The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-08-23
Letter OF Hon. VIVA. DueF, On Union
for the Union.
OswEco. N. Y, Nav 16, ls69

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for the Union.
OswEGo, N. Y, May 16, 1869.
My DEAR SIR: have received yeur
letter inviting me to meet yourself and
other gentlemen constituting committee
appointed by certain members Of the Le-
giSlature designated as " Republican and
Union MEMBERS" with authority, after
consultation with committees Of other or
ganizations, to fix the time and place for
holding State Convention for the nOmi-
nation OF State officers | will give you
the reasons why think it proper to de-
cline the invitation.
The members Of the Legislature by
whom the committee was appointed with
which you invite me to consult, adopted
an address and resolutions declaring GER
tain principles1 kG3 i9yiting to a aecnveG-
tion which they recommend, "All Repub-
! nUaITs, 'CnrOu lJr,mvc1uIs, and OSStG loyal
citizens supporters of the policy of the
Administration and responding to the
principles and policy" set forth in such
address and resolutions.
cannot call myself "a supporter of
the policy Of the Administration, and
do not " respond to the principles and pol
icy set forth in the address and resOlu-
tions," and, therefore, though loyal citi-
zen, am not embraced within this invi-
tation.
am ready, indeed, to support the Ad-
ministration in the prosecution Of the war
for the preservation Of our Constitutional
Union, and know that to this policy the
President is pledged by numerous acts
and declarations, the sincerity of which
do not question. But whether he will
adhere to these pledges in spite Of that
powerful influence in his own party which
is seeking TO convert the war into an abo-
J GtioD war, is yet to be proved. He has
already recommended an Important meas
ure which in my judgment is impolitic
and unwarranted by the Constitution.
With respect to the vital questions that
remain, ! regard the "policy Of the Ad-
ministration" as somewhat un6xed and
uncertain, and until l see more clearly
what it is, / am unable to call myself its
supporter. q"
But laying aside this objection, which
does not seem to ernbarrass Republicans
who are the open opponents of the policy
to which the President is pledged, let us
consider the proposed union upon its mer-
its. Is it expedient, and will it promote
the public welfare, to unite with the Re-
publican party upon the principles of the
legislative address and resolutions, for the
purpose of defeating the Democratic party
of this State at the approaching election!
That is the question.
A year ago, when the country was in
imminent danger, the Republicans of New
York and of other States invited Demo
Gratis and all other loyal men to lay aside
partizan controversy and unite with them
in support of the war for the preservation
of the Constitution and the Union. No
other motive or purpose for the war was
then heard from the leaders of the Repub-
lican party. or indeed in any quarter hav-
ing the slightest influence upon public
opinion.
The messages and speeches Of the Pres
ident the proclamations of his Generals
pledging the public faith to the people Of
the invaded States, and on which his mere
silence was an approval and confirmation;
the resolutions Of Congress passed almost
unanimously, only two Republicans vo-
ting against them in the House of Repre-
sentativcs; the language of the press and
of popular meetings-all united in declar-
ing that the war was to be prosecuted, not
to subjugate the South, nor to change
Southern institutions, nor to deprive
Southern men Of their property or rights,
but simply to establish the authority of
the Constitution over all the States.
Such were the appeals and assurances
under which the war commenced. But
when VIC had half n million of men in
arms when our armies were filled with
Democrats and others, who volunteered to
| fight for THIS CAUSE and not FOR abolition;
when Maryland, Kentucky, and MisseHri,
relying upon our promises, had sent loyal
men to Congress, opened their territories
to our troops and placed themselves in
our power er-then first We heard, that
slavery being the cause Of the war, sLIre-
~ must be destroyed. ---
1t is notorious, that at this day large
portion, to say the least, of the Republ-
can party repudiate these pledges and
trample even on their own Chicago plat
form. They are the open advocates of the
abolition Of slavery in the States, and of
measures of confscation so sweeping and
relentless, that their like has not been
known since the days Of William the Con-
queror. They have theories, several the
ories. Some Of them maintain that the
seeded States are out of the Union, and
therefore have no rights. They adopt the
doctrine of secession, attaching to it a con-
sequence that enhances its absurdty.-
The States, they say, are gone as States,
but remain as territories, subject to abso-
lutte power. This is the thory Of Mr. Sum-
ner. 1t is the theory adopted by a great
meeting in the city of New York, over
which son of Alexander Hamilton pre-
sided
Others derive the power to abolish
slavery from a different source. 1t may
be done, they say, by ctrt ,;Ar power-in
other words, by despotic power. Who
can bound the war power? And to what
a miserable state must that country be re.
duced, where it shall be thought a justi.
cation of every violation Of constitutional
law, to say that it may be done by the
war power!
know that all these gentlemen claim
W w NP'OhShbi1 CNCliI ShC HISiluS vi
the Union. They would sooner abolish
slavery than that the Union should perish
They would exert military dcspotism in
the South for the sake of the Union
They are so passionate in their love thai
they would sacrifice law, liberty, the Con.
stitution itself, to save the Union. Well
the Union to which they are SO devoted
is one for which | confess | have no re.
spect or attachment know no Union
but our Constitutional Union of free and
equal States.
1t is an abuse of words to call anything
else the Union. Upon the new platform,
Phillips, who declares that for twenty
years he has been the enemy Of the Un,
ion, and Garrison, who formerly stigma.
tized it as compact with He'll, are both
Union men. 1t is the opinion of these
/ Al Al a.