The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-09-09

+ =
she Republican Union Convention at SyraS
crise. M
ExEcUTIyE MANSION, WAsHNeTYN,( s
N August 26. 1863
: Hon. JAMES C. CoNKLfNeL Dear Sir. IS
Your@letter inviting me to attend a mass
meeting of unconditional Union men, to be
held at the capital of Illinois on the Sd day
September, h3s, been received. 1t would be
very agreeable for me thus to meet my old !
friends atimy own home; but cannot just
now be absent from here SO long as visit
there would require.
The. meeting is to be of allsthose who
maintain unconditional devotion 10 the
Union and 1 am sure that my, old political
friends will thank me for rendering as | do,
the natiot's gratitude to those other noble
men whom no partisan malice or partisan
hope can make false to the natiou's life. ini
I There are those who are dissatisfied with
me- To such l would say You desire
peace, and you blame me that we do lot have
it. 81 But how can we attainSit !? There are
but three conceivable ways First-to sup
press the rebellion by force of ar1ns.7 This
am trying to do. Are you for it? If you
are, SO far we are agreed, If you are not for
it, a second way is to give up the Union. l
am against this. Are you for, it ? If you
are, you should say so plainly. If you are
not for force, nor yet for dissolution there only
remains some imaginary compromise. fs
do not believe that any compromise en-
bracing the maintenance of the Union is now
possible. All that learn leads to directly |
opposite belief The strength of the Rebel /
lion is its military, its army, That army h
dominates all the country and all the people T
within its range. Any offer of terms made
1 by any man or men withintha range, IN OPP
position to that army, is simply nothing for
! the present; because such man or men have,
no power whatever to enforce their side of a !
compromise, if one were made with them. 4
To illustrate !: Suppose refugees from the
South and eaee men of the North get to-
gether in conventions and frame and proclaim
a comprom Sc embracing restoration of the 4
Union. LII what way can that compromise
be used to keep Lees army ont of Pennsyl-
vania Meade's army can keep Lees army
out of Pennsylvania, and, I think, can ulti-
nlately drive it out of existence. J ut no pa
percompromse to which the controllers of
Lees army are not agreed can at all affect that
army Ian effort at such compromise We
would waste time, which the enemy would
improve to our disadvantage; and that would
be alE ss 4'' -a+'o
"A. COMPROMISE to be effective, must be
3 made either with those who control the Reb-
el army, or with the. people, first liberated
4 from the domination of that army by the
success of our own army, Now, allow me
to.assure you that no word or intimation
4 from that Rebel army, or from any of the
4 men controlling tin relation to any peace
compromise, has ever come to my knowledge
or belief Allcharges and insinuations to the
contrary aresdeeeptive and groundless. And
I promise you that if any such proposition
shall hereafter come, it shall not be rejected
and kept secret from you. freely ackpowl-
edge myself te be the servant of the people
according to the bond of service, the United
u States Constitution; and that, as such, am
responsible to them. gIs5 5tais' aS15 9fa@ 1s1'
But, to be plain, Y on are dissatisfied with
me about the negro Quite likely there is a
diff renee or opinion between you and my
self upon that subject I certainly wish that
all men could be free, while you, I suppose,
do not. Yet, have neither adopted norprn-
; posed any measures which, is not consistent
with even your view, provided that you are
. for the Union. l suggested compensated
. emancipation to (which you replied YOU
Il wished not to be taxed to buy negroes. But
: l had not asked you to be taxed to buy ne
grocs, except in such way as to save youfrom
) greater taxation to save the Union exclusive
e1 ly by other means. 5tt
II You dislike the Emancipation Preelama-
= ton, and perhaps would have it retraeted.-
L
d emily. think the Constitution invests its
S Commander-in-Chief with the law of war in
81 time of war. The most that can be said il
) SO much, is, that slaves are property. Is there,
has there ever been, any question that by the
: law of war, property, both of enemies and
e friends, may be taken when needed And
r is it notnesded whenever il, helps us and
hurts the enemy 2 Armies, the world over,
ii destroy enemies property when they cannot
: use it; and even destroy their own to keep it
o from the enemy Civilized bellgerents do all
S in their power to help themselves or hurt the
enemy, except few things regarded as bar
! sarous or cruel. Among the exceptions are
= the massacre of vanquished foes and nom
d mbatants, male and female.
o But the Proclamation, as law, either is val
+ id or,is not Valid If it is not valid it needs
ro retraction. If tits valid it cannot be re-
= tracted, any more than the dead can be brought
: to life. Some of you profess to think its re-
traction would operate 'favorably for the
6 Union. Why better after the retraetion than
4 b:ore the issue :? There was more than a
1 year and half of trial to suppress the Re-
/ bellion before the Proclamation was issued
E the last one hundred days of Which passed
= under an explicit notice that it was coming
Il unless averted by those in revolt returning tc
4, (, their allegiance. The war has certainly pro-
is gressed as favorably for, us since the issue o
the Proclamation as before.
+ | know as fully as one can know the opin-
> ions of Others, that some of the commander:
4 fof our armies in the field who have given III
n. our most important victories believe the eman
J., cipation policy and the use of colored troop.
e constitute the heaviest blows yet death to the
e Rebellion, and that at least one of those i'm
1! portant successes could not have been achieved
% when it was but for the aid of black soldiers
I'll Among the commanders of these views ar,
II some who have never had any affinity witt
what is called, t:Abolitienisn" or with +" Re
publican party politics. 7, but who hold then
= purely as military opinions. submit thei
IL opinions as being entitled to some weigh
= against the objectfors often urged that eman
: cipation and arming the blacks are unwise al
: : military measures, and were not adopted a
: such in good faith. 81
d You say that you will not5ight to free ne
j. groes. Some of them seem willing to fgh
IS for you-but no matter. Fight you then, ex
IS clusively, to save the Union; issued the
2 Proclamation on purpose to aid you inlsavins
: the Union. Whenever you shall have con
?, quered all resistance to the Union, if l shal
- urge you to continue lighting, it will be an ap
&c time then for you to declare You will no
fight to free negroes. I thought that in you
: struggle for the Union, to whatever exten
o. the negroes should cease helping the enemy
10 to that extent it Weakened the. enemy in hi
y resistance to You. Do you think differently
y thought that whatever negroes can be go
~ L., r.