Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1863-01-31
PEACE PROSPECTS.

precept or Christianity as wen Us every
principle Of moral ethics imposes upon all
men the duty of cultivatng peace, Of prac-
ticing charity, and of contributing, so far
as we may, to promote the prosperity and
happiness Of others. We find ourselves
now involved in wild. spread and DESC
lating civil war; one which is carrying
sorrow and ruin to the remotest corners
Of our country, and it becomes US calmly
and dispassionately to consider how we
may the most speedily bring the untortu
nate contest to an honorable conclusion
There are two theories which at present
occupy public attention, and the success
of one or the other as the controlling
principle upon which the war is to be pros
ecuted depends upon the decision of the
people. If we act well our part We shall
favor the one which promises peace at the
earliest day. The Republican theory is to
prosecute the war until there is a total
complete, and unconditional surrender Of
those in rebellion against the Government,
and until slavery shall have been entirely
destroyed. The objections to this policy
are, lst- That tie consumation Of the
grand scheme is extremely doubtful
Nearly two years of war have already
elapsed. We have sent over million of
brave men into the field; hundred thou
sand lives have been sacrificed public
debt of thousand million dollars mas
been contracted; happy homes desola.ed !;
cities destroyed; extensive regions laid
waste, and yet upon a calm survey Of the
whole field, Henry WARD BEEcHER, one
OF the a5lest and most ardent advocates
of this policy, admits that the result thus
far has been failure upon our part that
We have really made no material progress
in crushing the rebellion. The grand di,
visions Of our army are at this moment in
a critical position; the destruction of
BvRNs!DE's army may at any moment
place our Capital in peril, while the defeat
Of RosGNCRANs would be speedily followed
by the invasion OF Tennessee and Ken
lucky. We may scarsely hope for any
considerable augmentation of our forces
Every motive that could operate to induce
men TO volunteer has been exhausted,
conscription has proved failure, our Ma.
tional currency has deprecated over 80
per cent. Under the most favorable cir
cumstances then we can reasonably hope
for nothing better from this policy than a
pro'racted and ruinous contest. 21d-lf
wesucceed we shall have on hand 4 100000
slaves with the grea. question forced upon
US for soiuton-What shall be done with
them? A question which the wisest and
best of our statesmen have regarded as
traught with imuent danger to our Ma.
ton; and 3d--If we succeed the last re-
source of the South will have been ex-
hausted. They will submit from the force
OF necessity as conquered people, their
feelings towards Us viii be those of tie
most inveterate and unrelentng hatred,
they will yield as Ireland did TO England,
Poland to Russia, or Hungary to Austria.
Aud though long ages may elapse, and
generations pass away the story of their
conquest will ever be cherished, and the
6 IL l.
their OppressCrs, and to seek the earliest
opportunity to renew the bloody contest
With slavery destroyed the provisions of
the old Constitution will be no longer ad.
missable. Such terms can only be pro
posed for reconstruction as would be
spurned with the same uuanimity that they
would have been when the original COM
pact was formed. They will never become
voluntary parties to another Union, they
will only be held in subsection as con.
qnered provinces by the power of the bay.
onet, an immense standing army will be
continually required, in word the Union
will be destroyed, and q vast military des
potism will be substituted in its stead.
On the other hand is the Democratic
policy which is based II pom the theory that
there has been mutual wrong, which re.
quires mutual concessions, and that by
such concessions peace and good feeling
may be restored, conceedng as did our
Fathers that slavery is an evil, the dem
ocra,ic doctrine is that the Constitution
has left it with the States as local insti.
tuition, and that it is not within the prov
ince of the Nation to interfere with il -
They maintain that the war should be Wig.
orously prosecuted solely with view to
peace, and restoration of the Union
Unwilling to entertain any thought of
separation, they would have the South
distinctly understand that they desire them
to return to their allegiance, not as Vas.
sails, or dependents, but as equals, they
would have them know that we seek not
to interfere in any way with their local
institutions or personal rights, that so soon