Newbern weekly progress., 1860-12-18
Suggestion for the Settlement ofDIf-
ficUIties

| Intellige7scer are worthy of the attention and
serious consideration Of every Southern pa
| triot:
! With the view, therefore, of arrestng the
hands already uplifted for the pecemeal dis
memberment of our body polite, and to the end
| that orr fellowcitizens and compatrlots of the
! South may seek solution Of present political
| complications in spirit Of unity, and by a
method which shall rise at least to the digni-
! ty of the occasion, we venture to recommend
the assembling, at an early day, of Conven-
ton or Congress of Delegates, who shall be
appointed by the several Slaveholding States,
| in such number and in such away as shall be
| deemed most expedient for the purposes of
mutual consultation in respect alike to the dan
| gers believed to be impending and the rene
| dy deemed most adequate to avert them.
| A state Of suspense and uncertainty is, Of all
| conditions, the least adapted to inspire sense
of security, as it is the least propitious to the
consummation of aught that involves deliber-
alton in counsel or vigor in action. While the
apprehensions that now disturb the repose of
the Southern people find vent in vague repin-
ing, the evil of the day grows only more and
more inveterate under circumstances the least
available to operate for its cure. Where OBJ
scurity and division Of opinion prevail with
regard to the nature and extent of the causes
that inspire solictude and Of the wrongs which
of the Northern States, however disposed they
may be to accommodate the outstaL ding diff
ferences between the two sections, are in no
position to understand the basis on which an
adjustment may be reached that will assured
ly and finally satisfy their Southern brethren.
Let it not be supposed that, in our zeal for
the rights OF the Southern States, and in our
desire to second all measures that promise to
effect pacifcation of the sections, we mean
hat
nothing but eXactons on one side and conces-
sion on the other, the price ofits perpetuity.
the maxim that 'in a multitude Of council
lOrs there is safety" ever had place and appli-
cability, we believe it is in the present emer-
gency. Ifthe representatives Of the Southern
States should meet in Convention for the mu-
tual Interchange Of the sentiment prevailing
in each, we believe the voice OF wisdom and OF
deliberate valor would drown the cry of pas.
sion and OF impetuOus because hot and resent
full courage. Acting under sense Of their
high responsibilities, and conscious that the
eyes OF the whole country and OF the civilized
world were fixed upon them, the members OF
such conclave could not afford to compro-
mise their position by advancing assumptions
incompatible with Union, because trenching
on the just rights of their Northern brethren.
We believe they would seek to discover q ba-
sis Of fair and honorable accommodation be-
tween the two sections, long arraycd against
each other, as we firmly believe, more from
a mutual misunderstanding OF each others
opinions and tendencies, than from antagon-
ism either of princip{es interests. The So
cial, moral, and religious principles Of
each, so far as they are diverse, find full
scope for deveiopenent within the limits
Of their respective States, without coming at
all IN necessary conflict; while nature acting IN
concert with those varieties OF industrial pu.
suits which beget relations Of reciprocal bcne-
fit. has made the hcI1.l Of our Union no les, a
civil necessity than i perennial source Uf pub
Ike welfare
II the very prospect Of pacifc&tion, as ike
~ 10 grow out Of the proceeding We commend,
should di5jnclino the people Of any Southern
Statc (Which we DO not apprehandl to look
with favor on its adoption, we have only to say
that il such determination h.r Southern Sis
ters would find the Indication of 4 sentiment a.
much avclse to them as to the Union itself
Such decision would clelrly show that pend
ing agitation took its motive and origin from
no desire o preserve the rights guaranteed by
the Constitution but from deliberate purpose
to cleaye down that Constitution because it
stands in the way Of objects to which Virginia
is as much opposed as Massachusetts. The
State which should thus put herself in the
wrong by assuming an air of superiority over
her slave-holding confederates would in that
very act be disarmed Of all power to injure Sc
riously any others than herself.
The proposition we have made is grave
one But in making it we have not been re-
duced to the necessity OF relying alone on our
individual convictions unsupported judg-
ments, however clear we are in the conclusions
at which we have arrived. There Will be found
in our columns to-day communication, under
the signature Of Lowndes," proceeding from
an eminent citizen Of Georgia, who, in words OF
earneStneSS and of patriotic SOlcitude lnVOkeS
the counsels and cooperation Of the Southern
States, not in the rash act of that political des
peration which looks to separate civil suicide,
but in the more becoming attitude Of treemen,
calmly addressing themselves to the work OF
reconciliation, if possible and to the mainten-
ance of their own dignity in any and all event
ualities The name of the distinguished wri-
ter, if we felt free to give it, would add to the
weight of his recommendations, but it may be
enough to say that, having filled Offices Of high
distinction, he has proved himself in them all
not unworthy of the great statesman under
whose signature he writes
We have thus sought to place this question
before our readers in all its magnitude and
pressing Importance The North and the
South are at variance over common Constitu-
ton Two mothers are dsputing for the pos
session of child claimed by them each as hers.
Let not the People of the Southern States be
the first to prove the injustice Of their claim by
needless aacrity in consenting to see that
child remorselessly rent in twain.
Vote OftEle Electoral College.
The vote for President in the Electoral Col
lege will stand thus:
For Lincoln and Hamln $50
For Breckenridge and Lane 70
For Bell and Everett. SO
Eor. DouplaS and Johnson 10