIN, I
From tho tipie when Montgomery Blair,
and other Copperheads, last summer, at
tempted to paralyze and to prostrate that
party by claiming that thev spoke in the
name and with the authority of Andrew
Johnson, the latter has been so indifferent
to tho measures he voted for in Congress
and sustained while he was a candidate
for Vice President, and even directly after
bo assumed the Presidential chair, that his
coldness amounted almost to absolute ami
open hostility.
HAD AS THE THING IS, tT MUST RK MORN
HRAVELY
The millions of noble spirits who at first
rejected the idea that the man, thus sus
tained and thus apologized for by a gener
ous and loyal people, would be* callous or
treacherous, and who were thenruluetantly
forced to accustom themselves to this dis
mal apprehension, will not, I am spre,
siirink from the task now luid upon them
of consolidating their ranks against the
common enemies of their country.
THE WHOI.E DUTY OF THE REPU ULIUAN
PARTY—TO FIGHT FOR UNIVERSAL NEGRO
SUFFRAGE—AND TO TAX WHITE MEN TO
SUPPORT NEGROES IN IDLENESS.
The dangers which threaten us may be
anticipated and prevented, if we are onlv
bold and fearless in the knowledge and in
the discharge of our imperative duties.
And what are these? IN THE FIRST
PLACE, TO SUSTAIN THOSE FAITH
FUL AND OBEDIENT REPRESENTA
TIVES IN CONGRESS, THE OROANS
AS THEY ARE, OF THE LOYAL MIL
LIONS OF THE REPUBLIC, IN THEIR
RECENT ALMOST UNANIMOUS
\OTES IX FAVOR OF UNIVERSAL
SUFFRAGE AND IN FAVOR OF THE
Stx-r JI;^ rVKTOKUB v the PRESI
DED 1. Observe that these two demon
struUous repruseiit mill typify the withes
and the doctrines oj the whole body of the
great Union party.
rtlh H.NAI. KEWA4D IVillcu AWAITS THE
FAITHFUL.
plaice' 1 nfjan d°n all aspirations for
Radicals of t)ie “small fry” order
are endeavoring to break the force, of
President Johnson’s ponderous blow at
Stevens, Sumner & Co., byallegingthat
he was drunk when he madehls speech
on the 23d, The New York Tribune
discredits this allegation. It knows
very well that the President Bpoke
“ words of truth and soberness ” when
he pointed out Stevens, Sumner and
Phillips as disuniouists who are now
trying to accomplish adisruption of the
Union. The Tribune says; !
lliere is. wo suppose, no impropriety in
referring in a public journal, to what lain
all mens months. The extraordinary
speech of President Johnson on Thursday
has been attributed to a weakness to which
it ts universally understood he is occasion
ally addicted. Dispatches from Washing
ton affirm that the speech was made under
no such influence. His friends, certainly
wll U e gfet to hear that the best excuse that
could be offered for it cun no longer be
pleaded in palliation.
Tuad. Stevens boldly denounces
President Johnson as a “ tyrant.” Do
President Johnson's Postmasters and
Internal Revenue Collectors and Asses
sors In Lancaster county agree with
Stevens? This question is bqt£ inters
eating and important, and it will have
tp be answered before long.
Tbe Republican Press on tbo Veto lies-
If we are to judge from tbe comments
of such Republican papers as have'
reached us the condemnation of Presi
dent Johnson’s course in vetoing the
Freedmen’s Bureau Bill will be u ni versal
and outspoken. The' breach between
them and Andrew Johnson is one
which cannot be bridged over. They
can no longer say there is no antagonism
between the President and the leaders
of the Republican party. The induce
ment for lying being thus removed, we
may expect Republican newspapers to
speak the truth. They are already doing
so. Forney opens up in a letter to the
Press with the following wailing, whin
ing
Letter from “ Occasional."
Washington, Feb. li), 1800.
This afternoon, while Senator Yates,
of Illinois, was in the midst of his pow
erful argument in favor of universal
suffrage, the President's son and private
secretary presented a message in writing
to the Senate, returning to that body in
which it originated, with his objections,
Mr. Trumbull's bill for tbe enlargement
of the powers of the freedmen’s bureau.
