Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-07-21
E1oIrlns the Ooursgs,, s1s,, ana Hairss Of the

souths
There are yet men who talk glibly Of
o1asperating the South and uniting
them against the North who cry up con-
ciliatiOn and cry down coercion; who would
forget all the horrors Of the battle fields
where Union soldiers, dead, wounded and
captured, have been shamefully abused and
outraged; who loOk upon the murder Of
Unionists in the South merely as unfOrtu-
nate incidents Of war; who profess to be-
lieVe that our Southern brethren are only
misguided, and need but little moral
suasion to win them back TO allegiancei
who, in short, look upon secession and re-
bellon as only moral .faiE pas which
needs only the moral preCepts Of grave and
digni6ed peace-makers to be wiped from
the account Of the perpetrators. And,
strange to say, some who hold to this Opin-
ion still are accounted men Of common
sense in general matters, and Of sufficiently
uncommon sense to be entrusted with the
conduct Of influential journals. OF course
they belong to the Democratic party, and to
the peace wing OF that party. Every fresh
effort made for crushing out the rebellion,
If it so much as touch upon the cause Of
the war, is seized rs the textfor severe
homily upon the golden rule Of kindness
and forgivness, both Of which are exceed
ingly good in their places, but which are
out of place when they are employed as
weapons against the rebels. The Buffalo
Courier is one Of the organs Of this tender
hearted policy, and the Courier goes into a
melancholy Vale Of DespOnd on the COnhs-
cation bill. Says the Courier:
"At present the confscatiOn bill is sim
ply an empty threat suspended over the
whole South to excite either its contempt,
or yet bitterer hatred and desperation
against us"
Now there is but little use in presenting
arguments against this sort Of twaddle.-
The whole war has been, to those who had
eyes to see, the most tremendous argument
against any such charitable presumption
Of the character of the enemy, and if one has
not the power or disposition to make q
practical application Of that argument
words would be thrown away upon them
As to the contempt Of the South, that SEN
timent had full play in the days Of Demo
cratic rule, when the North bowed down
to the dust whenever a Southerner signi.
fed that it would be his royal pleasure fol
it to do so, and if that contempt has been
in any way encouraged by the events Of
the war, it has been by the trucking sub
serviency Of pro-slavery generals, and not
by the too seldom exhibition of sledge.
hammer fighting or vigorous legislation
COntsmpt accompanies q spirit Of mastery
and not fear. The rebels have no contempt
for Pope, or Mitchell, or Hunter, or Butler
or Farragut nor have they for the Con.
gress which has just closed its session
They may hate these active fighters and
workers, but they do not despise them
The men who they do despise are they who
are afraid to take the rebel bull by the
horns, but who think to stop his gOring by
patting him upon the back. And as tc
"bitterer hatred and desperation if the
Almighty ever made beings capsule o.
these qualities in greater degree thar
the rebels have thus far shown, they have
not been revealed to worldly eyes. The
rebels are not playing war, and have MOI
been from the beginning, and this sort Of
sentimental signing for a sofl-spOken
feather-bed warfare. is not only arranl
humbug, bnt belittling eoRardice.