Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1863-01-28
Where are We '-And Where Drittingl

!
rebellion were heard, we were among the few
who recognized, in these threats, the certain
ty of war; and who, in a measure, compre-
hended both its magnitude and it horrors. 1t
is always an ofense, in an individual, to fore
see evils, and especially so to attempt to avert
or even to be prepared for them. For an ar
ticle then written, asking the President Con-
gress, and our readers, to raise their eyes and
thoughts above the horizon of party, and
contemplate a crisis which would tax the en-
ergies OF the people, and test the strength Of
our government, we incurred the denuncia-
tions of many, and the friendly censure, Of
most Of the Republican journals.
Subsequently when rebellion was rampant
in the extreme States, question whether
North Carolina and Tennessee should remain
in the Union or go out of it, arose. We all
remember the Border States Proposition, {"
upon the adoption OF which, by Congress, re
bellion, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic,
would have been bounded by the southern
lines OF Tennessee ard North Carolina. With
a modification which the Border State repre-
sentatives offered to accept, we advocated
that compromise" And for this, also, we
were severely denounced. In the Peace
Congress, where the Legislature hOnored US
with a seat which we resigned in favor Of a
distinguished citizen, the Border States Pro-
position" was egain rejected, and consequent
ty two states, a majority of whose citizens
yearned to remain in the Union, were lost.
With North Carolina and Tennessee in the
Union, Virginia could not have gone out OF
it. We should, therefore, instead OF sacri6c-
ing hundreds Of thousands of lives and hun
dreds of millions Of Treasure in North Caro-
Ina Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky have
reserved those troops and that treasure to
crash out rebellion in the cotton states.
The rebelion-as wanton and wicked as
any that stains the pages of history-thus
embracing more states then necessary-has
been nearly two years in progress, with what
measure Of success and with promise Of a ter
mination we can judge, one as well as anoth-
er It's lessons teach US that it requires al
the strength CT united North to preserve
the Union and uphold the government. We
had, at the commencement OF. the war unit
ed North. The elimination of treason, in its
attack on Fort Sumter, kindled blaze of in
dignant patriotism over the whole North,
East and West All merely partisan feeling
was merged in higher and noble impulses.
All good and true men, in imitation OF their
ancestors at Concord and Lexington, in ITS,
rushed to arms, or contributed money. Then
we were, in the language of Mr.. Jefferson,
all Republican Federalists,r or in other
language, " all RepublicanS--al Democrats"
For the first year the war had with few ex-
cepdons, the hearty support of both and all
political parties. 1t was prosecuted earnest |
Jy, but with Indifferent suecess-with more
heart than head-more zeal than knowledge |
We had gallant troops commanded by incapa- |
be generals, made so, propably, by newspa-
per and other interference. At any rate, the
i'll success Of our armies caused popular i'm
patience, of which those ultra antislavery |
views enabled the secession leaders to mass
the sentiment Of the cotton states, availed
themselves to impart an abolition character to
the war
The evidence before us-in the river Of
blood shed and the millions Of treasure ex-
pended-that the preservation OF our Union
and government demand the best and united
and efforts of the whole people, is
What all united have so far failed
to accomplish, the abolition chiefs and jour
mails insist upon undertaking as party. They
demand that the war shall be prosecuted IN
der their auspices and for their purposes.
Mems opinions on the slavery question must
be heightened or shortened, in accordance
with Procrustean example.
These impracti cable, one-idea lecturers and
journalists, sided by the unfortunate &" On to
Richmond" military disasters, have already {
withdrawn New York, New Jersey, Ohio, /
Indiana, and Illinois from the political sup {
port of the administration. Too many Of the
Democratic leaders in these states-especially {
n Ohio and Indiana-are of the VaIlandig- a
nam school, This false, disloyal man. with !
shame be it confessed, found sympathizing '
rends to welcome and feast him at a secess-
on hotel in the City Of New York Still the
masses of the Democracy, and most Of their
prominent men, are truly devoted to the
Union, and remain willing to contribute their p
money and peril their lives to sustain the i
government. But in this there is no merit, .
lnless they adopt the anti-Slavery Platform q
nd accept the dOgmas Of the New York n
tribune
VIII those of our old Wing friends, now a
0 impatient with, and differing 50 widely n
rom US, turn their minds a few years back n
Yards what they then thought Of abolition; e
nd what its course and action was Was 4
/ not narrow, perverse and mischievous? ? a
id it not exert a vicious and malgn political D
lhuenee? Did it not, for twenty years at e.
ur elections, state and national, ever pay u
ITO the hands of pro-slavery Democrats ? S
While we were laboring for the right, doing +
Il we could for the Union and the country, D
-ere we not embarrassed and thwarted by a
MS tactious, impracticable Third Party ?" So