The Placer herald., 1864-06-04
SPEECH OF SENATOR HENDERSON

o'"'o, ~ pehdtol HenueTson, or Missouri,
one OF the most moderate Of the Republican
leaders. 1t is well worthy of an attentive
perusal. He said:
There are but two sides to the question.
The one is Union without slavery; the other
is the inm' diate aud unconditional ackuowl,
edgment of the Southern Confederacv. 4 II
therefore, let the elements of opposition
at once combine SO that the friends of the
Union may determine upon the best course
to secure peace. II those elements are too
strong to be subdued except at the expense
of our own liberties and the loss of every
good for which the government was estab-
Iished, the sooner we know the fact and act
upon 1t the better. X
Ii it become evident that the friends of
slavery are strong enough 10 this country to
resist all reasonable efforts to subdue them.
shall act upon it. am not prepared to
ruin the country in a vain attempt to do
what cannot be done. Shall the war 90 on
forever! Is this common cry of "lhe last
man and the last dolIar" poetry, patriotism,
or braegadoca? Shall the war 60 on until
the public debt equals the entire wealth of
the county! Should the whole caDital of
the people be forced into Federal securities,
aud these securities made the basis of an
lrredeemabIe paper circulation? Should it
90 on until misery broods over the whole
land; until the civil authorities shall become
impotenl, and all rights Of person and pro,
pery stand at the lnercy OF military power?
Should it 90 on until the members of the
Senate and the House of Representatives
shall owe their places here to the bavonet
Instead Of the ballot box; until they become
as contemplate as the Ramp Parliament
that so lon. enacted the military usurpation
to the overthrow Of The British Constitution,
to lie finally expelled from place hy the
power they had SO baseIy servedl Should
1t 90 on until corruption and fraud, the
necessary conconltants OF civil war shall have
crelt into high places and pat on the garb Of
patriotism; uutiI offices become SO numerous
hat official patronage may quarter one half
OF the people upon the other half, and give
item the means Of perpetuating their own
! poWeT Should 1t continue until, exhaust ell,
the nation would welcome the coming Of
Cromwell or Bonaparte; until Provost
Marsha~ with military police shall be station.
ed at every village in the Northern States,
| V,
Tor governing people heretofore supposed
to be able to govern themselves, teaching
how God shall be worshipped, prescribing
new and strange otfenses, and furnishing
them ty courts-martlal? Should it continue
Until financial ruin brings misery, and misery
rushes into anarchy, when no hope but des |
polisrn is left?
Mr.. President, few more years of civil
war and the outline Of this picture will be
seen. 1t cannot be otherwise. 1t is the
necessary result Of long civil strife. Peace
paities will spring up; the war party will
denounce them as traitors; the publication
Of newspapers will be suppressed, and free
dom of speech denied; mobs will re,aliale;
the bunders as we'll as the corruptions of
the war party will tend to strengthen the
convictions Of the peace party; the period
icing one Of violence, each party peals to
violence, the one to hold the other to obtain
power; the balot'boX becomes mockery and
a cheat; instead Of procaming the voice of
a free people it speaks the subdued language
OF base subserviency or the bold tone of
military despolism.
Such is history. We are not exempt from
of history for others. Party pride, blinded
vanity, may think so. These have driven
many nations from the enjoyment Of liberty
to the protoundest depths of tyranny. 10
prevent this state of things we are all interest
ed; one party not more than another, for
when it comes, all parties will suffer alike
When the Roman Iegions had subdued Carr
thage, the enemies of llaGnbal, who in party
blindness had comrassed his defeat, shared
the same fate with his friends. Party re
venge may be satisfied when political enemies
come TO grief, but this is no compensation
for ruined country. When anarchy comes
we are overu helmed alike The Grondst
and the Jacobn followed each other in rapid
succession to the oullolne. The R'yast
and the Republican,, the Presbyterian and
the Leveer suffered alike when party divi
sions sacrificed the blessings of the revolution
and established despotism for England
more loathsome than Charles had ever pro
posed.
In this moment of danger let all parties
abandon the prejudices of the past, and re-
solve to follow the dictates of right. What,
ever establishes justice tends to restore the
Union. Whatever perpetuates wrong will
continue to disturb our peace. Let us unite
to restore the Union, aud if that is imprac,
ticable. let us abandon the war. X
Mr.. President, the party in power should
remember the past. The responsibility OF
the present occasion is momentous. Will
they be able to save the Union, and, if SO
will they save anything else that is desirablei
These are plain questions, and they ought to
be discussed in all candor. | have never
doubted that the rebellion could be crushed
if the proper course of policy were pursued
But | have always feared that when the
Southern leaders, who had so long domineer
ed over the minority, left these halls, the
political pendulum would sweep too far to
the other si!e. Every wrong had been pre-
siyEcommtted in the defense of slavery