New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-11-12

In the fierce political struggle whence va
have Just emerged, the character capacity, acts
and purposes of the rival candidates were scru-
tinted and canyasscd with proper and hearty
freedom. President Lincoln was handled with
out gloves, and held up to the world a. a vulgar
and heartless bufioon a Clownlsh jester an
ignorant. coarse dullard, who had waged
needless, wicked war upon the South and was
persisting in that war merely TO crafty his own
sordid, groyeiing ambition. Allthis, with much
more, was reiterated necessarily amid the din
of civil war, by journals and speakers under q
rule which is stgmatiZed as a military despotism,
suppressing all opposition by the strong arm,
and filling Bastiles' daily with the victims
Of its lawles5 tyranny. II free speech in
the way Of false accusation and reckless calum
ny was ever illustrated, it has been by the Op-
position throughout the late canvass, without
once provoking the Administration to notice ita
assailants, save in the rare instances where
military commanders have felt constrained 70
deal with treason wearing the gaise Of PARTISAN
ship.
Throughout this canvass O class Of Unionist
writers and speakers have seen fit to hold them
selves quite above the rest of US in their treat
ment Of the Opposition, and especially Of its
Presidential candidate Gen. Mcclellan was,
in their view, a good soldier, al able com
mander, patriot, and even statesman, though
badly compromised By the Chicago Platform,
by his association with Pcndleton, aud By the
character Of certain among bis prominent sup
porters; and we, who thought otherwise,
were stigmatzed as nauOw-mindcd, uncharia-
dc bigots, who could see nothing good in any
one of politics adverse TO our own. Especially
with regard to his Chickahominy campaign and
his retreat thence TO the James, we have been
accused Of treating Gen. Mcclellan with III
reasonable harshness and accrbity.
Now, we fully agree that Gen. McClcllan's
unftness for the Presidency is essentially poIiti
cal. not miltary-that he mi ght have been ever
so loyal and ever so able o commander, and
still it would have been uuwise at this time TO
put him in the place of President Lincoln. We
never designed nor desired to make the recent
contest one Of personalities rather than Of
principles. But the truth is always to be
spoken when anything il, and the fact that
Gen. Mcclellan was a Presidential candidate
solely on the strength Of bis alleged Military
qualities and achieyements-and especially Of
his Chickahominy campfgn-rendcrcd it eXpe-
dent and proper that the pretenaons Of bis sup
porters on this head should be scrutinized and
ventlated-that the truth, and the whole truth,
should be made manifest. And we most firmly
believe that those Unionsts who treated him as
an allie and thoroughly loyal soldier gave his
supporters an advantage. to which they had no
just claim.
That Gen. Mcclellan sincerely desires a res
toration of the Union we have never doubted
We do not doubt that Gov. Rodman NJ. Price
desired that same when he wrote his published
letter, urging that New-JerSey should unite her
fortunes with those Of the Southern Confede-
racy; nor that Judge Woodward did so, even
when he declared that, if the Union were di-
vided, he wished the line Of partition to run
north of Pennsylvania; nor that Horatio Sey-
mour did so even when he suggested that New
York might wisely adopt the Confederate Con-
stitution. That Gen. Mcclellan has always de-
sired and contemplated an ultimate reunion Of
the States, we believe; also, that thousands
who have fought desperately in the Rebel ranks
cherish similar aspirations. OF that theory Of
the Constitution, hitherto predominant at West
Point, which makes the conservation and per.
petustion Of Slavery the chief end of that instru
ment, We deem Gen. III. steadiast adhereat,