East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1861-11-12
NUMBER Is,

DOatu WHO ucslEe scpathtc cOhieucfncgt
or those who believe that their material
interests will be advanced by the dissolu-
ton Of the Union, have successfully
alarmed their fellow. citizens as TO the Sc
curity, not alone of their property, but
for the safety and the lives of their fami-
lies. Unaided, these leaders could never
have stirred up the South TO its present
instruction. Unfortunately this subject
of slavery afforded ambitious men at the
North and those engaged in the philan-
thropic line of business, who reaped apo
litical profit from agitation, an opportu-
nifty to exasperate the North in respect TO
an institution which in fact was rapidly
concentrating and limiting itself to thst
portion Of our country engaged in par
ticular pursuits.
Every days progress Of this war shows
how successful they were in deoeiving
the people Of the North with respect to
the condition, the resources and the power
of the Sonth. Even the man they placed
in the Presidential Chair did not know
the material condition of the country
over which lie was called upon TO preside
as Chief Magistrate. Leading men of
his Administration and his principal sup
porters have, within the limit of q single
year declared that the South could not
aud would not make any resistance to our
Government, that they were incapable OF
maintaining a war--that :hcy could not,
without our aid, hold their own slaves in
subjection-tha they lacked the resources
10 uphold separate existence. Belief
in these assertions determined the result
of the late Presidential contest.
Yet at the very outset Of his admins
tration, the President was compelled to
uorrect mass Of spprehensions. and to
show the falseness Of the very statements
that elevated him to power, by demand
for vast armies and enormous contribu-
tions Of money to uphold his Govern
ment, and to save the National Capital
from the grasp of those who had been
stigmatized as incapable Of even main
tanning themselves, unaided by our power
and our resources. need not dwell upon
the false impressions which have been
made upon the Northern mind. Every
days events dispel them with q power
which words do not possess. The chief
cause, then, of this war, has been an agita-
tion upon the subject of slavesy, carried
on against the warnings aud admonitions
of the wise, the good and the patriotic,
and based upon q system Of falschoods
and misrepresentation which now stand
exposed in oil their enormity.
But there are secondary causes which
must not be overlooked; evils that must
be corrected, if we hope to restore our
Government. In vain will our victorious
armies traverse the territories of the
South; in vain shall we win victories upon
the battle field, if the American people do
not 90 back to the wisdom, the loyalty
and patriotism of our fathers. 1t is our
duty in this day Of peril to confront all
the evils which beset us; to use all plain
ness Of speech in pointing out our Ma
tional errors and defects. i have already.
spoken Of our habits of disobedience to
laws and want Of respect for constituted
authorities. We are also neglectful in
the performances of our political duties.
The theory Of our Government, which
gives to US unusual rights, implies that
an exercise Of them is essential to the
success Of our system. And yet it is true
that class Of our citizens whose social po-
sition, whose personal influence, or whose
fortunes give them the greatest power
for the preservation of the purity of the
elective franchise, are those who are the
most criminal and neglected. in this rc-
spect. They demand a spotlcss Judiciary,
honest legislation, vigorous Executive,
yet they do nothing to secure them
They ask the protection Of law for their
property and their persons, and yet they
are unwilling to exercise powers which
are both rights and duties. Not few
deem their personal respectability in
creased by the boast that they give no
attention to political affairs. They ask
for the advantages of good government,
but are unwilling to put forth the efforts
to secure them. Our gross ignorance In
regard to our own country, disclosed BY
this war, the disorders in our govern
ment, the present condition Of our pu bio
affairs, are due mainly to the selfish con-
duct OF those who charge that our insti.
tutions have failed to meet the expecta-
tions of the trainers, when the only fail.
ure has been their neglect to perform the
duties Of good citizenship. Ii Is difficult
to say who does the most to destroy our
Goyernment-the man who boasts that
he has nothing to do with politics, or the
man who makes politics trade. They
are equally selfish, unpatriotic and dis
loyal. The spirit of patriotism had a.
most died out in our land, until it was
revived by recent events. 1t was looked
upon as mere speculative enthusiasm.
The most eloquent and the most forci'
BILE exposition Of the duty OF pstriotic
love to our country has been regarded'ss
we should regard beautiful description
Of the setting sun, mere rhetorical ef.
fort of no practical value. What viii
the war in which we are engaged do TO-
wards remedying the evils? IL has 81.
ready done much in correcting popular
misapprehensons--it has displayed the
enormous power Of both the Northern
and Southern States. We arc already
more intelligent than we were at the
/ Al. L.