The Report of the Congressional Committee
The Report of the
Congressional Committee upon Reconstruction is so able and conclusive that we wish it
might be universally read. It is the Constitution and common sense applied to the
situation; and after the passionate and pettifogging spirit in which Reconstruction, the
most important of all our present questions, has been so often discussed its tone is manly
and dignified. There is nothing exactly new in the arguments of the Committee, but the
Report is an unanswerable statement of the conclusions to which the common sense of the
loyal part of the country had arrived, and upon which, as we believe, it now reposes.Those conclusions are in brief that the
rebellious States were left, at the close of the war, without other valid government than
the military authority of the United States, directed by the President as
Commander-in-chief; that the civil government of those States could become valid only upon
recognition by Congress, and that the resumption by those States of their relations in the
Union can occur only upon such conditions as Congress may prescribe. The folly of the
assumption of Alexander H. Stephens and the late allies of the rebellion, that the moment
a rebel State was forced by arms to surrender it regained untouched and without condition
every right and privilege it had enjoyed as a part of the Union is conclusively exposed by
the Committee. "To admit such a principle for one moment would be to declare that
treason is always master and loyalty a blunder. Such a principle is void by its very
nature and essence, because inconsistent with the theory of government and fatal to its
very existence.
To know the condition of the late rebel
States it was necessary either to take the opinion of the President solely, or to sift the
evidence upon which that opinion was founded and enlarge the range of testimony. This
latter course was adopted, and the impression left upon the Committee is again that of the
great mass of Union men in the country. The condition of the States in question is
precisely what was to be expected. It is a feeling of intense regret that the struggle
could not be prolonged, and of bitter hostility toward the Government. But while this is
natural to any party defeated in so fierce a contest, the Committee find that it is
peculiarly strong in the States in question. "The conciliatory measures of the
Government do not seem to have been met even half-way. The bitterness and defiance
exhibited toward the United States under such circumstances is without a parallel in the
history of the world." It is remarkable that Mr. Seward in his Auburn speech states
that situation exactly the other way. "The work of reconciliation," he says,
"has outrun expectation. Indeed, it has never had a parallel in human affairs."
We presume that the private conviction of most of us, based upon all the various public
and private evidence of the year, will confirm the Committees judgment rather than
Mr. Sewards.
After the most careful consideration upon
ample evidence the Committee believe that adequate security should be required for future
peace and safety, and they suggest, as the result of mutual concession, the amendment
determining civil rights, equalizing representation, disqualifying certain persons for
office under certain conditions, and disowning the rebel debt. This amendment has been
already adopted by the Senate in a moderate and generous form, and will undoubtedly be
approved by the House. As there is nothing in it which is not strictly in consonance with
the views which the President has often expressed, we hope that for the sake of harmony he
will not oppose it. If, however, a bill should be offered for his signature, postponing
the admission of any late rebel State to Congress until the amendment had become a part of
the Constitution and had been ratified by the State, he would undoubtedly veto it. It
seems to us, for many good reasons, advisable that each suspended State should be restored
upon its individual acceptance of the condition, and we hope that such may be the final
judgment of Congress.
Thus this most important Committee
concludes its labors, and concludes them worthily. It has been fiercely derided and
insulted by the most malignant enemies of the Union and Government at the North and South;
and even the Presidents impatience has betrayed him into vituperation of it. But we
challenge any caviler to produce from history an instance of a settlement by a victorious
government so honorable, so reasonable, so free from vengeance, so tenacious of the spirit
of a truly free government. There is no lately rebellious citizen of the United States who
"acquiesces" honestly in the situation who can declare it ungenerous or unjust,
while every faithful citizen will heartily commend it as the true popular platform. The
substance of the Report is sure to be filtered through editorials and speeches, so that it
will become familiar to the country. But Union clubs and committees could do no better
service to the good cause than to multiply legible copies of it.
Articles Relating to Johnson's First Vetoes:
A Long Step
Forward
January 27, 1866, page 50
Congress
February 10, 1866, page 83
Education of the
Freedmen
February 10, 1866, page 83
The Veto Message
March 3, 1866, page 130
The Freedmens
Bureau
March 10, 1866, page 146
The Presidents Speech
March 10, 1866, page 147
The Political
Situation
April 14, 1866, page 226
The Civil Rights
Bill
April 14, 1866, page 226
The Civil Rights
Bill
April 21, 1866, page 243
The Congressional
Plan of Reorganization
May 12, 1866, page 290
The Trial of the
Government
May 26, 1866, page 322
Making Treason
Odious
June 2, 1866, page 338
The Final Report of
the Reconstruction Committee
June 23, 1866, page 387
The Report of the
Congressional Committee
June 23, 1866, page 386
The Case Stated
August 4, 1866, page 482
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