New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-10-05
THE MISSOURI DELEGATION.


THE MISSOURI DELEGATION.
Whether il is or il not difficult TO judge be-
tween existing parties in State 30 distant as
Missouri, and where, as both were generated OF
war; both are marked by the fierce passions
which war brings into play, there is one point
about which, as it is no, question Of Judgment
but of fact, none can be mistaken. The con-
dition Of that State is most deporablo This
nobody prctends to doubt or deny and as 1t Is
the basis Of the complaints and circumstances
of one Of these partics. it may serve to aid the
public in coming to Just decision as 10 which
Of the two Is nearest right. For that condition
The Radicals hold their opponents to be respon'
able. The Conservatives, Of course, deny II,
but they do no, deny the existence oil the iaeti
nor do they. so fax as we know. pretend to sho"
that ,ha, condition has legitimate causes inde-
pendent Of the policy Of the Gamble Govern
meni
The State. through large portion of It's ter
rtory. is given over to rap,ne and murder In
no other Border State is il SO dangerous to be
marked a. loyal to the Government Of the Uni
ted S'a'cs rs il Is to-day in large portion oil
Missouri. aien make c.tadcls of their houses.
examine u ,ir arms. which they lay by then
bedsdes before going 20 a troubled rest, count
ing always upon the possibility oi midnight at
tacks, perhaps from neighbors, perhaps from
wandering bands of bu,hwhackcrs the murder
OF them families and the burning Of their houses
over their heads. They have no protection ifom
the civil Law, and in military rule there II no
.aieeuard. Citizens in towns, whose only crime
II their loyalty to the Union, dare not 60 a mile
from their homes lest they be shot from thickot
o, some other place Of concealmen,, and men III
rural districts, who are obnoxious for the same
rcason-their well.knosn loyalty-daTe not step
on their own thrcshkolds. without. riilc or re-
yoyer. There are throughout that State many
housclcss wandercrswhose homes have been LAID
waste, and many more, under like persecu-
ton, have sought safety and peace beyond her
borders. No traveller can ride many miles over
any railroad OF Western Missour. without count
ng the manglcd bodies of murdered men by the
waysidc nor without observing that The coun'
try he Is passing through Is one made deSolate
by tic hand OF an enemy " Claybanh' or
" Charcoal" Conservative" or Radical
fact is patent, undcned, and indiSpuable, that
the larger part Of Missouri, and especially il
western section is at this momen, given over to
arson and murder and robbery, is lapsing fast
into a condition of utter anarchy, to end-un-
less speedy remedy be applied-in bloody
and cruel civil war.
Il is this condition of things which has
prompted the visit of large delegation flvm
Missouri to the President at Washington, some
Of whom addressed public meeting IN this city
on Friday evening. They represent nearly sixty
counties Of the State, and were appointed by Il
Mass Convention Of the people held on the LIST
of September. Among them aye men OF all
classes, farmers, mechanics professional mon,
men from the country, men from the towns,
shareholders and non-slavoholders. The party
to which they belonged numbered, year ago,
nearly onc.half the people of the State, count
lug against them all that portion of the popula.
ton which, as in every Border State, only pre-
tends to be loyal under fear Of tho law, and is
rs openly traitorous to the Union as it dares to
be- Many Of them have suffered in their own
persons some Of these wrongs to which We have
just alluded; nearly all of them subject them
selves and their families TO fresh perls in vcntur-
ing from home on such an GRAND. Some Of their
younger men, burning with the memory of the
peril they know they have left at home, may be
more rash of speech than we, in the calm sense
Of our security from lawlcss and numerous
bushwhackcrs, and the quiet enjoyment Of the
reign of law, can possibly approve. But these
men, we know, are, for the most part, sober and
thinking men, entitled to respect, and in the
representations which they make to tho Chief
Magistrate of the nation, speak with tho voice
Of at least half the people of the State of Mis-
souri,. They point their argument with the
dangers and distress of many thousands of
women and children, and with more fearful per-
lis yet " come. They ask protection aud aid