Although there was intense anxiety to
message read, Governor Yates
continued and concluded his argument,
which reflected so much credit upon his
patriotism, and gave so much delight
and instruction to his triends. You will
have the document at length in your
morning’s paper, and may therefore
conceive the painful disappointment of
the great majority of the Senate while
it was being read. During the debates
on this important measure, it gathered
such strength with the people and
with their public servants in Con
gress, that no one loyal man
ever anticipated tile slightest oppo
sition from tlie President. indeed
tbe vote by which it passed was so sig
nificant-including as it did the over
whelming majority of two-thirds of the
two Houses, that it was reasonable for
the National Union party to believe that
if it had not originated with the Execu
tive, it was prepared and perfected witli
ills sanction. The fact that it was al
lowed to pass unopposed, even by a sug
gestion, through those various stages,
until it was laid before him for liissigna
ture,may well excite more than surprise.
I Vc now realize the abundant authority
of the Democratic newspapers for assert
ing that the President was ojijwsi d to
t/iis important measure—a very singular
circumstance when contrasted with the
fact th((t the staunchest , most self-sacri
ficing, and most influential gut riots in
the land remained in almost total ignor
ance of his intentions near!// tt/i to the
moment wlten his veto was received.
When I wrote yesterday I indulged the
hope that his reasons for returning this
bill would be such as might be accepted
by his triends as so many improve
ments ; but this fond anticipation is
totally dispersed before liis exception
less and sweeping veto. Tbe whole
measure is distasteful to him. There is
not a feature of it that meets his ap
proval. I write at too late an hour to
specify the points that are suggested ill
opposition to his message ; one will suf
fice. The allegation that eleven States
of this Union are unrepresented in Con
gress, and that their absence when this
bill was passed is one of the evidences
of its injustice and unconstitutiomdity,
and that their presence is essential to
give legality and force to legislation, if
it proves anything, proms that all the
important legislation of the past four
gears, intended to save and to rescue the
Jlepubliv 1 and to put down the rclnllion,
was illegal or unconstitutional. The pa
triotic people of tlie United States must
now look to their Congress. Fortunate
ly for tbe future, these two great Houses
stand in solid and in stern array around
the rescued liberties of tlie Union; hut
if they are expected to complete the
great mission intrusted to them they
must be sustained and strengthened by
tlie people. The President has taken
his appeal to the people, now let Congress
go with him to their great constituency.
The New York Tribune concludes
a lengthy editorial on tlie subject witli
the following words :
Three lines in tlie Federal Constitu
tion abolishing and inhibiting all laws
and ordinances that bestow or withhold
privileges because of color, would be
wortli several Freedmen’s Bureaus.—
Justice —Equal Rights—tlie recognition
of his Manhood—these tlie ex-slave
wants—not coddling and petting. Say,
if you will, that be must read before lie
can vote; but then don'tletWhite villains
burn liis poor school-house. Say, if you
will, that lie must have property before
lie can vote; but be very careful that
the law secures to him all lie earns, and
gives him every needed facility for
maintaining bis rights. If you deny
liim tbe Right of Suffrage hecuuseof liis
ignorance, look well to' it, Unit you do
nothing calculated to perpetuate that
ignorance, and that you incite him to
learn by proffering him enfranchise
ment as the reward of his diligence and
acquirements. 11l short, make your
laws rigidly just, then abolish your soup
houses, But until then .
Mr. Johnson has made a grave mis
take. He has relieved those who elect
ed him of a great responsibility by
taking it on his own shoulders. Here
after, whatever wrongs may be indicted
upon or indignities suffered by the
Southern Hiacks, will la* charged to the
President, who has leu them nuked to
their enemies. Time will show that he
has thereby precluded a true ami speedy
restoration of the South, and indicted
more lasting misery on her Whites
than on her Blacks.
Our neighbor, the pj'pnss, dies v very
hard. We pity it. Of course it could
not preserve its dignity under the cir
cumstances. We have no doubt it felt
immensely relieved by being able to in
dulge in its usual fling at those whom it
still persists in calling copperheads. It
thus weakly and timidly dissents from
President Johnson :
The true friends of Andrew Johnson,
those who stood byhiinwheu rebelsjnnd
copperheads alike sought his ruin'and
defeat—will deeply regret that lie should
be so radically opposed to a measure
winch passed both houses of Congress
by a two-third vote, aud received the ap
probation of loyal people North and
South, In some of his objections the
President is certainly in error, and the
difference between.him and Congress is
so radical, on some important points,
that his veto cannot be sustained by the
representatives of the people.
The Harrisburg Telegraph seems
to have been stricken dumb.' In the
issue containing the veto message it has
not a line of editorial, except a puff of
some insignificant member of the House
—only that, and the meagre little para
graph, which shows how terror lids
taken hold of the soul of the Postmas
ter :
We print, entire, to-day; the Presi
dent’s veto of the Freedmen’s Bureau
bill. We confess that we did not antic
ipate such a sweeping disapproval of all
tiie features of the bill.
