The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1863-03-21


of purpose had given away. lie had
Welded to 3 pressure which jackson
would have defied but which he could not
resist. Of this pressure he had often coin
blamed, some times pub'icly-oftener in
private. To the border state delegation
particularly had he complained of this
pressure and intimated that it was backed
by the threat OF detection and !esertion by
those whose support he could not spare.
They saw,-the whole world saw whence
this pressure came. All the Northern
States were in the control Of one party.
Not one Democratic GoverDor,-nOt one
Democratic Legislature to which he could
look for support and relief All were
Republican and most of them Of radical
and violent character. Many OF them
were bold bad men who would scrupie at
nothing to attain their ends, even to the
overturning of the government ana a
daring usurpation. They saw that upon
such men he was entirely dependent Tor
his army if not for his treasury
At the commencement OF the war, he
consented to the plan of raising the voluh-
teer forces through the state executives,
and allowing them to appoint all the 'esl'
mental and company officers. At this
juncter there were three hundred thou
in these States held and controlled toy the
State Governors and commanded by officers
appointed by them and still subject To their
military orders as their superior officers.
Nearly if not quite all of these Governors
were clamorous for radical measures-ior
the proclamatIon,-a measure which they
professed to believe would crush the rebel
lion and end the war directly, and that
without it there was no hope OF success
Here was the pressure. Here was a visi-
BILE, tangible power sufficient to Overturn
tho government and hurl Mr. Lincoln from
the Presidential Chair,-a measure which
we have every reason to believe was actu
ally contemplated at least by a portion of
these State executives, and who shall say
that it would not have been actually ac-
complished had the President not finally
Welded Then there would have been no
peaceful October and November elections
The conservatives would then have had Il
double task to perform and would have
achieved n double victory. True he resist
ed and complained till the meeting OF the
Governor at Altoona was about to asst m
BILE, and give shape and unity to this mighty
force, and then who shall say for himself
that he would not have yielded? No doubt
there are men who would not have given
but they are the men who would never
have allowed this combination against the
government and The Constitution, to have
assumed such vast proportions.
Here were facts which have already be-
come history, and these are the construct
ions given to them by at least portion of
the conservative Republicans who with
Mr. Lincoln himself had been devout
followers of Henry Clay and Daniel Web
ster, and who believed that Mr. Lincoln
told the truth when he said that at heart
he was opposed to the violent doctrines of
the proclamation, and they firmly believed
that he only yielded his own Judgment
and deserted his own cherished policy
under this almost resistless pressure. They
believed that the abolitioniSts had with
violent hand, seized him and demanded of
him the proclamation and a change of
policy on pain of deposition. They saw
there was no way of wrestling him from
this violent grasp of discriminating him
from the meshes in which they had en-
tangled him, that he might conduct the
government and prosecute the war upon
Constitutional principles and for the Con-
stItutioual ends but III the success of the
Democratic party.
Thus reasoned portion but not all of
those who had become disguised and
alarmed at the new policy so suddenly
inaugurated at Washington Others. and
there are no doubt many OF them, VINO
believed that Mr.. Lincoln had at heart
been in deep sympathy with the most
radical from the beginning, and had only
affected moderation matter of policy
When they looked back and remembered
all he had said and done they could see
this radicalism cropping out on many oc-
-casions, as when he caressed and counte-
.nanced Wendell Phillips, and many other
indications equally suggestive. and upon a
review of mis- writings and savings design
ed to create an impression of conserva
tive purpose they found certain reserva
tions and qualifications Indicating a prede.
termination to ADOPT the radical policy as
soon as he could do so safely. They now
believed that while he had held the
word of promise TO the ear, he designed
g. to break it to the hope This class of
men left him In disgust, for they had lost
all faith in his integrity.
Again there were others whose attention
was arrested principally bv the imbecility
of the Administration. While it was OBJ
stinats it was weak. II was incapable of
comprehendiEg the magnitude Of the re.
bellion and the resources and the endu-
effectually to use the vast resources placed
in its hands SO as to produce any adequate
results They believed that the President
was nota judge of men nor of things That
he could neither conduct the war himself
nor comprehend the capacity of others to
conduct it. That the whole history of the
Administration was a combination OF
Cbstinacy and vasciliation The proc.ama-
ton as war measure completed their
disgust and destroyed their last hope in
the ability of the administration to prose-
cute the war to a successful issue 1t was
mere childs play on grander scale than
was ever before exhibited in the history of
the world. They felt that the Interests,
nay the life of the nation were wickedly
trified with and that the time had come,
If the country was to be saved at all, for
the great mass of the people-whose ser
wants our rulers are-whose interests are
committed to their hands-whose coun-
try and whose government it is that is To
be saved or lost-tO organise under
some form such a party as by its numbers
and its influence, would make itself heard
and needed at the seat of government.
The only way to do this was for all the
conservative men OF the nation to rally
around the Democratic party.
1t is not my purpose 10 express an
opinion as to ~hiel, vas nearest right but
by whichever of these various motives or
consideration. the Republicans who came
to our support were Influenced, all agreed
in the last conclusion. All saw that the
Democrats were as earnestly engaged in
the prosecution of the war as was Mr.
Lincoln himself They saw that no party
in the history Of this, or any other country,
had ever shown ri IRE tiisinterested patriot
ism than had been exhibited by the De-
mocrats since the breaking out of the re-
l,elliOn- Before the smoke of the politica!
battle of 1860, by which Mr. Lincoln Has
placed in power, had cleared AWAY, Il civil
war was inaugtsrttel, which had been pro