hem himself, as if he were an absolute sovereign; 372 and
the people seem to like it. He might and should, as commander-in-chief
of the army and navy, govern them as military departments, by his
lieutenants, till Congress could either create provisional civil
governments for them or recognize them as self-governing States in the
Union; but he has no right, under the constitution nor under the war
power, to appoint civil governors, permanent or provisional; and every
act he has done in regard to reconstruction is sheer usurpation, and
done without authority and without the slightest plea of necessity.
His acts in this respect, even if wise and just in themselves, are
inexcusable, because done by one who has no legal right to do them.
Yet his usurpation is apparently sustained by public sentiment, and a
deep wound is inflicted on the constitution, which will be long in
healing.

The danger in this respect is all the greater because it did not
originate with the rebellion, but had manifested itself for a long time
before. There is a growing disposition on the part of Congress to
throw as much of the business of government as possible into the hands
of the Executive. The patronage the Executive wields, even in times of
peace, is so large that he has indirectly an almost supreme control
over the legislative branch of the government. For this, which is,
and, if not checked will continue to be, a growing evil, there is no
obvious remedy, unless the President is chosen for a longer term of
office and made ineligible for a second term, and the mischievous
doctrine of rotation in office is rejected as incompatible with the
true interests of the public. Here is matter for the consideration of
the American statesman. But as to the usurpations of the Executive in
these unsettled times, they will be only temporary, and will cease when
the States are all restored. They are abuses, but only temporary
abuses, and the Southern States, when restored to the Union, will
resume their rights in their own sphere, as self-governing communities,
and legalize or undo the unwarrantable acts of the Federal Executive.

The socialistic and centralizing tendency in the bosom of the
individual States is the most dangerous, but it will not be able to
become predominant; for philanthropy, unlike charity, does not begin at
home, and is powerless unless it operates at a distance. In the States
in which the humanitarian tendency is the strongest, th