Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1863-10-09


THE VACANT CHAIRS IN CONGRESS.
A. soon as the enemy lays down his arms,
shou we admit him without conditions, to our
Congressional councils, give him vote in
framing our laws, see him ally himself with
every di.shected member from the North suf-
or him, with their aid, to override the entire
legislation Of the last two years, permit him to
dissrm as by voting down all military ana ma
val appropriations, install him as Judge IN his
own case and sit quietly by when he resc!nds
tie Emancipation Proclamation, repcal' the
coufscstiou act, repays himself for oil slaves
lost during the Instruction, perhaps repudi-
slos the national debt, OFF, TO carry this
last measure, a few votes should be lacking
compromises the matter 0y adding to the debt
incurred for the preservation OF public order,
the twelve or fourteen hundred mlllIons spent
in fruitless attempts to overthrow It? Shall
We adopt this as our policy? II we do, 1t w'u
be the irst time stupendous piece Of ma
tional foil, was ever enacted since the world
beg m.
The extent of that folly and its practical
consequences will be better appreciated by
glancing at a few figures. II the vacant seats
in Congress. are suffered to be filed without
conditions. there will be in the House, 90 slave
Senate. 80 slave State votes to "a fee State
votes T,gen,y- segen Northern votes siding
with the South in the House, and three North
ern votes siding with her in the Sen te, would
give her a majority in both branches The
command Of the Senate alone, by the aid Of
three Northern votes, would enable the South
to arrest all legislation to delay, for exam.
pie, all supplies, whether for civil or military
purposes.
desire, as you do 20 see the vacant chairs
in Congress filed. desire to see them fill
ed. as you have expressed it, by those " who
NAV be consututonally sent there" ! desire,
at the earliest moment consistent with the pub
lie safety, to see revived, in favor of the peo-
ple of the South, those constitutional priv
leges which they legally forfeited by levyng
war against their and our government. Bat
call to mind Vatters wise suggestion aud
De Tocqueyi.es sage warning, | am unwill-
ing to see the nation duped for the sake Of
peace" am unwilling to admit TO our coun-
ellis insurgents by whose act the land has been
deluged with blood, until they shall have been
rendered " incapable Of doing mischief with
the same ease ia future" For the very sake
of peace, am unwilling to assent to peace
which will be the prolific parent Of future
wars.
Few among US really desire so hollow a
peace If we sift the matter to the bottom
the diversity of opinion as to our future poll-
cy is, in one sense, much less radical than on
the surface it appears lfmen differ as to the
conditions under which the insurgents shall
be restored to their forfeited rghts,it is not as
general rule because any man desires war
in perpetuity.-All but the grossly ignorant
know that war, protracted through long years,
or rerpetusly recurring, involves ruin to all
interests. public and private, political and
commerci ]. Most men strongly teel that our
country, desolated and demoralized by NIT
cen or twenty years civil war, would not be
worth living in.
RoBERT DALE OWEN.