The Southern States admitted to be still in the Union by Thaddeus Stevens himself.
Monday, the 17th, and Tuesday, the 18th of December, were remarkable days in the history of this country. On the former of these days, Thaddeus Stevens, on the question of referring the President's Message, delivered himself of all the venom which has been accumulating since the memorable day on which his iron mills were burned. It is to be hoped he felt better after the operation, and the probability is that he did, for on the very next day he made a tacit confession that the view he had taken of the situation the day before had been wrong, and that the States of the South were not territories, but bona fide States, acting in their capacity as such, and entitled to have such acts recorded as the acts of so many States. On the latter day, Mr. Secretary Seward sent in the vote of the States upon the amendment of the Constitution which abolishes slavery. It was found that twenty-seven States had voted, making the constitutional two-thirds. Among those that had voted, and that were counted in order to make up the constitutional number, were the names of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Without them there would not have been the required number. The inclusion of these States among the number of those which had voted for abolition affords a proof that Mr. Seward, as well as Mr. Johnson, regards them still as States, acting, as States always do in their transactions with the General Government, through their Legislatures. The formal declaration of Congress that these States were States, could not have settled their status more decidedly than the action — or rather the failure to act on that occasion — by Congress did. Mr. Stevens had not a word to throw to a dog. His radical comrades were perfectly mum. The action of the five Southern States, deciding the question, was received as fair and legal. If the radicals now insist that these five States are out of the Union, they entirely upset the great constitutional amendment. It will thus be seen that the President has gained a complete victory.In spite of this triumph, however, the radicals will still continue to keep the Southern members out of their places. We are not sure that it is not the best thing they can do for the South. If left alone, it is evident enough that they will destroy their party utterly before the existence of the present Congress shall have terminated. Give them rope, and they will inevitably hang themselves. Their proceedings have already disgusted many of their party, and the disgust must become universal as they advance. They are of that description of men who know not what to do with power when they have it. They will, in less than twelve months, if left entirely to themselves, make the very name of Republican hateful for centuries to come. Parties of that description always do. In the mean time, they cannot do us much harm. They may pass the negro suffrage amendment, but it will be voted down in the States.
As for their right to keep Southern members elect from their seats, it is clear to us that they have none. The Constitution defines the qualification of a representative. He must be twenty-five years old, and have been a citizen of the United States seven years. These are all the qualifications required: and when the privilege is conceded to each House of judging and deciding the qualifications of its own members, nothing more is meant than that it shall decide whether such members have or have not the qualifications required by the Constitution. To give to a House of Representatives the power to establish an arbitrary standard of qualification is what the law never intended. It would be to give one branch of the Legislature the power to alter the Constitution. No new qualification can be fixed but by amending the Constitution. Both Houses are plainly violating the Constitution in enforcing their own will in this respect; but it is all the better. The people will give them only the more signal overthrow when they come to act upon their cases.
