Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-09-01

| u,
banded-eould we, without giving up our
manhood, give up our right to govern our
selves? Would you not rather die, and feel
Yourself man, than live and be subject to a
foreign power?"
From your standpoint there is force in
what you say" replied the Colonel. " But
We did not come here to argue with YOU, Mr..
Davis. We came hoping to find some hon,
orable way to peace, and am srieved TO
hear you say what you do. When l have
seen your young men dying on the battle
field, and your old men, women and children
starving in their homes, I have felt l could
risk my life to save them. For that reason ]
am here, and l am grieved, grieved, that
there is no hope"
u know your motives, Colonel Jacques,
and l honor you for them; but what can
do more than | am doing? l would give my
poor life, gladly, if it would bring peace and
/ good will to the two countries but it would
not. 1t is with your own people you should
labor. 1t is they who desolate our homes,
burn our wheat fields, break the wheels of
wagons carrying away our women and chill
dren, and destroy supplies meant for our sick
and wounded At your door lies all the mis-
cry and crime of this war, and it is fearful,
fearful account"
Not all of it, Mr.. Davis | admit a fear
full account, but it is not all at our door. The
/ passions OF both sides are aroused. Unarm-
ed men are hanged and prisoners are shot
down in cold blood by yourselves Elements
| of barbarism are entering the war on both
| sides that should make us-vou and me. as
| Christian men-shudder to think of. In
| Gods name, then, let us stop it. Let us do
something, concede something, to bring
about peace. You cannot expect, with only
four and half millions, as Mr. Benjamin says
you have, to hold out forever against twenty
millions"
Again Mr.. Davis smiled
"Do you suppose there are twenty millions
at the North determined to crush us ?"
81 do--to crush your Government. A
small number of our people, a very small
number, are your friends-secessionists.
| The rest differ about measures and candi-
dates, but are united in the determination to
| sustaiy the Union. Whoever is elected in
| November he must be committed to a igor
Gus prosecution of the war;"
Mr.. Davis still looked incredulous. | re-
marked
| cit is so, sir. Whoever tells you other
wise deceives you. I think know Northern
| sentiment, and l assure you it is so. You
know we have system of lyceum featuring
| in our large towns. At the close of these
lectures it is the custom of the people to
come upon the platform and talk with the lee
turer. This gives him an excellent opportu-
nifty of learning public sentiment Last win
ter | lectured before nearly a hundred of such
associations all over the North-from Du-
buque to Bangor--and | took pains to ascer
tain the feeling Of the people. | found a
unanimous determination to crush the rebel
lion and save the Union at every sacrifice
| Trio moi iva G., NJ, i
nearly all of those opposed to him are oppos-
ed to him because they think he does not
fight you with enough vigor. The radical re-
publicans who go for slave suffrage and thor.
ough confscation, are those who will defeat
him If he is to be defeated But if he is de.
feated before the people the House will elect
worse mani mean a worse man for YOU
1t is more radical than he is-you can see
that from Mr.. Ashley's Reconstruction bill
and the people are more radical than the
House. Mr.. Lincoln, know, is about to cal
out five hundred thousand more men, and
can't see how you can resist much longer
but if you do you will only deepen the radical
feeling of the Northern people. They will
now give you fair, honorable, generous terms
but let them suffer much more, let there be a
dead man in every house, as there is now in
every village, they will give you no terms
they will insist Oh hanging every rebel south
of -. Pardon my terms. | mean no of
fence"
"You give no offence" he replied, smiling
very pleasantly. l wouldn't have you pick
your words This is frank, free talk, and
like you the better for saying what you think
Go on.n
was merely going to say that, let the
Northern people once really feel the war
they do not feel it yet-and they will insist
on hanging every one of your leaders"
"Well, admitting all you say, can't see
how it effects our position. There are some
things worse than hanging or determination
We reckon giving up the right of self-govern
ment one of these things"
"By selfgovernment you mean disunon-
Southern independence
eyes"
"And slavery, you say, is no longer an ele
ment in the contest"
ono it is not, it never was an essential ell
ement. 1t was only means of bringing 9th.
| er conflicting elements to an earlier culmina.
| ton. 1t fired the musket which was already
capped and loaded There are essential diff
| ferences between the North and the South
that will, however this war may end, make
them two nations"
"You ask me say what think. Will you
allow me to say that know the South pref.
ty well, and never observed those differen.
| ces"
"Then you have not used your eyes. My
sight is poorer than yours, but 1 have seen
them for years"
The laugh was upon me, and Mr. Benja-
min enjoyed it. 81
"Well, sir, be that as it may, if 1 under
stand you, the dispute between your Govern
ment and ours is narrowed down to this
Union or disunion."
'"Yes; or to put it in other words indie
pendence or subjugation."
"Then the two Governments are irrecon-
cilably apart. They have no alternative but
to fight it out But it is not so with the peo-
Pile. They are tired of fighting and want
peace; and as they bear ali the burden and
suffering of the war; is it not right they
| as they like"
az don't understand you. Be a little more
explicit"
Mr.. DAVIS REFUSES AN ARMIsTICE.
| "Well, suppose the two Governments
should agree to something like this To go
the people with two propositions, say peace,
with disunion and Southern independence as
your proposition-and peace, Union, eman-
| cipation, no confscation and universal am.
nesty as ours Let the citizens of all the
United States (as they existed before the
war; vote Yes or No On these two propo
sitions at a special election within sixty days.
If majority votes disunion, our Govern
| ment 20 be bonnd by it, and let you go in
peace. If majority vote Union, yours to
be bound by it, and to stay in peace. The
two Governments can contract in this way,
and the people though constitutionlly unable
to decide on peace or war, can elect which
of the two propositions shall govern their