M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1862-11-06

called for the Peace Conference which
assembled soon thereafter. -1A
1t was also iudorsed by almost the
unanimous vote Of the Legislature of
Kentucky, and subsequently BY those
OF Tennessee and North Carolina
The Republican members of the Sen
ate were against the CritteEden propo.
sition, and the radicals of that body
were against any and every adjust.
ment. Wien the Peace Conference
had assembled, and there was some
hope Of Il satisfactory settlement, itIis
well known that Mr.. Chandler, Mr..
Hamlin, and others, Urged tlieir resi
pective Governors to send ON impfac-
ticable fanatics as commissions, in
order to defeat q compromise. u
In what have said | have not In
teCded to e&tenuate or excuse the
wickedness OF the Secesoionists. Bad
and impolitic as was the policy of the
Northern radicals, 1t furnished no sGf.
ficient reason for Secession, rebellion
and war but | believed most sin!
cercly then, as do now, that the &C.
ceptance Of Nj. Crittenden's prop9si.
ton by one-third " the Republicans
in Congress, at the right time, would
have broken down SocessiOnin nearly
all the States now claiming to be out
Of the Union; and it might have been
accepted without any sacrifice. Of
honor or principle. So far as the
common territory Of the United States
was concerned it proposed an equita-
BILE partition, giving the North about
100000 square miles and The, South
about 100000. No umpire that could
have been selected would have given
the North more. If, then, it was d
material interest aud value weiwere
,ontendihg for, it gave us ouonfull
share; if it was the application Of apo.
lltical principle the Republicans were
struggling for, it allowed the applica4
tcn Of their doctrine to threeIourtbs
Of an estate that belonged to all The
States and all the people. 1t expressly
excluded slavery from 100000 square
miles of this estate, and allowed it in
the remaining 300, 900. y
The Republicans, It'll true, had Just
elected President, and were aIJout to
take possession Of the Government;
but still the popular vote in the Sew
eral States showed that they were over
a million OF votes in tie minority Of
the electors OF the United States.--
Being million in the minority il
they secured the application Of their
principles to three fohrths Of oil the
territory, was that not enough -
Could they not on that have boasted
Of a great triumphl Fo: time these
arguments and considerations SEEMED
to have weight with the more moder.
ate and conservative of the Republi-
can Senators. Indeed, at one time
had strong hopes Of settlement. But
the radicals rallied jim force headed by
Mr.. Greedy, and the current was soon
changed. We were then met with the
that the people, in the elec.
tion Of Mr.. Lincoln, bad decided TO
exclude slavery from all the territory,
and that the members OF Congress dare
not attempt to reverse that decision.
We then determined to go a step fur
ther and endeavor to overcome this
obstacle; and it was to this end, after
consultation with Mr.. Crittenden and
others, that | myself introduced a bill
into tire Senate providing for taking
the sense Of the people OF the several
States on tie Crittenden proposition,
for the direction of members Of Con-
gress in voting for or against it's sub
mission Tor the ratification of the
States, as an amendment to the Cou-
This was an appeal to the source Of
all political power, ard would have
the members Of all serious
responsibility. The vote Of the rep
resentative would have been in aeeoF.
dance With the votes Of his constituent
ents, either for or against the PROPOSE
ton. The only objection. made was
that it was somewhat irregular aud
extraordinary. But the same rhen
could not make that objection at pres
ent. Too many extraordinary things
have since been done by their chosen
agents. believed with the Senator
from Ohio, as | believe still, that the
would have carried ma
iority in nearly all the States Of the
Union, but it shared the tate Of tIl other
Efforts for settlement. Would to God
Dur country was ROW in the condition
L then was, and chat the peopse could
be allowed to settle the controversy for
under the light Of eighteeu
months experience Of war and earn.
age, and countless sacrifices Of national
strength and character ;s,'hi4
Very truly your obedient servant,
- h1E .r3 'llWM. BIGLER inb