Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1862-12-17
BY SAMUEL j. ROW.
CLEARF1ELD. PA. deer IT. 1862.
REBEL CONDITIONS OF PEACE.

REBEL OT 16AV6.
Since the late elections, the leaders of the
so-caIIed Democracy have been talking no lit
tie about stopping the war, compromising with
sour wayward Southern sisters" and making
peace with armed traitors in the field. The
success these peace patriots are likely to
meet with, and the conditions upon which the
Rebels are willing to receive their PROPOSE
tions, can best be judged by reading the fol-
lowing article taken from the Richmond Wing
of November 29th:
ssPEAcE.-It is stated in Yankee papers
that Ex-senator Bigler, of Pennsy lvania' has
written l.tter proposing a plan Of peace.
We have not seen it, nor any hints as to the
terms he suggests, bnt as we suppose he was
in earnest, and meant to submit something
practical, we are forced to conclude that he
advises the north to abandon the war and let
the south alone. Nothing less than this
would be practicable, or have the appearance
of bei.g in earnest. With his appreciation
of the merits of the controversy and his
knowledge of southern character, he can have
no doubt that so long as the north continues TO
make war, the south will continue to make re-
sistance, and there can, consequently, be no
peace. The first step toward pacification can
come only from the north, and it must be a
suspension OF hostilities; and the pacfcation
can then be completed only by making the
suspension permanent. This is Inevitable
from the character of the war itself they in
wade, we resist they assail, We defend; they
seek to subjugate, we to maintain our liberty.
They must cease to invade, to assail, and to
attempt to subjugate, or we cannot cease to
resist and defend without ruin. All this must
be plain to Mr.. Bigler, and when he talks
about peace, he will talk idly and insincerely
unless he calls on the north to stop making
.tt,o &. To- oil acLy hovo
ever asked. 1t is sheer nonsense,
to contemplate even for quibble, TO talk
about our having begun the war because We
fired the first gun. The fact is they had been
pressing us back for thirty years. When we
reached the wall and could go no further, We
struck. 1t was blow of self defence. Every
blow that has been struck since has been
prompted by the same impulse. We fight be-
cause we are unwilling to be overrun, plum
dered and enslaved. We will continue so to
fight as long as car lift an arm. The SIM
pie question, then, for Mr.. Bigler and the
northern people to consider is, whether they
will cease to make war upon us. When they
have determined on this, the formal stipula-
tions of peace can be easily arranged. Un-
til they have so resolved, they will get no
hearing from US for any thing they have to
propose. OF this they may feel assured"
By all means, let US disband our armies, let
tuC ~ uioh 10 uioooNCus iCt Jul -H'oothCt u
bretheren have their rights outside the Union,' %
let us acknowledge ourselves in error. let US
agree that the North began the war, that the
South has only stood on the defensive, and
that We are contemplate quibbling fools for
counting the firing upon Sumter an act OF
aught else than sheer justice and right on the
part of our traditional masters, and then per-
haps Davis 4 Co., may condescend to hearken
TO the humble petition OF Fernando Wood,
BigIer, and other s'Democratic" leaders, for
peace. Whether the tenor of the speeches
and letters of the latter has been made to ac-
cord with the wishes of the South, from any
knowledge they may have possessed of the
same, is question which We are not prepar-
ed to answer. There seems, however, to be a
striking similarity peryading the propositions
suggested in bo tn sections.