Xcgro Suffrage Xot to be Abandoned,
A special despatch from Washington
to Forney's Press Jays dowu the follow
ing as the programme to be pursued by
the Radicals:
It is not doubted that the bill estab
lishing universal '-uffrage in the District
of Columbia, which passed the House,
and is now before the Senate, will be
brought up in the latter body and press
ed to a final vote at an early day. While
there is no doubt that the President will
veto it, it is evidently the determination
of the Union party to let the whole facts
of his connection with this question be
made known. It is confidently stated
that he will throw the vote of his Ad
ministration agaiust any bill conferring
even qualified suffrage upon the colored
people inWashington. The Copperheads
here are exceedinglyjubilantat thefact
that they have finally obtained poses-*
Blon of the President. They feel con
vinced that they will nowbe abletocon-?
trol Washington aseflfectuallyas they did
,» of filav ery and secession.
\vith the aid of Andrew Johnson—the
removal of all independent men from
office, the pardon of thousands of return
ed rebels in our midst, and the
encouragement of the old secession sym
pathizers, the Northern Unionists who
the colored race, will find
j Jordan * B - a hard road to travel.”
The defection of the President has set
back the Improvement of the District of
Columbia for at least half a century,
Resolutions instructing their dele
gates to the State Convention to vote
for "W* 3 ear y f Pr Governor, were
voted down by a large majority in the
Berks County Republican Convention
at Reading on Saturday.
A Warning.
We solemnly warn tbe people. Men
in Congress—bold, artful, able and elo
quent, with loyalty on tbeir lips and
ireedom as their watchword—are forg
mg chains for the freemen of the North.
Tlie undoubted evidence of a project
for virtually subverting free government
in tlie United States, under the pretence
of perfecting it—a project for stripping
all popular franchise of everything but
the name, under pretence of extending
it to negroes—admonishes all of us to
hasten to hear whatever may expose the
secret motives, and thus frustrate the
abominable designs of a tyrauuical few
who, in the intoxicating of power, dare
to compass the annihilation of the sov
ereignty of the people.
There is such a purpose on foot. There
is no doubt of it. The scheme is to add
to their respective support, at their
Northern homes, the support of the
whole South, through the negroes this
is to be effected by treating as disloyal
all who withhold their applause. They
count upon all sympathies of modern
civilization, for all would be done in
tlie great names of freedom, philanthro
py, protection and progress. The sys
tem once established, uo human power
could stand before it, until, in the course
ot ages, it should yield to some popular
trenzy like the French revolution.
Such a political monopoly would back
its intolerance of party opposition by
the military arm, and to prevent all
dissatisfaction there, the soldiery would
be negroes. Tbe doctriueat the bottom
ot all this is a deliberate repudiation by
the class of usurpers in question of the
dogma of thesovereighty of the people,
and their habitual and contemptous de
claration in private conversation that
sell-government is a failure, and popu
lar suttruge a humbug. Said one the
other night, “the strongest wills must
govern, and it is only a question whose
are the strongest.” Soldiers of the
L nion ! Is this what you-* have fought
for?
The general plan, as we have said, of
this high-handed faction, is to enthrone
themselves, like tlie thirty tyrants of
Athens, and keep up a perpetual ma
jority in all the branches of the Govern
ment, by proscribing all opposition as
disloyal, and enforcing the discrimina
tion with a negro army. Once fairly
established, only a successful revolution
could overthrow it. Rut to initiate it
involves certain practical steps, and, we
anxiously hope, an insuperubleobstuele.
liut this depends upon the people.
In the first place, no action is to be
taken on tbe claims of individual mem
bers elect to ('ongress from the South,
but that whole section is excluded
simply by non-action. This is to con
tinue. liut the rights of uegroes and
refugees of the South are alleged to lie
.the principal business of the session.—
Therefore this Congress may be said to
profess to compromise a loyal represen
tation from the South, or indeed to be
little else Ilian a legislature for the South,
though no negro and refugee elections
have yet been carried on. It is obvious
that the fact makes no practiced (infer
ence. Rut it is very necessary to the
scheme that the formality should here
after be regularly gone through witli,
and that that there should he a means
of coercing the Executive to enforce the
requisite proscription from time to time.
