Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-03-10
President Charged with Treason.
SESSION TILL TWO O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING
From the Wisconsin State Journal

TUESDAY, March ID O'clock P. NJ.
MR. sTARKs' RESOLUTIONS.

regard to the conduct of the war, thanking
the army and navy, and suggesting the re-
nomination of Abraham Lincoln were taken
up. --.-
Mr.. BINGHAM moved that the House re-
cede from its disagreeing vote on the Senate
amendment. He said that while many here
would perhaps prefer the resolution as orig
nally introduced, yet we could not have
everything just as we wanted, and he did not
regard the point in dispute as very important.
Mr.. GEO B. SMITH said the resolutions
pending embraced the whole policy both
civil and military, of the present national
administration. They contained an endorse
ment of that whole policy, and attempted to
commit the whole people of the State to it.
They suggest the denomination of Mr. Lin
coin as statesman deserving our confidence.
If the Republicans in a convention of them
selves had attempted to do this, he should
only have regretted in silence such subser-
vieney. But when, in the face of 56, 900 votes
cast against the war policy of this Admins
tration, it is attempted to commit the whole
people of the State in its favor, he should
not let it pass without his solemn protest.
lie should enter his protest here, in behalf of
the majority of his district. He spoke in the
name of the Democracy of his district. This
IS no place for the consideration of such
resolutions He could conceive no other mo-
tive on the part of their author except de-
sire for notOriety, or to show his devotion to
the new party which he has joined in his de-
clining years. and perhaps in the decline Of
his faculties. He regretted that the gentle
man was not here, and more especially for
the reason that he had in his possession some
facts respecting his motives in offering these
resolutions that could only be properly pre-
sented when that gentleman was present.
Many Republicans here had confessed that
this was no place for these resolutions, and
he still hoped that some thing would occur to
prevent the adoption of these unmaniy senti-
ments. If passed, they would return to
plague those who adopted them, like the res
olutions of 1859. He believed they would in
much shorter time. Already these resolu-
tions had been spoken of in an article in
Republican paper-the Milwaukee Wisconsin,
as pressed forward by government contractors
and Office seekers If he were to say this
doubtless it would be called treason in the
language of the day. Furthermore the arti-
Gle in question, which the editor of the WIS
c01eSt1a says was written by prominent Re-
publican, reviews the conduct of the Presi-
dent and concludes that he is not a man of
enlarged political views, that he is not an
able statesman, not the man to whom should
be entrusted the control of the Government
IN this terrible cricis. And he Mr. S. be-
lieved that all through the country there ex-
listed organizations of thoughtful men who
did not believe Abraham Lincoln the man to
be entrusted with the administration in these
times.
He should speak first on the concluding
resolution. lie was aneXercise of that tyranny
of ma orities under which the country is now
wi oh +b-n
the liberties of the country, when this legisIa-
ture seeks to represent, as the views of the
people of the State, doctrines the most repul-
sive to large minority, and which, as he
had already said on another OCCASION were
in his opinion, dragging down the country to
ruin faster than the rebels could if they were
left unobstructed. He was not disposed to
go into the discussion of the causes of the
war. That was immaterial now. We. have
the war and must deal with it, yet he must
say this much, that the Democratic party of
the North adopting the views of Geo Wash
ington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson
Henry Clay, and other great men on the sub
lect of the danger of dissolution, warned the
people Of the North years ago that if they
continued the agitation of the slavery ques-
ton until they succeeded in dividing the
country on a geographical line that dissolu-
We warned the people of the North not to
do it. They kept up, however, an agitation
offensive not only in itself to one half the Union
but most Extensively conducted. They said
in reply to our warnings that they were no
such towards to be frightened by such
threats, and told us that we were friends of
slavery And they sneered at US as " Union
savers" The manner in which Daniel Web
ster and Stephen A. Douglas were treated
when they warned the people of the danger
of dtsunion was referred to. The party now
in power SAID in the last presidential canvass,
that there was no danger-that the South
dared not fight-that it could not be driven
out of the Union-that if war came, we Of
the North could whip them in sixty days
That was their argument. But we Democrats
told them they did not know the South, or
its people, and their resources, and their de-
termination. They replied ooh, you are the
friends of the South, and you stand by them"
Yes, we were the friends of the South, and
did stand by them, and would to God that
more had followed our example. s
He was not here to defend the conduct of
the South, but he did deprecate doing any,
thing to increase the difficulties already ex-
isting and exciting still greater luminosity at
the South against the Union. .
The democracy was and had ALWAYS been
as party, opposed to the institution of slav-
cry. They deplored its existence here. The
only difference between the Democrats and
the Republicans on this subject was that the
Democrats held that slavery was a State in
stitution with which we have nothing to do
The Democratic party believed in the Consti-
tuition as the charter of our liberties. In time
of peace they believed in it in time OF war
they believed in it. The Northern RepubI-
can party, on the contrary, held that the
President in time of war might disregard the
Constitution and lay his hands on the liber-
ties of the people at his pleasure That was
the difference between the parties
When South Carolina went out of the
Union, the question with patriotic men was
how to get her back. When men in the
North began to see that the people of the
South were really inclined to go out of the
Union, they began to say these Southern
people have more spirit-or call it wicked
ness if you will-than we thought they had.
South Carolina has actually gone The
whole North stood aghast. Then Virginia,
the birth place of Washington, the mother of
Presidents, loving the Union, as he doubted
not she did, called on the country to hold a
convention and see if something could not be
done to save the Union. We know the re-
suit. The Democrats everywhere acceded to
and favored that re9acst. How was it with
the other side? The speaker then referred
to the action of the Republicans in this State,
in opposing the sending of delegates to such "a
convention He did not pretend to say that
he thought the results of such convention,
if it had generally been acceded to, would
have realized the expectations of those who
called it, in producing peace. But it might
have accomplished it. The Democrats did
what they could, but it required the united
action of the people. ----
From the beginning of the war, he had