Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-09-19

Def'0e'e" bfJore Me Mdrion e.. (INal bemocrdti,
Il t0hCcnton, .3H0U1 3lH, 1s6i
FELLOW CITIZENS In ancient times q
timc-serving orator, addressing the pco
pie, prayed to the gods that he might ut
ter no sentiment that it not please them
to hear. In this time of our country S
trial, unlike that man of old, my prayer
is that may say nothing which it does
not become me to speak or you to hear,
as loyal men and true patriots.
"A few months ago our country was
the proudest and happiest on the face of
the globe. Now the dark cloud of civil
war is bursting over US, and showers of
blood are falling thick and red around
us. ... .. ...
Those who but lately were brctbron.
citizens OF one country, Joint heirs of ore
| glorious heritage, are now alrayeu in bat
tie line along frontier of fifteen hun
dred miles. 1t is at time like this that
we, the Democracy of Marion county,
citizens of State loyal to the Union,
are assembled to consult together. Let
not passion rule the hour +; but let our
consultations be characterized by solemn
sense of our duty to our country-our
whole country.
! We may well leave to the historian
the task of transmitting to other times
by what process the strong cords which,
at the beginning, bound us together as
one people, were one by one broken as =
under-until the vital principle of our
Union was gone, and the arts Of peace
were for,aken, and an appeal made to
arms as the last mode OF settling our DO
litical controversies. This much we
know that the present unhappy condi-
tion Of our country has "rcsnlted from
the long continued, unwiso and fanatical
agitation of the question of domestic
slavery" That by this means our peo.
pie have become cstranged and divided
first in the Church, then in social in
tcrcourse, and, finally, in our political
organizations, until geographical lines
were drawn upon the map OF our coun-
try, dividing it into North and South.
l his much we owe o ourselves, to say
that, as Democrats, we have kept the
bond of the Union faithfully with all
sections of the country. AT every stage
OF the agitation we have raised our voice
in warning as each new wave Of section
al strife rose higher than thelast. We
have interposed to. check its onward
course, until the united force of Northern
fanaticism and Southern disunion at last
overwhelmed us and with us our country.
For years the Democratic party had stood
like Corinth Of old, a "landmarl to the
double tide" until the success of North
ern candidate, upon a Northern platform,
hurled our country into civil war. This
tell spirit of sectional strife has proved
the "blind Sampson" by whom the pill
lars of the Temple of Liberty have been
overthrown, and now threatens to bring
down the whole fabric in cne common
ruin.
After the election Of President Lincoln
there was yet time to save our country
from civil war, by timely adjustment of
the questions at issue between the North
and South. These questions are summed
by President Lincoln, in his inaugural
message, III that peculiar style of inter-
rogation that chalacterizes his addresses
''Shall iugitives from labor be surren-
dered by National or State authority p
The Constitution does not expressly say.
May Congress prohibit slavery in the
Territories ? The Constitution does not
expressi y say. From questions of this
class spring all our constitutional contro-
verslcs, and upon them we divide into
majorties and minorities 90 ..
Thus, then, according to President
Lincoln, the rendition of fugitiyes from
labor, and the rights of the Shareholders |
in the Territories, constitute the sum of |
our sectional controversies and that, too,
because the Constitution "did not ex-
pressly say" that their rights are to be
settled one way or the other. This is
maniiestly true Of tho Territorial ques-
ton, and for the very good reason that
notwithstanding the wisdom of the men
who framed our Constitution, they did |
not forsee the extent OF our Territorial /
acquisitions, and did not provide in the |
Constitution for the settlement of the |
questions involved in the government of
these Territories The old Territory then
held by the United States was already
organized under the ordinance Of 1887, |
and that with the Territory within the
limits of the several States, in the opin-
ion of those who framed our Constitu-
ton, formed the limits of the empire for
which they were framing a government
They were providing Federal Gov
ernment for several States-and to that
end they limited their labors. Our whole
territorial system has sprung up since
that time, and we are constantly group
ing in the Constitution for provisions
and principles to settle the questions o..
conflicting interests, and are compelled
to tnrn away from the instrument with
the unsatisfactory conclusion OF President
Lincoln, That the Constitution does not
expressly say"
At any time before the lst of January,
1861, this sectional strife could have been
ended by making "the Constitution ex-
pressly say" what the rights Of each see
ton Of the Union were in regard to these
disputed questions, and have fixed in
that instrument clear and well defined .
limit on terms of equity to demands of
the South. The Crittendcn amendments, |
or any similar measure, would have saved |
every State except South Carolina, and
standing alone, she would have been
compelled, as in 1882, to pause before
she consummated her treason by overt