Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-08-01
What are We Fighting forl

with an immense Tors OF liic, IN Wn'Va "u"
drsd, Of millions Of dollars have been ex
pended. Nov. We end the war still raging
another call Tor troops, with the military
a.pec, Of thing. upon the Potomac looking
bad. Why has the rebellion no, been put
down already We answer;
/. There has been too much sympathy io'
the rebels in the North 1t has all The way
along embarrassed the operations OF the led
ersl government There have been. and
there are now friends Of JED Davis IN every
free State in this union.-traitors Of the
worst stamp. who have rcloieed a, our de-
feat. and mourued over our victories. Thes'
scoundrels. 20 Tar as they have dared to. have
given aid and comtor, TO our enemies
given them information rs TO the number
and position OF our armies. Some have
wondered how IL has been tha, the rebel.
have Away. known ,rryih'-c that our gen.
erals know themselves about our military
operations. The answer is plain, the 'rsi'
tor- u, home have communicated the infor.
nation. We know this 10 true, for the
reason tha, northern seces.ionists have been
eaush, in the business repeatedly. Thcs,
,orie. not only &C, as spies Tor the enemy,
bot they discourage enlis,met,s. create 80
hras they can public .en,imen, agains,
the government. and otherwise throw in the
way Of our FINAL success every possible OBJ
s,ruc,ion.
. We have mistaken the character Of our
enemies. We have supposed them CIVILIZED,
when the fac. !. they are saragc-. We have
supposed them capable Of generous feelings,
,ha, Kind treatment would he reciprOca,ci.
and the law Of kindness appreciated,-in
all o, which we have been mistaken. We
expected. in conducting the war, they would
BE- governed by the rules 81 warfare a. re
cosniled among all civilized na,ion.-ihat
the dag Of truce would be respee,ed-ihat
prisoners Of war would be treated as such.
aud not rs iclons. bd, in all this we have
deceived ourselves. Among tie rebels we
have imagined would be found at lcls, n
show Of reason; but in it, stead has appear.
ed the wlldes, iana,iel.m, the mos, in,cn'i.
sed madness.
,. our government has conducted this
war too much upon peace principles. We
have been afraid Of hur,in. somebody, e.
recially the rebels. The mo'Ir,' that have
prompted ,hi. policy have been humane and
christian. bu, the grei, difficulty Ia. been
in no, properly understanding the diabolical
.piri, Of the rebel. Our armie. have guard.
el and protected their property, and they IN
return have shot down the very sen,inSls
,ha, were doing IL. Our generals have
chased, run down. and caught the slaves oil
the rebels. and returned them to their dis.
LOYAL master. TO be scoursed, and whipped,
and murdered. our commanders have re-
leased their prisoners o. war upon their pa
role Of honor no, % engage IN the rebel ser
vice ulkll tAcuAhNNAs WV" 10y "
mex, day taken Up arms asain', Us. In
word. our government, has tried the law Of
kindness, mixed With force, instead OF ahso
lute coercion according TO the rules OF war.
The experiment has proved total failure
1. We have no, realized the magnitude OF
the work before US The e7ormou. proper
ton. Of the rebellion have not been fully
and properly understood. We have counted
oomueh upon Union sentiments in the rebel
lou. States Hatred Ot the North IN the slave
State. IA. been more extensive aud more
deeply SEATED. than any Of Us in time, past
supposed. The rebels have exhibited more
activity, greater energy and better courage
than we hal any reason TO expect. They
have .hown greater tao; in hu'bauiruS their
rvsource. aud maxim: ,hem available, than
We supposed ; and are more ready 10 suffer
in dsienlln. their unrighteou- cause, thar
any Of u. believed they would before ID,
war. Ina word. we have 4 more comrli
Gated, difficult iOb on our hands than VI
expected. Until we wake up to the reaiiS
offLiHgs, this war will never b. successfully
elo-gd.
) Instead Il directing the undivided en-
erciys Of the government, to sars ihs UsioH
IL has been from the commencement oi ,hi'
war. experimenting upon the problem Il
see II slavery eouldn', be saved with il. In
stead Of allowing slavery to 20 and take car,
OF it.elf. and saving the government, a, al
hazards. and plying both hands in this d.
rection, one has been extended to save th'
Union. while the other has been reached GU
to Pull slavery along with IL. The idea ha
been to give the South theIrsla,s., and tha
would tend to paciiy them and make thea
loyal. IL has all proved great mistake OF
our part. We very much doub, whether i
la. made single loyal citizen; while, OF
the other hand. the policy in the free State
/ la. worked nothing bu, mischief.
6. We have had grea, deal Of poor zen
era.hlp. 1t is no use to deny il, !, has beet
30. We have had many god commanders
and some very poor ones. Our soldier
have Arrays Tough, well. The lacl
has been in commanders, in men to plai
and direc, in the execution. We have ha'
too many ",,ra,esetc retreats" Our me'
have been worked to death IN bitches, anC
poisoned with the malarias Of 4" Chleks
hOminy .wamps." There has been too niue
,eaihng: our armies have been standing ell
+, when they should have been advancing
When our soldiers should have been ordere
i a. 10000 49,, ~. 49,, at IN Z. die