Letter from Washington.

There is no evidence that Reconstruction is making progress; opposing parties are still finding it difficult to compromise. Even some Radicals are realizing that the third amendment must be omitted if Reconstruction is to flourish.

LETTER FROM WASHINGTON Correspondence of the Richmond Dispatch. THE DRAG OF RECONSTRUCTION- STEVENS STILL THE HEAD-CENTER OF RADICALISM- THE COMMITTEE OF FIFTEEN, ETC. Washington, May 24. Reconstruction does not seem to flourish. Sumner is not alone in his anxiety to postpone the question until a later date, though the policy of such a move is questioned by the wiser heads of the radical faction, who see in the delay a serious detriment to their principles. In the Senate, to-day, Mr. Stewart ventilated his cherished scheme for reconstruction, but must certainly be convinced of the utter hopelessness of his plan ever being adopted. Certainly there has been nothing since debate commenced yesterday in the Senate on the constitutional amendment that can justify a belief that reconstruction is progressing. The third section has so many enemies even in the radical ranks that its incorporation will damage the report of the committee very materially. Its devotees object strongly and persistently to the wholesale disfranchising clause being cast out, whilst, for party policy, many prominent Radicals, Stanton, for instance, among them- advocate its rejection. The party is fast trotting into a political muddle, from which it will be difficult to be extricated. When debate becomes a little more animated we shall see the effect of recent radical differences of opinion.

“Letter from Washington.,” Reconstructing Virginia, accessed June 1, 2023, https://reconstructingvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/177.