Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-11-06
Robert Dale Ovens Letter.
The 23d of September.
To The President ofthe United States:

The 23d of September.
TO the President Of the United States:
Sin: In days when the public safety is
imminently threatened. and the fate of
nation may hang upon single act, we owe
frank speech above all other men, to him
who is highest in authority. | shall speak
to you as man to man.
Harsh opinions have been formed of you;
even honest men doubling the plobity Of
your intentions. do not share their doubts:
| believe you to be upright, single hearted
in your desire to rescue the country in the
hour OF her utmost need without after
thought Of the personal consequences to
yourself
If, amid the multitude ofcontending coun-
sell, you have hesitated and doubted: it,
when great measure suggested ITSELF you
have shrunk from the vast responsibility,
afraid to 20 forward lest you should go
wrong, what wonder? How few, since the
foundation of the world, have found them
selves in position environed with public
perils so numerous, oppressed with respon-
sibilities so high and solemn, as yourselfl
No man ever escaped from such-so reads
the lesson of History-without bold heart
and high faith. Wisdom, prudence, and
forethought, these ere essential. But not
second to these is that noble courage which
adventures the Right, and leaves the con-
sequences to God.
Men ever follow willingly daring leader:
most willingly of all, in great emergencies.
Boldness and decision command, often even
in evil, the respect and concurrence OF man
kind. How much more in good
There is measure needing courage to
adopt and enforce it, which believe to be
of virtue sufficient to redeem the nation in
this its darkest hour: one only; know OF no
other to which we may nationally trust for
relief from impending dangers without and
within.
The dangers which threaten us are two
fold: First, from the Confederate forces,
composed of men whose earnest convictions
and reckless bravery it is idle TO deny
Secondly, from ourselves, compelled to make
use of military power OF proportions so gi-
gantic that no nation ever permitted the ex-
istence Of such without more or less risk to
the people who employed it. If we think
lightly of this latter danger, we slight the
| teachings of all past time.
As to the first: Have you not had your
moments of doubt whether we are to sue
ceed at all?-whether the Union, once SO
glorious, will ever be re united?-whether
peace, which we used to enjoy with as little
gratitude as we do the sunlight or the all
we breathe, will ever again settle down over
our distracted country?
II have doubts Of all this, it is only be.
fa.A do not tnnw what y9r5t tsct8n y vii il
success; but | cannot tell whether, while
there is yet time, you will decide to employ
them.
Our enemies, like the Grecian hero have
one vulnerable point. You have not touch
ed it vet. What should have been theil
element of weakness has been suffered tc
remain an element of strength.
They have nearly million of able -hodied
men of fit age for war or for labor. Hold
ing these men in bondage, and employing
them to till the SOIL they are enabled tC
send to the battle field almost their entire
white male adult population, yet preserve
their eommissariat sufficiently supplied.
1t has always been great wrong tina
I these men and their families should be helC
in bondage. We OF the North have hither
to acquiesccd in it, lest, in the endeavor t.
redress it in violation of the Constitution
greater evils might ensue.
But the time has come when it Is consti
tutional to redress it. The Rebellion ha
made it So. Property in man, always NOR
ally unjust, has become nationally danger
GUS Property that endangers the safety o
a nation should not be suffered to remain i
the hands of citizens A Chief Magistrat
who permits it SO to remain becomes re
fl sponsible for the consequences. For he ha
: the right, under the law and the Constitu
u ton, to take private property, with jus
i compensation offered, for public use, wher
ever it is apparent that any public exigenc
demands such appropriation. 'il a.'1 4.
Forgive what may seem curt speech it
say that, in my judgment, u President wit
just sense OF duty has no option in such
case.
r In the due exercise of your official power
in strictest accordance with law and tn
v Constitution, you can deprive the enemy
that which, above all else, has given, an
still gives him, aid and comfort You ca
declare emanoipatod his slaves, the suppl
q ers of his commissariat. Gradually, you ca
deprive him of these; and for every hundre
thousand productive laborers he loses, yo
g NAV have hundred thousand soldiers
With their aid you can reach the rest
What then remains for him2 He must th
,s his ranks to cultivate his plantations. 3
must labor for his own food, or must peri
for the lack Of it. nr
or The people are forbidden to give aid al
,E comfort to Rebels. What of Governme
that has the power to cut off from aid al
comfort all the Rebels of the South al
fails to exercise it2
! We ought to do that which is right, ev
: If the recompense be distant and uncertai
but we add folly to injustice il we neglect
great act of benefcence that is to be rewar
ed, even now, by our own preservation.
Yet again. Can you look forward to Z
future Of our country and imagine any sta
of things in which, with Slavery still exi
ing, we should be assured of permane
peace? cannot. We can constitutions
extirpate Slavery at this time. But if
n fail to do this, then, unless we intend he
y, after TO violate the Constitution, We sh
have fugitive slave law in operation VIII,
ever the war is over. Shall the North ha
sacrificed hundred Thousand lives and t
), thousand millions Of treasure to come
that at last? Not even a guaranty of pc,
purchased at so enormous cost? At
, exertlons on the part Of our people to viii
TO the history of the world furnishes no par
Z lei, is the old root Of bitterness still to
! / -: :. l., tha Yround IN anrout N md hear fr