The Placer herald., 1863-07-11
BLACK BLUNDERS.
.R TO THE UNITED DEMOCRACY:

is like arrow from crossbow which has
equal force though shot by cbild.'
1t matters little then, Democrats, who may be
the author of these letters. If they contain
sound argument, the shalt they send will surely
reach the mark. If based upon truth, the arrow
will quiver in the heart of the corrupt faction
now assuming to be and usurpng the powers Of
the American Government. The trigger may be
drawn by child, an IDIOT or woman; but the
arrow will find its way just as unerringly to the
vital spot.
Hear me. therefore, not because the writer Is
worthy, but rather that he is pleading the sacred
cause of our country.
Let me direct your attention to that series OF
acts devised, in progress. and accomplished by
the present Adm mnstration, for the suppression
of the rebellion, and the pacifcation OF the coun-
try and which may. most appropriately, be de-
nominated, BLACK BLUADERs.
Without pausing to enquire into the true origi-
nation Of the war; or attempting at present to
settle the mooted point, as to what caused and
who commenced it. let us set out with the cast
iron fact staring US in the face, that civil war
exists, bctwixt the two great sections OF the
American Conicderacy.
War being justly regarded by all civilized ma
tions, as the greatest of evils. and civil war its
worst phase, the first great duty of the present
Administration, was to put an end to hostilities.
political problem to be solved. The reunion of
the dis-unite0 fragments OF once mighty Re
public. was the Gordian knot for the unravcling
OF the Chicago statesman. new task was
imposed upon Hercules. He was required to
quit the chase Of boars and the strangling of
lions and start off in pursuit of wandering stars,
that
''Unbalanced from their orbits few"
to check their downward career. to restore chem
undimmcd in lustre. to their proper spheres, and
bind them once indissouby. TO their grand cen
ire of attraction" the Constitution Of the United
States
1t was work worthy of the mghtiest minds.
1t might have staggered Madison. 1t would have
tasked. to their utmost the unrivacd abilities OF
Washington. Still it could have been done.
But it required grand element of success,
which unfortunately for America. none OF the
sages OF Chicago possessed the subordination of
party to Hr claims of patriotism!
They assumed office, with deep, malignant
and ineradcable hate of everything Southern.
IneXtingu>hable fires smouldered in their hearts.
Eolus had entrusted the imprisoned winds to the
companions OF Ulysses, and they set about the
task of opening the bags. They thought little of
the consequences. They did not dream that the
same storm. which sent their enemies to the bot
tom might shipwrcck themselves Still less did
they imagine that the tempest might spare their
foes. and open its fury upon their own heads,
They have unseuled the bags, and the whirlwnds
are upon US.
The United States Of America b ing confed
cIutlOu vi sONelclEnlleS, are one. OHiy ny tHcu
common bond Of Union. That tie is. or lately
was, the Constitution. That instrument is Il
voluntary ligament assumed, not imposed; obey
ed, not enforced. 1t is the marriage bond OF the
States. 1t is their article of copartnershp. 1t
is their certificate of equality. In all its pro-
visions it speaks OF fraternity. In its preamble
it treats OF Union" not consultations; of the
"public welfare" not sectional superiority. In
its Amendments. it deals in preserved" rights
and irrcllagahlc guarantees. Its history is
love story; the love Of liberty. Its symbol
flag Of stars; but each star radiant with its own
brightness, and distinct in the field of blue.
These all plain truths; first principles.
They lie upon the very surface Of American his
tory. 1t required no erudition to discover them.
Sophomores have spouted them from the stump
for threc-lourths Of century. But they are
truths that the common people have treasured in
their hearts, rs upon them, and them alone, has
been reared all that is great and glorious in
American institutions.
Such being the nature OF the Federal Govern
m Mt, our rulers should have studied the out
growth from the form.
Several Of the States, haring as States, seeded
(Whethcr rghlully wrongiully, matters not
in this discusson.) the initial question, was how
to induce them to return.
Now when parties are ut variance. be those
parties nations or individuals, the first step
towards reconciliation, is to ascertain the cause
OF quarrel, and by mutual torbearance, ferret out
dy it. This brings us to
BLUNDER NUMBER l.
The intensfcation Of Southern hostility By
the adoption OF ece'y measure ach1ch JN0rtheTn
fdndticism could deutse and accomplish.
Had the war been prosecuted in the true spirit
Of the Crttendeu Resolution, adopted the day
after the first battle Of Bull Run and had Con
gressiona legislation been carried on according
", the American Union might have been recon
fo.ll tllutti mo thpr nan
unity at the North, and Union sentiment at the
South. true craftsmanship would have devel-
opcd both. Here was strength at home and
weakness abroad. No tairer field was ever open
to lie sowed by master hand, with the seeds OF
success. Lincoln might have rcaped harvest OF
glory. Bnt this would have endangered the
Chicago Platform add rcpressed the 'irrepressible
conflict Such was not the haven TO be stcered
for. Fanaticsm filled the sails, and Mtuity
stood at the helm. The needle trembed between
hate and vengeance, In what could such voy-
age terminate except in wreck and ruin!
| John Russell said, 'the South fights for indie
pendence" Suppose this to be true, the Admin
istration could, by no possibility. have conceived
better measures to secure it Tor her, than by the
| ones adopted
| War existing. chiefly on account of real or
| apprehended interference by Congress with the
| institution of African slavery, in order to pacliy
and quiet apprehcnsions on that sensitive subject,
Congress and the Cabinet adopted series OF
acts. which for wickedncss and folly, stand un-
paralleled in the history of legislation.
LIST. As the entire Democratic party at the
North, and the unanimous South had for more
than thirty years. denounced amy interference
with the relation of master and slave in the
District OF Columbia, the first spasm of Abolition
fury, was to outrage the conservative sentiment.
Siduery ,cas abolished in the District of Column
6ia. The North was taxed heavily, in order to
enable the fiends of Abolition to shoW their
teeth. The South was insulted rs measure OF
policy, and as an appropriate step towards recon
cliatiOn!
I'd. Carrying OFT the wise counses of modera-
tion. so happily begun, Congress took second
STEP by applying the slave test to all the present
and prospective territory OF the United States.
1t solemny declared that no slave State should
hereafter be admitted into the Union, and gave
| the Wlmot Provso to the continent. This
measure, Of course! won over the friends OF
Judge Douglas, at the North, who had always