The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-02-22
Undue Severity.

A 9-@Dso''---s v 80 1~SPADnSoA AhtCud1s WBiOe'
FIRST Impressions were in decided opposition t,
the $4,000 appropriation. have called upon us
since the issue of our last paper. and expressed
deep regret, not that We bad published. bu
that the Charlestown "Club" had passed {
resolution so severely ard unjustly implcatire
the moral character of members of the Legis
lsture. denouncing the ae,isn Of the LegisIa
ture as, in moral turpitude, like that of the
Breslin-Gib robbery of the Public Treas
sury. Now. while We do not feel called upon
to justify the appropriation. and while free to
say that. bad we been members of the Legis
lature, We should have voted against it, yet,
we can charitably reconcile the act, with the
best intentions and the most patriotic impulses
on the part of many Republicans who did
yote for it.
Some Of the views and Influences brought
to bear upon them we're as follows:
The official courtesy of the State, not the
individual courtesy of members. was appealed
to, to extend the hand of cordial fraternity
to other sovereign States. officially repre-
sented in the persons of their Legislative
branches. Under the generous impulses
Of the occasion, Gov. Dennison, officially
recognized the propriety Of the invitation,
and in . special message transmitted to both
Houses, urgeEtly requested their joint conc II
renee. The delieacy of the position Of Rep
Fesentatives can well be imagined.
The Republican members, especially, wished
to disabuss the slaveholding States of the
unhappy prejudices which many of their citi
zens sincerely entertain. BY reason Of studied
misrepresentation. The political opponents
of the Republicans have, for years, slandered
our party organization. and have succeeded in
making large portion of the South believe
that the Republican party is party of
blood thirsty, reckless fanatics resolutely bent
upon riding rough-shod over the Constitu. ;.
tional rights of their States-and that their
objects embrace schemes of no less tsrpitude
than the exciting Of servile instructions, the
overthrow Of the Union, and the inauguration
Of disastrous, sectional conflicts That the
residents of Southern States are imposed upon
by, and believe these ISLANDERS, we all know
and the Democratic partisans OF the North
deem it for their party interests to keep up
the delusion.
A resident of Virginia. a substantial farmer
formerly New York Democrat, writing to
friend in Cleveland. unfolds the dire effects of
these Northern partisan efforts and Influences
upon the South. The Cleveland Leader of
last Saturday. contains extracts from his letter.
We give one of them
A late Pittsfeld Sun, q Massachusetts, Dem
ocratic journal, having fallen into the hands
Of the Virginia farmer. he thus freely expires
ses his opinions:
II provokes me 10 know that there are
men in Massachusetts mean enough to publish
such paper, Or fools and knavss enough to
support il. If there is any person in the world
whose principles look upon with contempt
1t is Northern man called Democrat. I
do not blame Southern men for being ,chat
they are politically, for most of them do not
knot0 any better /; but for Northern man to
justify modern Democracy, is an outrage. on
common sense. Jeffersonian Democracy was
right, it was bright as the sun. Modern De
mosracy is wrong, black as sin and despotic as
Nero"
Thus Southern men are deceived, and to
disabuse them was deemed important by the
Republican members-and was thought to in
volve considerations sufficient to warrant the
undertaking.
To give grace and effect to the invitation,
it was nsedfnl to extend it promptly, cordially
and with great nnanimity. It was thus ex.
tended. Senator Garfield was sent to Louis.
vile. to give the invitation in person TO the
members of the Kentucky and Tennessee Leg
islatures-and all know that he performed the
delicate service with a grace and an ability
at once honorable to himself creditable to biz
State. and with the happiest eff ct upon the
invited guests.
The visitors came-were entertained with
opeH-handed hospitality-a good impression
was made, and they 60 home to every part o.
their respective States. to carry favorable re-
port Of the intelligence. patriotism, and becom
ing and honorable devotion to confederateG
Constitutional rights, Of the Ohio Republican
Legislature. In this view, the remark of Gov
Magefin. of Kentucky, that if we should Sc,
each other oftener, and know each other bet
ter, We should respect each other more, ha
great significance.
It il true that some Of the " lords Of tn,
lash have spoken contemptueusly of North
ern laborers, and, it is equally true. that fhos
same lords of the Lash so give tene 10 South
ern sentiment, that thousands in the SIay
States. ike the Virginia farmer above allude,
to, who sympathise with the Republican ca E.
I and wish it success. dare not give utteranc
to their sentiments. To enlighten the ruin
/, influence of the South, in regard to the ius
designs and true aims Of the Republican pa,
ty-to show them that our aim is not. as ba
been charged. to produce q war of races. bu
to restore the Government to its ancient trn
principles. and thus relieve the unhappy cor
dition of Southern citizens who now in s;l,ne
sympathizs with us, was prime considerable
with the Republican members Of the I,epi
iature-so that instead of deserving to
I placed in the category of public pIunderer
according to the Oharlestown code Of ethic