Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-12-24
Kentucky.

Nothing has lately occurred 10 our national
cor hiot better calculated 10 excite the disgust
and Indignation Of every real friend of his
country, than the bitter criticisms which have
been made upon the Presidents message, by
some Of the profsssed Union leaders in Ken
lucky, and the insolent threats which they
have uttered, would the North dare to touch
their cherished institution of ch attelism, the
miserable god of their idolatry, tho demon
of mischief which they hold more sacred than
the Union itself.
II is one of The characteristic exhibitions
Of the slaveholdipg spirit, and we hope the pso.
pie Of the North will give il due attention. The
influence which Kentucky has been able 20
exert upon the national councils, has filled
these men with the coneeit that the North is
yet to be ruled by plantation bluster, and if a
STAKEHOLDER froWns, twenty millionG Of ffeemen
will trembIe.
We trust this wretched farce is nearly played
through. The slave power forced upon us a
war that sent to the camp and the field more
than 500, 900 Of our best mon, that has cost us
thousands Of lives, and 81. 900, 900 per day,
drawn from Northern capital and earnings, our
business was pTostrated, and rebellion, fully
armed, was at the throat of the nation, and
Kentucky refused all aid Of men, money and
influence, deoloriDg that the soldiers Of the
Government should not set foot on her soil.
Kentucky persisted in this till she was in
imminent danger of being overrun and laid
waste by the foe, until she was absolutely
ptwsrless to pro- ,ect her soil, her cities and her
homes.
Then she called loudly for help. She i'm
plored the free States to hasten to her aid,
ard cave her from destruction. They re.
sponded nobly, generously, forgetting or for.
giving her shameful neutrality, woree in some
respects than open war would have been, and
rubbing more than 81, 600 men from the North
to tho points of danger, the free States have
- Co. L. e.
the fate Of Virginia and Miasoori.
And now these men. pretending to represent
the Union feeling in Kentucky, not yet recov-
cred from the fright they were in, and safe only
becsuse of the preser ce of men from the North
dare threaten the people ard the Government
that has saved them, that if the war is not con-
Quoted according TO their die alton, it will take
200, 900 men to hold Kentucky in the Union.
No more shameful avowal than this has been
made during the war. TIE men who have made
it, ard those who indorse it, are no friends of
the Union. They are Secessionists in disguise.
Their sympsthies are with the South, and they
are unworthy Of being saved by Northern arms.
A man who exalts slavery above the Union
is at heart with the South. We're this the spirit
of Kentucky (which it is no') we should prefer
that she should unite herself at once with the
| Southern Confederacy, and let her take her
chance with those she loves. Her adherence
to them might prolong, but it would not change
the final issue Of the war, except that she would
be changed by il into waste and grave-y ard
| for her people.
| The persons who have made this attack on
the message are not sincere. They mean mis-
chief. They intentionally msrepresent the
| plain meaning of the President in order to stir
| up anew the Secession feeling in Kentucky
Many who called themselves Union men have
rever desired success for the North, excep
upon fuch terms as they themselves should
nknW Aw.I IL .aks ss..a -
| Northern arms, the overwhelming power Of th'
free States, by the side of which Kentucky ap
| pears so Insignificant, fills them with alarm
and they brswl and threaten, expecting tha
the North will uemble aud yield. II Mr. Lin
coin is really disposed to caress and humo
such Union men as these, he will iud that b
Only nourished traitors in disguise.
They know perfectly well that neither Mr.
Lincoln nor even Mr.. Cameron propose eman
| cipatiop or confiscation of the slaves of AM
but rebels; they know that the slaves of ever
10y al man in Kentucky and elsewhere are q
safe as the power Of the Government can make
but they are determined if possible to prevsn
the slave system from receiving a blow any
lohere, for they are aware If the slaves o
the rebels are confsca0d and made free, tha
the destruction of the system must follow
even in the border S stes, not by force, or b.
compulsive legislation, but because the power
the sanctity of the system would be gone, an
it would be neither profitable nor reputabl
longer.
The movement in Kentucky, then, mean
simply last desperate effort for the preserva
ton of slavery safe and sound, with its po We
unbroken and its insolence unpunished.
1t is the last effort of the slave power to con
troll the North and the Government. We truS
that it will be met by Congress and the countr
as it deserves We trust that some such polio
as that indicated already by Senator Trumbu
and others, will be speedily adopted, that
will be firmly presented to Kentucky as th
decision Of the free States, and if she choose
not to submit, she can try the power of hC
arms. She has trifed With us long enough
Cincinnati Free Nation.