Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1861-02-12
shall we have Marf

shall we have war?
In three weeks from Yesterday. Abraham
Lincoln will be inaugurated President of
the United States, to which Office he has
been elected by the people in accordance
with the provisions of the constitution.
In three weeks we shall know whether
the war Or peace policy is to prevail The
whole question rests with Abraham Lin
coin, the President elect lie will be called
upon to decide the momentuous Issue. If
he fevors the coercion or force policy, as
advocated by Loveioy and Wade and Trum
bull then farewell TO national peace, pros
perity and greatness For as sure as Lin.
coin deviates one jot from the peace poll
icy marked out by the wisdom Of President
Buchanan, away gees all hope for the fu-
| ture.
Therefore the issue is now rapidly mar
rawing down to point SpecuIatinns and
predictions will soon be tested by the real
ity. Actions will take the place Of words
1t will be seen whether Lincoln is to follow
the lead Of Seward aud Douglas or Greeley
and Giddings. If the former there may
yet be grounds Of hope, but if he listens to
the counsels of Greeley and Giddirss the
bloody conflict will commence.
We await the result with fearful appre-
| tensions. We fear that the enemies of the
country have Lincoln pledged to their MUIR
derous policy. We fear that he will not
/ hearken to the conservative counsellings Of
Seward and Cameron, but that he will
rush headlong into the opening chasm
| which threatens 10 plunge our country into
the horrors of bloody war, anarchy and
perpetual ruin.
Indeed, if we are to judge from the re-
| marks of the Illinois Journal the home
organ Of Lincoln, there is no prospect Of
avoiding the terrible calamity That M
! per says he Stands imnovably on the
I Chicago PLATFORM" and that -" he will
neither himself acquiesce in nor coursel
his friends to aequiesce in any compromise"
/ The organ further says that Lincoln will
/ insist on taking immediate possession, bv
force if need be, of all the forts arsenals
and government property now in the hands
of the authorities of the seeded States.
Well let this be attempted in the present
excited state of feeling at the South, and
not only the shores Of the Atlantic ocean
and the Gulf Of Merico will be crimsoned
| with human blood but the waters of the
Mississippi and the Ohio would be REDEEM
ed from the murderous and appalling strife
OF neighbor against neighbor and brother
against brother.
Those leaders Of the Republican party
who claim to be intimate with Lincoln's
/ views, declare that the South must be sub
/ dued at whatever hazard. Thay speak of
/ the people of the Southern States as tra1-
tors and as such demand their punishment.
/ And In this and other Northern States
| where these ultra Republicans are FREEDOM
inant, they are preparing to muster the
militia fer the work of blood. Their
| threats and vnuntings have not been with
! ont its effect upon the South. The action
| OF the Legislatures Of the New ENGLAND
! States, Pennsylvania and New York doubt
less has hurried the Southern people into
greater extremes. And the present sus-
pense will be broken by the clash of arms.
the groans of the dying and the confagra
zion of cities the inaugural address of
the incoming President declares in favor of
the coercion and war policy of these reck-
less leaders.
1t is not necessary in discussing this
question Of war and peace, to INQUIRE
whether the South are right or wrong in
their proceedings, nor whether the provo>
cations they have received Justify their ex
treme measures. 1t is evident that the
South believe they have been wronred.
and are willing to sacrifice their lives and
fortunes rather than submit to fur
Their Grievances. Now we are for peace
before every other consideration. We he
lieve, with Seward, if the Union cannot he
preserved without declaring war against
fifteen Southern States, it is not worth
preserving. We are for the Union
and trust that the dominant partv will
make every effort and every honorable con
eession which honorable men may make TO
preserve it, but rather than war let US have
Peaceable separation as the lastresult.