The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-07-01

in this fight, to avenge the act bv which, be-
fore the first gun was fired at Sumter, the
Democratic party was slain in the house lof
its friends. For if have any more party
bitterness of feeling in me, it is because they
struck down the Democratic party before they
assailed the Government. -. f..s,t
Have you any more objections to the pros
5eeution of this war If you have I would
ike to- know what they are | have no more
on my list, and made it up from a speech
of distinguished friend of mine on the 9th
er side, in which Tsuppo.ed he had Them all
,summedII up. ia rH eza5 1T5f szssas /
Well you say you want peace between
these two divided sections. Bless your soul,
my friend, so do l, and so does every man in
the length and breadth ef this land !; and so
for seven long years through the ySaEsof the
revolution, we wanted peace all the time
and so;in the war Of 1872, we asked for peace
continually. But daring neither of these
were we willing to take peace if it trammeled
our hands or sacrificed our honor If you
want peace now, pray tell me how you are
going to get it. What is your programme 2
L have read seven or eight speeches recently
and have heard of none but that proposed
by Fernando Wood and that is by diploma
1cy.s But diplomacy is not sharp enough in
the edge yet You have heard about peace
com! romises, but the papers of the Southern
States, from the Richmond Enquirer down to
the lowest seven by nine have howled back
the proposition in your teeth. and declared
you should get no peace but by acknowledge
ing the Southern Confederacy. Are you viii
ling to give it'up, and acknowledge the Con-
federacy? [" No, no.'' ls Are you prepared
ito .dissever the bonds of this Union p
8 f. Never" Then don't talk about peace,
till You conquer it with the sword Don't
talk about peace till you have won it with
honor. under the Constitution and the flag,
and reduced the rebels to subsection. l tell
you that you can win no peace by diplomacy,
for they will make no concessionto YOU, aid
they will spurn you, if you ask them to make
it. Is -a5E uH. 9 sfa f
Well, how do you expect to get peace p
For the life of me, can't see how YOU are
going to get it. Do you expect to get it by
atrammeling and binding the hands of the ma
tlon-by refusing men and money to carry on
the war, or by putting into power an Admin
istration opposed to the further prosecution
OF Il? II you do then you are preparing
chains to bind yourselves IN a servitude more
degrading than that which the negro suffers
IN the South. How can you obtain peace
IN any other way than by fighting it out p
A yoice-"By the Crittenden resolution."7
1t is said the Crittenden resolution might
bring 1t about. The resolution was offered to
them before they fred upon Sumter, and not
a man was ready to take it, and the North
would have been very sorry if thev had ac-
Ecepted 1t; for [. for one. xpurn the Crittenden
resolution, and do it for the reason that the
first gun fred upon Sumter relieved us from
the thraldom of slavery; and l never desire
to. see peace restored, with the political power
OF this institution reinstated What guaran-
tee have you, my friends, that the Crittenden
resolution would secure peace-that it would
be acceptable to the other side, and to the
people of this side Ny private opinion is,
that 1t would be accepted here no more than
by them. Politicians may talk as they
please, there are but two issues; one is to ac-
knowledge the Southern Confederacv. and the
other Is submission on their part to the de-
mands of the Government - You NAV ex-
anime all the propositions you can find and
you can come to no, other conclusion than this.
But why do you desire peace You tell
me you want to stop the shedding of blood
Let me tell you something I know in regard
to this point. men who are fighting our
battles don't want you to make any dishono-
rabLe peace to save them. All that these gall
lant men ask of you is to stop your blessed
tongues-stop sowing dissensions-stop Civ
ing aid and comfort to the enemy, and let
them fight out the contest. Great applause I
tell you, my Democratic friends, your SYM
pathy for the soldier is all thrown away And
as for yourself, there are none of your bones
in danger, and am afraid will never be, un-
less you are sconscripted,, Sby-and-by. [Ap-
plause. /. a 7ah hf-,s. 1slsf a.g'1a rdlL
What next? Why, we are running up. an
enormous public debt, and taxes are becoming
heavy. Well, if you want to settle this war
by diplomacy. acknowledge these fellows, and
take their debt of eight hundred millions, and
pay also. l think, however, that would
not be a good financia! operation. l. think
there would be something made in this re-
speet by lighting it out. and, Mississippi fash
ION, repudiat!ng their debt. A soldier =
That's just what we soldiers in Mississippi
say"] The soldiers are right, then. s.tcs., :
Ii there is any thing in this war beside the
shedding of blood and the increase of taxa
ton. that requires we should stop it by ac-
ceptlng diShonorabl peace, 1 don't know of
1T. Is the country suffering in any great de-
gree Have we not the sunshine and the
shower :? Do we not receive the fruits of our
labor in due season? Our taxes, you say,
are heavy, and so they are but our produce
s5better, and money is plenty and as good as
we ever had, and the world is free to our COM
merce. Is this war oppressive to us who stay
at home, in any injurious way No, we
have seen 1t is not. But you want the war
stopped. Shall I asl-you whether there is
not lurking in your mind behind all this spe-
cial pleading, this idea, that there is a little
dount about our being able to whip those men
with the forces we have there, ard that you
may have to leave the comforts of home, and
the prosperity of business, to help finish the
work ?, If you entertain this notion, all I
have to say is, that the moment yon make a
dTshonorable peace, that moment this great fa-
Drlc OF government, under which we enjoy all
this prosperty,pis swept away ." like the base
less fabric of a vision" and you would soon
| md yourselves reduced to poyerty,as well as
disgrace. There is nothing that calls to an
honorable peace but the arbitrament Of the
sword and he who clamorS for any other,
does not understand the position which we
ocaupy, or is actuated by motive which /
dislike here to name.<--z--~-=
Well, you want to know what is going to
| be the future of this, contest; you want to
know what will be the state of things
when we subdue the rebels-for I have a rea-
sonable belief thatwe are going to whip them
after while. Some oEe is troubled for fear
there will be a vast number of negroes turned
loose, who will come up and interfere. with
Northern labor, A volce-""ITter have
been good many here a long tme"J Yes,
therewere some here before left thirty years
/ ago, and there is no use to argue on this ques-
ton, for where they will go, or what they will
| dc, we must leave for the future to determine.
There may, be a portion of the blacks that
scatter throughout the North, but a small por-
ton, for climate, and the character of the la
Dor will drive them away. The probable re-
suit will be that the political character of the
| institution having been destroyed, ,emancpa-
| ton in some form will permit them to remain
where they are. But for fear such a result