The mountain Democrat., 1863-02-21
From ths AIbany EvtAiAs Journal or Jaauaryn.
Where are We 1--WhSRe nRAesssA~t

the certainty Of war; aud who, in a meas
ure, comprehended both its magnitude
and its horrors.
1t is always an ofense in an Individual,
10 ioresee evils, and especially 90 to at.
tempt to avert or even to be prepared for
them.
For an article then written, asking the
President, Congress, md cur readers, to
raise their eyes and thoughts above the
horizon of party, and contemplate crisis
/ ~nGCH "Oufu e1x ruc rnerEGes OF tue peU-
! pie and test the strength Of our Govern
ment, we incurred the denunciations Of
many, and the friendly censure OF most of
the Republican journals. .-r.
! Subsequently, when rebellion was ram
pant in the extreme Southern States, a
question whether North Carolina and Ten
nessee should remain in the Union or 20
out Of il, arose. We all remembeg the
Border State Proposition" upon the
adoption Of which, by Congress, rebel
lion, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic,
would have been bounded by the South.
ern lines Of Tennessee and North Caro-.
lima. With modification which the BOr-
der State representatives offered to accept
we advocated that compromise" And
for this, also, we were severely denounc-
ed. In the Peace Congress" where the
Legislature honored US with seat which
/ we resigned in favor of distinguished
citizen, the "Border State Proposition"
was again rejected, and consequently two
States, majority of whose citizens de-
sired 10 remain 10 the Union, were lost,
With North Carolina and Tennessee in
the Union, Virginia could not have gone
out Of it.
We should, therefore, instead Of sacri-
ficing hundreds Of thousands Of lives and
hundreds Of millions of treasure in North
! Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Ken.
! tucky, have reserved those troops and that
! treasure to crush out rebellion 10 the cot
ton States. r...t.
/ The rebellion-as wanton and wicked
! as any that stains the pages of history
/ thus embracing more States than was ne
cessary, has been nearly two years in pro-
i gresS, with what measure of success and
with what promise of termination we
can judge, one as well ~ another. Its
lessons teach us that it requires all the
strength of united North to preserve the
Union and uphold the Government We
Lad at the commencement of the war a
| united North. The elimination Uf- trea-
son, in its attack on Fort Sumter, kindled
blaze OF indignant patriotism over the
whole North. East and West. All merely
! partisan feeling was merged in higher and
nobler impulses. All good and true men,
! in imitation Of their ancestors at Concord,
and Lexington in l776, rushed to arms or
! contributed money.
! Then We were, in the language Of Mr..
Jefferson, "all Republicans, all Federal
lists, or in other language, "all Republi.
cans, all Democrats. For the firSt year
the war had, with few exceptions, the
hearty support Of both and all political
parties.
1t was prosecuted earnestly, but with
indifferent success, with more heart than
head, more zeal than knowledge. We had
/ gallant troops, commanded by incapable
! generals, made SO probably by newspaper
and other interference. At any rate, the
/ i'll success of our armies caused popular
! ihpaticnce, Of which those whose ultra
anti slavery views enabled the secession
leaders to mass the sentiment of the cot
ton States, availed themselves to impart
! an Abolition character to the war.
! The evidence before us-in the rivers
OF blood shed and the millions Of treasure
expendcd--that the preservation Of our
| Union and government demand the best
and united energies and efforts of the
. whole people, is yalueless. What all uni
ted have so far failed to accomplish, the
Abolition chic,s and journals insist upon
undertaking as party.
+ They demand that the war shall be pro-
/ secuted under their auspices and for their
purposes. Mems opinions on the slavery
/ question must be Heightened or shorten
cd, in accordance with Procustean ex.
, ample.
These impracticable, one-idea lecturers
and journalists, aided by the unfortunate
"On TO Richmond" military disasters,
have already withdrawn New York, New
Jersey, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois from
the political support of the Administra
! lion.
Too many of the Democratic leaders in
these StateS-eSpeciaily in Ohio, Indiana
and Illlnois-are' Of the Vallandigham
school. This false, disloyal man, with
shame be it confessed, found Sympathizng
friends to welcome and feast him at q Sc
cession hotel in the city Of New York
Still the masses of the Democracy, and
most Of their prominent men, are truly
devoted to the Union, and remain willing
to contribute their money and peril their
lives to sustain the Government. But in
this there is ne merit, unless they adopt
the dangerous anti-slaverY platform and
accept tie dogmas of the New York Tri
bune.
Will those of our old Wing friends,
now so impatient with, and differing so
widely from us turn their minds few
/ years backwards and remember what they
then thought cf Abolition and what its
course and action was ? Was it not mar
row, perversc aud mischievous! Did it
not exert a vicious and malign political
| influence? Did it not, for 90 years, at
our elections, State and National, ever
play into the hands of pro slavery Demo.
Gratis While we were laboriRg for the
right, doing all We could for the Union
| and the country, were We not embarrass.
ed and thwarted by this factious, imprac-
ticablc "Third Party ~" Who were its
leaders then? Messrs. Garrison, Phillips,
Sumner, Gerrit Smith, etc, etc. Did we
trust TO their Judgment or follow their
lead, or vote with them, then? Are not
the same men, with Mr.. Greeley, fully de.
velOped, as a disciple, the Abolition lead
ers now? Have they grown wiser, or Ia
your own intellect dwarled, or has your
common sense collapsed? If the North
rejected Abolition as merely political
test, will it be accepted when the lives Of
our sons and brothers DdY4he pFeserva-
ton of cur country are involvedi Ifwe