There, as well as elsewhere,
offenders sometimes escape for want of vigorous prosecution, and
occasionally, perhaps, by the inefficiency of courts or the prejudice of
jurors. It is undoubtedly true that these evils have been much increased
and aggravated, North and South, by the demoralizing influences of civil
war and by the rancorous passions which the contest has engendered. But
that these people are maintaining local governments for themselves which
habitually defeat the object of all government and render their own
lives and property insecure is in itself utterly improbable, and the
averment of the bill to that effect is not supported by any evidence
which has come to my knowledge. All the information I have on the
subject convinces me that the masses of the Southern people and those
who control their public acts, while they entertain diverse opinions
on questions of Federal policy, are completely united in the effort to
reorganize their society on the basis of peace and to restore their
mutual prosperity as rapidly and as completely as their circumstances
will permit.
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