Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1863-01-17

'i"sS VI loyul tlVlAtlS VINO, ABOVE all
others, are entitled to the protection OF
the government are those who have re-
manned true to the flag of our country.
And yet the sole force of this proclama-
lion is directed against them. May not
this measure, so clearly impolitic, un-
Just, and unconstitutional, and which is
calculated to create so many barriers to
the restoration Of the Union, be mscon
strued by the world as an abandonment
oil the hope or the purpose ofrestoring
it--a result to which the State Of New
York is unalterably opposed, and which
will be eilectually resisted.
We must not only support the Constitu--
ton Of the United States and maintain the
rights Of the states, but we must restore
our Union as it was before the outbreak ol
the war. The assertion that this war was
the unavoidable result Of slavery is not
only erroneous, but it has led to disas-
trous policy i'll its prosecution. The opin-
ion that slavery must be abolished to re-
store our Union creates an antagonism
between the free and the slave state, which
ought not to exist. If it is true that slavery
must be abolished by the force of the fed
eral government; that the South must be
held in military subjection; that four
millions OF negroes must, for many years
be under the direct management OF au-
;horities at Washington at the public ex-
pense; then indeed, we must endure the
waste of the crimes in the field, further
drains upon our population, and still
greater burdens Of debt. We must not con
vert our government into a military des-
potism. The misehievous opinion that in
th contest the North must subiugate and
destroy the South to save our Union has
weakened the hopes of our citizens at home
and destroyed confidence in our success
abroad.
THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN STATES.
Il is a suggestive fact, anording instruc-
ton and hope for the future, that the the
ories which have exercised an evil inhu-
euee on our national politics did not
originate in what may be called the heart
of the Union, among the intimate and
acquainted populations of the Central
and Western States, where the states per-
mitling and forbidding slavery are in ac-
by the great east and west lines of COM
merce and intercourse They have been
developed almost entirely in two sections
comparatively isolated by position, tradi-
tions, and peculiar habits of thought, and
least connected with the more homogene-
ous mass OF our people. There have been
extreme northern views and extreme
southern visws, but also the broader and
more tolerant views OF the more populcus
Central and Western States. These ex-
tend on both sides of that indenturing
boundry between slave" and Gree
states, which is not line of opposing
opinions, but of intermingling interests
Their plains are interlocked by continent
rivers, and not divided by mountain
ranges. These states are region Of har-
monizing views and sympathies. They
are not only bound together by peculiar
Interests, but also by strong reasons fol
resisting division on that boundary
which would make them frontier states.
which would replace their cordial inter
course by hostile relationship, and throw
upon them all the greatest and sharpest
evils of the separation. Thus, while
they do not share the passions and preju-
dices OF those extreme states which strove
TO enlist them in the contest, they have
motives of the highest interests to restore
the old order Of things and OF the gravest
apprehension from separation. This
war blights and destroys the hopes and
the happiness OF this region, while the
sections whose passions and interests
lindled it are mainly remote from the
terrible suffering it has caused.
The Western and Central States en-
listed warmly in a war for the Union and
Constitution. The northern tier of "save
states" Except Eastern Virginia) earnest
ly supported the government in its policy
while it was consistent with this purpose,
which was known as the "Border State
policy" Both the administration and
Congress declared their sole purpose to
b. to restore the Union and maintain the
Constitution. When the administration
abandoned this policy, and took up the
views of extreme Northern States, it lost
at the late election, nearly all the politi-
cal support which the Central and West
ern States afforded in the elections of
1869 and 1861.
While the North cannot hold the south.
ern States in subsection without Destroy
ing the principles of our government, the
great Central and Western States can
control the two extremes, They will not
,cept the views of either as safe guides
in the conduct of public affairs. This is
shown by the political history of our
country during the past four years. When
it was believed that the late aaministra-
ton was controlled by the views of the
Gulf States, itlost its power in the Cen
tral and Western region. The opposing
party, to gain public support, were obliged /,
by assurances and resolutions, to repel the
charges that they would interfere with
slavery in the states, and they denounced :,
as unjust, the imputation that they held
the views of the aboitiopists Of the ex-
treme northern section. Without these
pledges they could not have gained politi-