New Oregon plaindealer. (New Oregon, Iowa) 1859-1866, 1862-11-14
- NEW OREGON HOWARD COUNTY IOWA NOVEMBER Z, 1867

ever with throwing fresh fuel to the flame
Should history ever trace-whichG God forbid
|--the record Of this country'] ruin, that page
will seem the strangest to those that read
which shall tell # the madness and wicked
ness of the arch fanatics Of abolitionism. In
The dark recesses' Of the temple Of infamy,
tho gloomicst n iches wiil,bea the inscription
|Pf their names: ~-.I.7osY 81 stagoij
|, Sir, would counsel none but . moral in
[tsrference With she work ef these nai"chiefi
makers. I would not hsvs ,even fsnaticisu
deprived Of the right Of free speech nor
would !, in any emergency, advocate the
slightest Infringement by the Government
upon the liberty of the press. Let them SOW
tho seeds Of their infamous doctrine broad
cast over the land. Whatever may be the
danger, will not eountenance the greater
danger of establishing dictatorship over
the thoughts Of my fellow-countrymen'
But if the abomniable theme must be
brought into the Council Chambers of the
nation, for the sake Of decency, if not Of
Justice, let it be at a more suitable time. II
there remain one Union man at the South,
let Us remember that be is unrcpreeented
hero ); that the subject Of slavery particular
" concerns him, and that it is ,ungencrous
and unjust, if not cowardly. to take advan-
tage Of his absence to push forward measures
in regard to the local institutions Of his Sec
tion measures against which, were he pres
ent, he would give his earnest opposition. It
will quench whatever remains of Union feel
ing at the South, fit have not already done
30. 1t will destroy the last hope Of . recon-
structicn OF tho Union on q friendly basis. 1t
will prove that the first idea Of the dominant
party in the North is active and unwaveriug
antagonism to slavery, and o axed purpose
to leSislate it out of the land at all hazards.
Is it thus that we are TO conquer peace
Sir, we are flinging 'way the last chances OF
reconciliation as rccklessly az madmen cast
their treasures into the sea The agitation
Of tho subject has been the couatry's bane Mt
every period Of its history its discussion at
this crisis is desperate self destruction. Is it
while the magazine is beneath us and about
f-us bursting with the agencies Of ruin, that
We must choose to sport with the flaming
torch Of the iucendiary? Sir, until our be-
loved country shall he saved, the word ''eman.
cipation" sheuld, by common consent be
banished from the language of debate in this
mblage. 1t is . spell which has wrought
enough already Of desolation. 1t is hellish
formula ofincaAtation which has conjured up
the feads of discord and civil war and it new.
or was so potent in its evil tendency as now,
when it is being passed, like the breath Of
tho plague, from mouth TO mosth, in the
Council Chambers of the country which it
has ruined. It should be spoken in . whis-
per and with a prayer linked to it. as thing
that brings q curse and spr eads pestilence
despair of my country, despair Of ever liv-
ing once more in a blessed Union of fraternal
States. when hear all around mo the utter
anee Of that ruin. breeding word ''einascipa-
tion," mingling with the shouts Of battle, the
fierce huxzahs of triumph over fallen brothers,
and the groans Of our dying country:nen. |
Sir, ifin place Of making the negro ques-
ton subjeot-matter of debate, this Congress
would take into earnest solemn consideration
some expedient for securing peace, do be-
levo that success would crown our efforts. III
they would enter upon that task not with
hearts embittered and intellects swayed by
sectional antipathies, and mock philanthro-
py, but with all their souls devoted to that
ono sacred purpose-the reconstruction ofthe
Union and our redemption from civil war
if they would do this, in the spirit Of concili-
alton, OF forgiveness, Of tolerance, Of broth
erhood, and kindly feeling, it is my oonyic.
ton that before the Close of this e,entful ses-
sion, tho preliminaries Of = peace would be
arranged. But while, with tho obstinacy Of
a blind fanatic, and the instinct Of a brutal
gladiator, the first object is to promulgnte
party creed, and the second to crush an OPP
ponent and wear tho hadgs of victory, see
no fairer prospect than, at some distant Pc
riod, reached through seas of blood and
heaps Of carnage, the forced submission of
crushed and devastated sectien, and the
equally unhappy spectacle Of Government
triumphant, bat exhausted by, its triumph,
''etested by . moity Of those sovereignties
that gave it birth. and gazing with, horror
and remorse upon the desolation it has
wrought. s5' n seek ass7&g@
Sir, Il 10 not my intention to vent reproach-
e. even where believe them best deserved.
have risen 10 enter my protest against the
IN this Chamber, Of any anti
slavery scheme whatever at this crisis, and to
paer an earnest appeal to this Congress that ,