THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
tolerance and patient tact in the treatment of opponents, he might at least have prevented the conflict of opinions from degenerating into an angry and vicious personal brawl. But the brawl was Johnson's congenial atmosphere.
I have always been, and am now, of the opinion that, had Lincoln lived, there might indeed have been animated controversies about the matter of reconstruction, but those controversies would never have drowned the voice of calm reason by the clamor of passion. The North would always have believed that Abraham Lincoln would do or advise nothing apt to impair or endanger the freedom and the rights of the emancipated slave and the security of the Union man. The South would always have believed that he never would do anything from motives of enmity or vindictiveness, to inflict unnecessary suffering or humiliation upon his vanquished countrymen. He would thus have been met with universal confidence and good will on the part of the people of both sections. Recognizing with a clear eye the dangers and the requirements of the new situation he would have been careful not to encourage in the white people of the South the hope that after a speedy restoration of their State Governments, they would be permitted to deal with the negroes and the labor question as they pleased. He would, on the contrary, have admonished them with gentle firmness that they must respect the freedom and the rights of the emancipated slave and accept the system of free labor in good faith, and that their States would not be restored to all their self-governing functions until they did so. He would, on the other hand, have admonished the people of the North that in the treatment of their Southern brethren they must temper justice with charity and wise forbearance. Both would have listened to him more willingly than to any other man. And Congress would have been likely to heed the popular voice sup-
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