Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1864-10-22

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Is enough.
It must be clear to every candid mind, that
a settlement on the basis OF disunion, Tar
from securing a permanent peace, VIII be
nothing but a mere, temporary armlstlce, ana
must. after a short trial, produce the strength
ened conviction in the minds of our people,
that for the peace, liberty, and prosperity OF
the North American continent, the restora-
ton of the Union is an absolute necessity.
(Great applause.l And what then: The war
will be resumed But under what circum
stances Now We fight the South alone, as
legitimate government fights rebellious
combination; then we shall have to fight a
recognized fully organized, and immensely
strengthened Confederacy, with her European
cotton allies at her heels. Now We have the
Mississippi: we have the most important
points on the Atlantic coast; we have the
great central position of East Tennessee we
have the heart of Georgia. We shall give up
| all this, merely for the privilege of paving
every foot of that road again with our dol
lars and of sprinkling every inch of it again
with the blood of our people! Great APP
plause.) Omy good friends in England and
France do you not think, after all, that
while we are at it, it will be wisest and most
economical for us TO so through with IL
| You, who affect such holy horror of war
4
all. that it will be a great saving of blood
and calamity if we persevere in a war of
which We can see the end, instead of running
| into one that will be interminable
Pardon me for devoting so much time To a
i subject upon which your convictions are set
/ tied. Such arguments may also be lost upon
the peace clamorers in France and England
But it might be well, perhaps, for them TO
| know that our people can see no peace but in
| Union, and that their efforts to persuade US
to the contrary will indeed fail in their object,
but will certainly confirm us in the suspicion
that they may love peace well, but would love
| the permanent dismemberment of the Repub-
lie better. (Applause.)
THE cOPPERHEAD PLAN.
| Peace with disunion Icing impossible, it is
necessary, then, if for the sake of peace alone,
/ that the Union should be restored. And how
can il be restored: Either by the volunta-
nv or forced submission of the rebels to the
/ lawful authority of the Government This
leads us to the third class of peace makers.
| There is party al ong US which pretends that
il can secure the voluntary submission of the
rebels, and thus restore peace. It's policy is
defined in the following resolution, adopted
| by its National Convention:
| ResoIred That this Convention does explicitly
| declare the sense of the American people, that
after four years of failure to restore the Union by
the experiment Of war, during which, under the
pretense of military necessity a war-power
higher than the Constitution, the Constitution it
self has been disregaTded in every part, and public
liberty and private right alike trodden down, and
the material prosperity of the country essentially
impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the pub
lie welfare demand chat immediate efforts Oe made
for cessation IF hOStiticS, with gieao TO uli
mate conUeaeiO1 Of the States, other peaceable
means, to the end that, at the earliest practicable
moment, peace may be restored on the basis Of the
Fsdcr0t Union Of The States
This policy is to be practically carried out
if that party should be intrusted with the
powers OF the Government, of which it seems
rather confident, inasmuch as it explicitly de-
clarcs that such is the sense of the Ameri-
can people. apprehend the american
people" will claim the privilege of thinking
about this matt r, and will explicitly declare
their sense in due time. (Great applause and
laughter.)
the resolution contains two positive and
definite and one rather indefinite proposition
The two definite propositions are these: First,
that the experiment of war as a means of re-
| storing the Union is failure-this is a clear
and positive statement-and second, that i'm
mediate efforts be made for a cessation of
hOstilities. This is positive also, and, as a
sequence Ofthe first proposition, cannot mean
anything else but that the experiment of war
| must be stopped ana abandoned. Here ends
the clear and positive part of the programme.
The third, indefinite proposition, is, that the
war must be stopped with a view to an ul-
innate Convention of all the States, or other
peaceable MEANS" etc. Mark the words,
with view to-" this looks to a future peri
cd not yet determined, aud is rather foggy.
The first two proposition can be carried in
to effect by the Democratic party, if it should
/ be the seuse of the American people to place
that party in power. 1t can declare, and to
make good its declaration, it can make, the
war a failure; and it can also stop the war.
| But the carrying out of the third proposition
requires the cooperation of Jefferson Davis
and the rebelliOus people of the seeded
States. A Convention of the loyal States
the Democratic party can have, but Con-
ventiOn of all the States, with view to re-
storatiOn of peace on the basis of the Fede
raj Union cannot be had unless such be the
sense of Jefferson Davis and the States in re-
bellion. And if such be not the sense of
jefferson Davis and the Southern Confedera-
cy, what then? That the Chicago platform
saith not. But this is Just the point the
American people should like to know. This
is no idle question: it is just tie question up
on which the whole matter hinges. For,
mark you well, the resolution does not say
1--WE demand cessation of hostiIties on
condition, that Convention of all the States,
or some other peaceable means, by which the
Union can be restored, be agreed to; if not,
We shall continue the war;" but the demand
| of cessation is positive on the ground that
the experiment of war has proved failure;
the war is to be stopped On the demand of
justice, humanity, liberty, and the public well
fare, with view to something that may or
may not happen. / ask again, What if it does
not happen What if Jefferson Davis takes
your cessation of hostilities with view to
laugh at your Convention and other peacea-
BILE means to restore the Union? And this
he is most likely, nay, almost certain to do,
for peace without the condition of reunion is
just what he wants, and Convention and re-
union is Just what he does not want Well,
what then? Will you tacitly acquiesce in
the establishment of the Southern COnfede-
racy: How can you, since you tell us you
are faithful to the Union? Or will you re-
sumo the war? How can you, since you de-
clare that the experiment of war has proved
a failure, and that "justice, humanity, liber-
ty, and the public welfare" demand its cessa-
ton What, then, in the name of common
sense, will you do: Here we look upon
tumble of contradictions so glaring that our
heads begin to reel, and we wonder how it
could happen to the whole wisdom of great
party in solemn convention assembled to
hatch out so bottomless an absurdity. Uaugh-
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