Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1864-09-28
The Portentous Threat,

We are not all surprised to learn tha
the extraordinary intimation thrown Ou
by Mr.. Secretary Seward, in his recen
speech at Auburn, to the effect that, il
the event of General Mcclellan election
the country would not b. safe in the
hands of the present Administration "du
ring the interval which must elapse be.
fore the new Administration can consti,
tutionally come into power" has produ.
ced an impression on the public mind as
painful as it is profound. We do not
know that we have ever read anything in
the history Of politics more calculated to
startle and alarm the friends of constitu-
tional liberty than this deliberate menace
held IN terror otef the heads Of tie people
to deter Hen1 from the free exercise qf their
conscientious opinions in tie pending cleo
ton. When it first met our eye in the
report of Mr.. Stewards speech we almost
refused to believe the evidence of our
sense Of sight, and we read again and
again the paragraph in which this init
nation is given, lest we might have pos
sibiy misconceived its meaning. But the
language is clear and unmistakable. 1t
admits of no doubt and no cavil. We
once mere reproduce its terms for the cool
inspection of the reader. Mr.. Seward
says:
If such a thing could happen as that
the Chicago candidate, nominated upon
such an agreement, should be elected
President of the United States on the first
Tuesday of November next, WHO CAN
voUCH FOR THE SAFETY OF THE COUNTRY
AGAINST THE REBELS DURING THE INTER
VAL WHICH MUST ELAPsE BEFORE THE
NEW ADMINISTRATOR CAN CoNsTITU-
TIoNALIY. COME INTO POWER? 1t seems
to me that such an election woUtD TEND
EQUALLY TO DEMoEALIzE THE UNION
and to Invite tie insurgents to reney their
,forts for its destrlctron.
This language is nothing more nor less
than threat that if the people, in the
exercise of their free choice, shall declare
their preference for General Mcclellan
over Mr.. Lincoln in the approaching
election, tie latter scW no longer hare the
,viU or ability to presorUs the safety Of a
Government aOhose bonors and eRoiunaents
he IS no longer to enjoy. A more astOund-
ing statement never fell from the lips of
any man in any age Of the world, and if
such a statement, coming from such a
source, does not open the eyes Of the peo-
pie to clear perception of the mazims
on which the Government is at present
administered, it can only be because they
are smitten with judicial blindness.
In the last Presidential election there
was probably no one thing which lent
more vigor and determination to the ad-
herents of Mr.. Lincoln than the standing
menace Of certain Southern politicians
that in the event of his election they
would proceed to dissolve the Union
The spirit of the North was stirred and
its pride wounded by this appeal address
sed to the fears rather than to the iudg-
ment of the people. What, then, must
be the feeling of the same people when
they are deliberately informed to-day by
the premier Of the present Administra-
ton, that, in venturing to vote against
Mr.. Lincoln's retention Of power after the
4th of March next, they must first con-
slider this momentous question: "Who
can vOueh for the safety of the country
against the rebels during the interval
which must elapse before the new Ad-
ministration can constitutionally come
into power ?"
This, be it observed, is no question of
ours. We should never have thought of
raising it. Even if our opinion of the
"personal ambition" of Mr.. Lincoln was
equal to that which Mr.. Senator Wade
and Mr.. Representative Davis donothesi-
tate to impute to him in the face of the
country, we should not have conceived it
possible that any question could arise as
to the loyalty of Mr. Lincoln's devotion
to the Union and the Constitution during
the interval specified. But Mr.. Seward
plainly and distinctly puts this Porten-
tUus question before the country. And
we wish it to be perceived that it is
question which solely concerns the ihteg-
rity and the honor of the Administration.
1t does not at all relate to the compara-
tive ability of the Administration to pre-
serve the safety of the country in the
event suggested any more than before it,
for the military power Of the government
in one case will be the same as in the