Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-05-24

ANNeNAANa ~ ~ VI = NNKa
rate poliiy Of their " was a thing essen
tial to their safety and happiness, and that
they had, upon that idea, proceeded to dis
solve the connection which had existed
between them and their copartners in the
National Government the question that, TO
them, would naturally fret arise is; How
shall we secure ourselves IN The new POSI-
ton which we have assumed Shall we
rely upon force and armed resistance to the
Government which we have so long recog-
nized as our own; or shall we appeal 70 the
sense of justice Of the people from whom we
seek to separate, and to the principles which
they profess to observe as the selfeyident
rules Of human conduct
We sincerely believe that had this appeal
been made, and rightly made, it would
have been responded to in the same spirit.
1t might have taken time to reconcile the
people Of the North TO the severance of that
Union to which they have been so long and
so sincerely attached, and to which they are
accustomed to consider themselves indebted
for so many blessing and benefits. But to
coeIce a South not in arms, would have been
a task to the Administration which under
took it both difficult and unpopular. The
people would not have come up to the work
with alacrity; and, in all probability, the
next Presidential election would have found
the force party in the minority.
From the tenor Of the letter we have
copied il is fair to assume that the staunch,
trustworthy, and good citizens of the Cotton
States were in favor of putting the matter at
once upon the basis of resistance by force
that they did not contemplate the other
alternative, nor propose to wait until the
popular voice of the North could be heard
upon the question. In fact, they began by
assuming that the North was their enemy
that it harbored malignant and unjustifable
designs toward them and their institutions;
and that an Administration which owed its
tenure Of Office TO Northern votes could not
possibly consider itself as having any other
mission than to crush and prosecute the
South. h
The South not only chose force, but it be-
came aggressive. Professedly seeking to Sc
cure rights for itself it exhibited the opposite
o respect for the rights of others. We of the
North are accustomed to look upon the Con-
stitutional Government as a fdet-as possess
ing legitimate powers-ss having the same
title that other Governments have to its
property-as an authority which it is wrong
TO rob, and disobey and insult. When 1t is
condemned, we feel indignant; when it is
defed, we are not 60 Christian, nor SO cow
ardly, as not to feel some desire to ayenge it.
Force breeds force, and aggression resist
snce. The North has been ~assiduously Gull
tivated up to the fighting point. From
where we stand, we can look back and see
every step of the progress, and the infiu'
ences under which it was effected. The
people bave been treated, 'pt once, as a race
OF towards who could be murdered, robbed
and insulted with impunity-too pusillsni-
nous to be capable of rights worthy to be
considered; and as a horde of %rufians 80
faithless and desperate as to deserve nothing
but eradication by the most summary pro.
cesses. The North has been alternately rep
resented as torn by the strife of discordant
and contending factions, bewildered, inca.
pable of action, and lying open to any in
vader who may choose to walk in and pos
sess; and as united, concentrated, enraged,
and burning with a desire to overrun and
destroy. The Government has Jared no
better than the people. Now it is repre-
scented as strong and courageous, and again
as weak and cowardly; now as sinking be-
hind Entertainments bent only to preserve
its existence; and again as rushing forth
from its strong. holds and glorying in the
prospect of strife and victory. The legit.
macy of its power, not merely over the Sc
ceding but over the loyal sections is denied
While it is accused of usurping powers no
its own, it is robbed and insulted, not only
as if it had no rights, but as if it had M
capacity to resist, or to revenge. In fact
had the South wished to bring upon itsel
the hatred of the Northern people, and to
cast upon their Government the highest pos
sible obligation to reduce them to submis-
sion, it could have taken no other course
half so ~effectual as the one it has pursued.
We are willing to suppose that the
staunch, trust worthy and good citizens o
the Cotton States would have been content
with Secession and a recognition of thei
separate existence; but we can not fail Il
see that by choosing forcible resistance, as
primary measure, they put the direction o
the movement in the hands of those WHIT
cherished designs of q more extensive char
aeter. Indeed, while we are ready TO ALLOW
that the Secession sentiment originated witt
one class, we must still suspect that all tn,
measures which have reflected it in action
were devised by another, with a view T.
something beyond. The party which tGIke
and a part of which thOught-uncondi
tional Secession, had a party in close afilia
: ton with it in the North which could no
have been the case, had nothing beyond Sc
, cession been contemplated. The qualitie
: by which this Northern section was peeu
. liarly distinguishable, were strong profes
. sions of attachment to the Union, with ute
< disloyalty 10 its government: we are begin
= ming to learn the meaning of the apparent
inconsistent phenomena. These men thre'
d up their hats when Fort Sumter was taken
and are now Of the opinion that the Pres
dent has criminAlly overstepped his const
Z tutional power in calling out the citize
- soldiery to shed f~raternAl blood" and "kiI
= die the torch Of civil war"
: This anarchy Of opinion in respect to Il
character of the Northern people, the
rights, and the rights and powers of COVER
ment which prevails at the South, nee
correction. The two sections can never
: in harmony, either in an united or a separs
!. condition, until it is corrected. The que
ton is how the work can be done. The cas-
|, we suspect is beyond the competency
: reason or argument. 1t is one that deman
y Iaen-the ultimate fact-War. The Sou
= will entertain q juster estimate Of 4