The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-12-30
Try. oHIOEWEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 80, 1868,

ted IN the devastation OF the farms, the DE-.
struction of agricultural implements, the bura-
ling of; the houses and the plumber Of ete1y-
thing movable. Ifs wholo saspect Is q COM
menf ON tho ethics of tho general order issued
by .he United States on the z4th of April,
1868, comprising INSTRUCTIONS for the govsrn-
ment Of afmies of the, United States ID TIE
/ fisld, and 81 Nkich the 'following 10 an sx.
Lanple.sS3 = s1so sH aisitsuT .s1ssssiissq =
aMilitasy necessity admits of all direct des-
tiuction of lifo or limb of armed enemies, and
of other persons whose destruction IS inci-
dentally unavoidable. IN the armed contests of
theuaf2 it allows of the capturing Of every
EARNED ensny and Of every snemy of impor-
tancs to the hostile govsrnmeut or Of pechs
1'ss asnssT g g shs espsor & slows sll s ds-
ways and channels Of trafie, travel or loommu-
nication, and of Withholding Of sustenance or
means of life from the enemy, !; Of the appro-
priation of whatever an enemy's country af-
fords necessary for the subsistence and safety
of the army, and Of such deception as does
not involve the breaking of good faith, either
positively pledged regardins agreements en-
tered into during tho war, or supposed BY the
modern law of war to exist. Men who take
up arms against one another in public war, do
not cease on that account to be mertal beings,
responsible to one another and to God"
The striking contrast to those teachings and
practices prEsented by ourA army when inya-
ding Pennsylvania, illustrates the mortal char
acter of our people. Though their forbear-
ancc may have been unmerited and unappre-
ciated by the enemy, il was imposed by their
own selfrespect, which forbade their degen-
Grating from Christian warriors into plunder-
ing rufiians, assailing the property, lives and
honor of helpless n-combantants. IF their
conduct, when they are contrasted with the
inhHman practices of our foe, fail 20 command
the respect and sympathy of civilized nations
in our day, it cannot fail to be recognized BY
their less deceived. ..posterity. -
The hope last year entertained Of an early
Termination of the war has not been realized.
Could carnage have satisfied the appetite of
our enemy for the destruction of human life,
or grief have sppcased- thoir wanton- desire to
infict human suffering, there has been blood
shed enough on both sides; and two lands
have beeu sufficiently darkened by the weeds
of mourning to induce disposition for peace.
If unanimity in people could dispel delu-
sion, it has been displayed too unmistakably
not to have silenced the preteuce that the
Southern States were merely disturbed by a
factious- -insurrection, and it must long asince
have been admitted that they were butnexer
cising their reserved rights to modify their
own government in such manner as would best
secure their own happidess. But these con-
siderations have been poMerlees to allay the
unchristian hate of those Who, long accus-
toned to draw large profits from union with
u.s. cannot control the rage excited by the
conviction that they have, by their own folly,
destroyed the ichest sources of their prosper
ity. They refuse even to listen to proposals
FOR the only peace possible between, us--a
peace which leaves tho Two people separately
TO recover from the injuries inflicted on beth