The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1864-04-13

| itanoe for TIE assurance of which their fathers
died and we demand it for the further rea-
son that the best interests of the country and
| of mankind require it. rftt -.
! Were such wise and saving policy 70 be
| adopted even at this late day, and after so
many faithless violations Of pledges to abide
| BY the law and abjure revolution, there woul9
be ne further necessity of apology for execu-
tive tinksring with the eovefnments Of. the
States It would, to be sure disappoint the
fanatics by defeating the insane purpose
to turn loose upon tie country four mil
lion negroes, helpless and unprovided' for, and
entirely untitled for the position intAnded to
be, thrust upon. them; but it would, at the
same time, protect the Incompetent negroes
against the inhuman policy of depriving them
of the most needed, and to them essentizt
benefits of the system to which they were
bern.z 1t might defeat, or at least defer the
great philanthrophic design of those transcen-
dental abolitionists who. propose by process
which they call ssmiscegenation," word Of
their scholarly invention, to improve thebone,
skin, musLle, hair, and brain of their fellow
citizens, and especially their own posterity.
the process being che amalgama alton. of the in-
ferior blood with the superior blood of the Af-
rican. But as this is an exceedingly ravish-
ing idea among its votaries, and is earnestly
propagated in lectures and songs, and to some
extent in the pulpit, it is possible that the re-,
! turn of the negro to his condition of seryitude
would ouly defer the benefits of .smiscegena-
tion" to a time when the philosophy Of the
thing shall be better comprehended. ~. Ts
1t might somewhat enfeeble certain party
by diminishing the contemplated advantage
of African support at the balIot-box, an adj
vantage which could appreciate when I found
the names of more than half hundred ne
groes whe voted to give the seat i occupy to-
my opponent upon the poll-boeks of single
precinct in my district. Had there been -
many more of them, should no. have been
here to tell the story. cannot see that these
considerations, however important some :peo-
pie may regard them, shorld have operated TO-
change the promised mode OF suppressing the
rebellion.
& one more of the objectio6s to carrying out
the constitutional programme In disposing Of
the rebellion ought to be noticed beforqsl
leave that point. It would render vain and
fruitless all that learned ingenuity which HaR
enabled majority of this House to put such
novel and before unheard-of interpretation
upon the Constitution, that by asWeeping 6ou4
fscation of southern estates and the political
disfran chisements of their owners the who1a
country may fall, with: just compensation to
nobody, into the hands Of human cofmofant1
whose greedy selfshness would insinuake itself
between the people and restoration Of the
Union. s4 .5ss5 Is.., =.
tIs charged tat we oppose the war and
seek to embarass the Administration. The
proposition thus abstraetly stated is not true.
I've oppose perversion of the war to any Fur-
pose of party asgsrandizement, to any purposes
of revolution, to any purpose other than It's
originally declared object, to preserve the Con-
stitutien, Government aud Union. In the
light of war designed to accomplish and able
to accomplish this object, We never oppesedlt,
nor did we ever seek to embarrass the Admin.
istration in carrying it on. We deprecated
the commen cement of war and sought through
our representatives in the councils of the ma
ton to give effect to the common sentiment of
the conservative portion of the people by the
adoption of the measure of com promise and con-
ciIlatlon proposed by the patriotic Crittenden..
We looked with strained eyes and hoped with.
throbbing hearts fer an adjustment upon that
easy and equitable basis, which should avert the.
threatened calamity. We know by the most
incontrovertible evidsnce, by the direct testi-.
mony of Douglas and Pugh, that the lnfiuen-
tial Representatives of the South, who held se-
cession in their hands as clouds in the troub-
led sky hold lightning, were willing to remain
in the Union if that measure of compromise
should be adopted and the incoming Admins
tration would pledge itsslf-to its faithful OBJ
servance. The Democracy, favoring the meas
ure, gave it their hearty support, but visions
Ct new born power and. predominating sover-
eighty controlled the Republican mind. mo
compromise with slavery" was their motto, not
even to avert disunien and war. Having the
controlling power they reiested the proposi.
ton. Secession. was soOn accomplished and
war came speedily. f,.4..ss.
The Administration declared the principle
upon which the war should be conducted.-
To show what that declaration was, as have
not the official records at hand, i take the lb-
erty to quote from very able and patriotle
message of the Governor of New jersey, re-
Gently communicated to the Legislature OF
that State. Speaking of The object OF the
war, the Governor says:
"This object on the part of the Government,
was explicitly stated by resolution passed
unanimously by the House of Representatives,
soon after. the; commencsmc OF hostllties,
and which still stands as the authoritative dec
laratien of the popular branch of Congress
(By pareuthesis l must say that 1t the worthy
Governor had known how many times that
resolution had been laid on the table by the
votes of a majority Of the House during this
session he would have omitted the latter
clause That resolution declares that "the war
is rot waged for the purpose of oyerthrowing
or interfering with the rights and established :
institutions of the States, but to defend and
maintain the supremacy Of the Constitution,
and to preserve the Union, with all the dlgni-
ty, equality, and rights of the several states
unimpaired, and that as soon as these objects
are accomplished the war-ought to cease
In the published correspondence OF the State
Department the sameidea is forcib' y expressed
in the following language The rights OF the
States and the condition of every human be- :.
ing in them will remain subject to exactly the
same laws and forms of administration Wheth-
er the revolution should succeed or whether
If shall fail, In the one case
the State would be fcdcrally connected with
the new confederacy, in the other they would
be, as now, members OF the United States; but
their constitutions ard laws, customs, habits,
and institutions in either case woa.,t remain
tho same.' In repudiating Indignantly any
intention on the part of the ifxeeutive 10 dis
turb the institutions of the States, the writer
adds sAny such effort op his rart would be
nao,st;tnt;onaI and all his acfians II, that fli-