Hence the revolutionary bills, gotten
up under pretence of meeting the oh.
vious occasion for some provisional and
temporary regulative machinery where
by to conserve the freedom of the negro
until the normal relations of society and
ot States to Die Federal (lovernment
shall have hud time to settle ; but con
taining, in elaborate ambiguities and
novel and alaimingprovisions, a virtual
repeal ofthe (’(institution of the United
States. Without amendments which
cut off these odious features the people
have in his record a sullicient assurance
that the President will not approve such
hills. Will they force this revolutionary
legislation ? That answer depends 'oh
the people. The appropriation bills ure
yet to act on. The financial legislation,
so urgently necessary, has scarcely been
begun. A hundred forms in co-opera
tion of Congress is necessary to the Ex
ecutive are yet in the control of the
former. The immense stake of the
North in commercial and financial leg
islation of this session is totally neglect
ed. The North, aching under the public
debt and an unsettled revenue system,
is practically without representation in
Congress. Southern negroes are seem
ingly the only constituency.
We have said we solemnly' warn the
people. We tell them that a crisis is
coming which can be forefended by
their simply taking heed and. lifting
their mighty voice of commaud iu sup
port of the Union.
Let meetings, therefore, be held alt
over the North and West, with an
indignant disregard of party and party
names, to shout into the earsof recreant
Representatives and proclaim to tlie
world their sense of the inestimable
sanctity ofeivil supremacy, their loyalty
to the grand old Union for which they
have suffered so much, and their readi
ness to sustain the Chief Magistrate in
firmly and faithfully fulfilling ihelofty
trust to which the people have sworn
him, against the infernal plot of a revo
lutionary cubal. Xationfi! Intr.lli(jcnri r.
A Dead Duck.
There is one 7 uaek less in the world.
We by no means desire by this startling
announcement to convey the idea that
there has been a death in that body of
eminent medical gentlemen whose ap
peals on In half of popular science ap
pear in the advertising columns of some
newspapers, under the taking titles of
“ Affficted Read !” and “No Cure, No
Pay !” For aught we know, every one
of that skillful aud worthy fraternity is
in florid health and doing a prosperous
business in the healing way. We use
the word 7 uaok to express the utterances
of the domestic fowl whose entire vocal*-
ulary consists of that melodious inoixv
syllable. When we sav that three is a
quad: less in the world, therefore, we
simply take a facetious way of observing
that a duck is dead, and although the
statement may seem somewhat unim
portant, we find our apology for making
it in the fact that the President of the
United .States has conveyed the intelli
gence to the country in a public speech.
This was the way it came about. Some
body, in tiie vast crowd assembled be
fore the White House oil Thursday,
calk'd upon Mr. Johnson, who was nam
ingoverthu encmiesof the Union,Sum
ner, Stevens, Wendell Phillips, etc., to
give his opinion of Forney, to which
his Excellency promptly responded: “/
do not waste rnij ammunition on dead
ducks," He of the Chronicle, aud Press
may lie considered, therefore, simply
an ornithological specimen—well stuff
ed, it must be admitted, but alas! of such
a common species as to stand no chart s.
of </< td/if/ mounted in a Calnnct, which,
was a fond wish of the dear defunct for
many years of his existence.— Agc i
A Delicate lUnt.
The National JnteMigeucvr contains
au article which is quite suggestive of
the propriety of having some one else
than Mr. John A\ . Forney as Secretary
of the United States Senate, Inasmuch
as that official is the medium of com
munication between the Executive and
that deliberate body, and the said Mr.
Forney, it is alleged, is indulging in
violent and slanderous animadversions
upon the President, personally and offi
cially, through newspapers and in un
reserved conversation. It is remarked
that “ the choice of a medium distaste
ful to the party addressed, is justly
treated as negativing whatever respect
may be expressed in, or even implied
by the nature of communication,” and.
it is also remarked that “ even among
private gentlemen, au individual would
be suspected of meanness of spirit who.
would accept anything conveyed
through an enemy, where custom would
presume a frieud.” This may be taken
—in view of the understood relations of
the Intclliffcncer to the President —as a
delicate hint to Mr. Forney at least*
that liis personal presence at"the White
House is not wholly inoffensive —and
the Intelligencer brings the,oase!home to
the Senate by reversing it us follows :
" Should the President appoint for tho
agent of his confidential official intercourse
with them a person notoriously and grossly
abuseful of tho Senate through the news
papers, there could bo no probability of a
dinerenee of opinion among citizens compe
tent to appreciate the dignity of government)
hr* society as to what action would beooiuo
that body. So flagrant an indilTbcenco to,
their .self-respect would necessarily bo con
strued, even by men tho most practical and
pluin, as a studied and intolerable affront
from tho President,”
Without reference to any other con
sideration, It might be supposed that
the personal comfort of the Secretary
would be promoted—lf he be a mau of
delicate sensibilities—by tho Senate
relieving him of the official duty of
visits to the President from, this time
forth.— Baltimore &
The Chicago Times argues that it la
quite the thing to kick a Rump Con*
gress with V-toes*