Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-03-21
DFSuNtON Ann sEORsSroN.

As long as the Union was an entirety, and
when the proposition Of the separation OF the
South from the North was a new question, the
words which bead this article were terms Of
fearful import, aud bore an entirely different
Specification from what they do at this day.
As matters now stand, the term adisunionD
has no practical application whatever. The
Union is eEsctuaIly and permanently divided,
a Teconstruction being neither possible nor
desirable. The points Of difference between
the two sections are too radical and antago-
nistie to admit Of reconciliation. The conflict
Is in fact sIrreprsssibie,y and Mr.. LINCOLN
only announced a phiIosophic truth, when be
proclaimed that this Government could not
exist half slave aad half free. A clear con-
csption Of this truth has forced the South out
Of the Onion, and in sslf-defense she has insti-
tnted a new Government, separate aad distinct
from the old, aud which will very soon take a
proud position among the nations Of the earth.
With these facts staring us in the face. it is
Idle and psurile longer to harp upon the bug
bear theme Of "disunion." It is no longer
a thing to be done, but It is a thing 81 esss, and
it is both culpable and criminal to dslude the
people Of he border States with The hope Of
reconstruction. There is no maxim truer than
hat " delays are dangerous,D and while the
border States are usslessly consuming time
with their futile efforts at patching up the old
Union, the Republican powers at Washington
are hsmPering them in on an sides, by
strengthening and terrifying the forts within
heir borders, thus rendering their separation
from sbOlitiondOn every day more difficult and
hazardous.
The term secession" too, has lost an OF its
Objectionable signifcancy. Originally it was
Synonymous with " disunion,s but disunion be-
ing now a thing accomplished, " secessionY
means nothing more nor less than a severance
from the black Republic OF the North and a
union with the white mans Confederacv Of the
South. This is the issue in a nutshell. II is
the great leading question which the people Of
win be called on to determine for
themselves in August next.
This, then, being the only signi6eancy that
can now rightfully attach to the term " seces-
sion" it is entirely stripped OF that odium
which, in the estimation Of many, it orig
inally carried with it. A man nav
now eonseientiously vote for secession with
out mourning the imputatioa OF being a dis
anionlst. It is as much bis right, and Just as
Innocent in practice, to vote for a separation
Of his State from the North and a union with
he South, as it is for him to move with bis
family from one State into another. If a man
thinks be can live happier in a Black-Repub-
lican family, and that his rights, his interests
and bis welfare viii be better cared for BY
Blaek-Rspubliean rulers than they would be
by bis ~neighbors and friends Of the Southern
coufedsraey, he win, Of course, vote against
recession and rice rgsA
The conclusion to which we have arrived,
then, is, that the term "seeessionD can no
longer rigbttully be regarded BY any one as an
opprObrious epithet. On the contrary, to
zoe for it should be regarded BY every true
southern man, and every man in fact who
would preserve and hand down to posterity,
pure and undefled, the sterling principles and
ardent patriotism Of our revolutionary sirss,
as the exercise Of a high duty to himself and
his country. That a msjority of the people
n Tennessee may take this view Ct the quss-
ion in the August elections, and vote Us into
he Southern Confederacy, is our most ardent
and firm desire.