The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-09-23

erDment OF the Confederation They went v
out of the Union without cause and now to n
get them hack without war you must admit il
the right of Secession. We are told that we o
must treat with them and as prerequisite to
that we must of course acknowledge chem as
a power to be treated with, and that ack knowl- v
edgemeDt would be tantamount to the aflnls-t t
sion OF their right-to secede.s The whole re- c
sponsibility is placed upon the Administration, e
the rebels are not TO blame, and of course tha
conclusion of the Democracy is that tn ay had |
a right to go out of the Union. II
Butfwhen and where did they ever say that
they would come back into the Union on our
admission of the right of secess on? If we
should blast the memories of all the brave
soldiers that have gone down in battle for the
Union, and overwhelm with disgrace the wild
ows and orphans of the glorious dead, and de-
are that all you have expended has been to
carry on war of most atrocioous murder and
robbery; war unconstitut onal, cruel and
wicked in the extreme-If we would say all
this, we have not the least assurance that they
will come back within the folds of the Union Z
But you are told that there are some means
of compromising these difficulties. Now, it
is clear enough to any candid mind, that there
rcan be no compromise. All compromises that
h we been talked of, have been aptly styled
b. the President imaginary compromises. N +
p OPPOSITION has ever been made by the Con-l
! ,derate Government nor by any persons of
influence in the traitor government, for COM
promise. A compromise presupposes both
parties TO have been in the wrong, and while
the traitors will not acknowledge themselves
to be wrong as long rs they have consider
able party of friends in the North who insist
that they are not wrong, by throwing all the
blame upon the Republican party, who, with
the least manhood or patriotism, will acknowl-
edge the North to be wholly guilty of this
wa =? protest against the Acknowledgements
that the North has been wrong in any respect.
There is no act of the President. or of Con-
gress that justifes or gives the least color of
right to the rebellion. All that was done by
the Administration previous to the commence
ment of hostilities against the traitors was
one continued series of concessions to them
But how will we compromise ? What is
there to compromise about. l take it that
the compromises themselves, on approaching.
the subject, would be perpiexed in answering
the question what is there to compromise
about ? The South will say that they must
have ample room for slavery; we must have
the hit TO carry our slaves throush h the free
| States, and to whatever Territory we may
choose to take them; it was because these
rights were not conceded TO us that we broke
up the Democratic !arty, and then broke up
the Union. ,s.s-,..- ~. :.
No, my friends We ask. the restoration
/ of the Union by the Submission of the traitors
! and the full acknowl wledgment of the suprem-
! acy of the flag and of the binding obligation
to submit to the decision of the ballot-box at
all times and on all questions VIII you tell
me how you will compromise? Will you do
! it on the terms demanded by the South? II
! so, you should have done it before the war
broke out-you should have done it in the
Charleston Co vention. Ifyou will not yield
to the South, then they will make no treaty.
If you undertake treaty, what will you
do with the Mississippi river? Then there
4 are the States of Missouri, Kentucky, West
ern Virginia, Maryland and Delaware-w
will YOU do with them? Shall they go into
the Southern Confe1eracy? VIII you give
up the control of the great river to the rebels
to tax your prodnce as they please, on its way
to the markets of the world? Will you con-
sent that this great highway of your un-
Il bounded commerce shall come under the con-
troll of a foreign power? You have it nowi
/ You had it before the war-the rebels seized
its control, but you have noby rescued it at g
vast cost of blood and treasure, ard will yor
now give it up? mo! mol Then you car
CO promise nothing.
Then, if you will look at the map, you vii
find a series of mountains, extending through
Virginia, along the Carolinas, Kentucky, Teu
nessee, and into Georgia and Alabama. Yo,
will find these mountains of the average widtl
}, ofathree hundred miles, and embracing abou
three hundred thousand square miles. Yor
will find that from the day the rebels fire,
the first gun upon Sumter up to the p esen
time, those mountain regions have never fal
teredin their loyalty Y'U wili ;ind thai th
men and women of tiitse mountains have as
, serted and maintained their loyalty at a sacri
flee unparalleled in the history of war
! Thank God for these mountains and the har
dy. liberty lcyipg mountaineers who coul
rot be seduced by the anti democratic doc
r trines of the Southi
What will you do with this mountain re
gion? This region extending through min
/ States, and containing people to whom al
y lovers of the Union are under profound obi
f CATION? VIII you give it back to slavery
3 l. No, no. With this region in Your contro
you break the backbone Of the South.
d How will you compromise by dividing th
E Union God Almighty has set his seal upo
r the mountaineers all over the globe as tn
S lovers of freedom He has also made one TIA
e whole Of the great valley of the Mississippi
0 and he who attempts to violate the DEGREES {
t God by dividing what he has made one, Wi
fix upon himself the stigma of treason, nc
Y only to his Government, but treason ais
f against the Eternal.
We may talk about compromise at ou
q pleasure, but We can have no peace by com
: promise. We must get it by war, and by wa
. alone. Our brave soldiers in the field are th
: only possible peacemakers in this struggle, AN
the Scripture says: Blessed are the peace
V makers" If, therefore, you want peace. as
r know you do--if you wish to preserve tn
t Union, give no ear to the propositions of tn
Y enemy; give no ear to those who assail th
! Administration. We have those in the fiel
: who are amply adequate to the task of max
e ing The Only peace that is possible, or tn,
will be worth having.
G Ours is to-day plain duty and most so
9 emn dttty God has never imposed upon an
r people duty more religious than the dut
: imposed upon us at this hour Our father
n conquered for us, by long years Of sacrifice an
il carnage, the inestimable privileges of OF
!. Constitution Let us follow the sanctife
d example of our patriotic and heroic sires, i
n braveIy standing up to our high duties. A
t they fought seven years to lay the founds
d tions of this glorious Republic, let us fgf
/. seven years. and if need be seven times seve
|. years, to defend and preserve it, (Great al
O plause.) Let us ever be ready to take tn
r. Southern people back into our embrace, whe
: they will come with determination to /
e loyal for the future; but let us see to it tn,
;. we do not sacrifice all the blood and treasul
:. we have expended by surrendering our mar
e hood, and liberty itself, in attempting yainl
to coax them back. Let lis not be afraid
O hurting these rebels. They have done ever
It thing possible in the attempt to destroy u
= opd II ic necessary that thew be properly cha.