The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1864-04-02
II

I'll us and Ggr,:n,ra po.s au,, pans there
would be no work for the trnkers,' says
tina: sage woman Mother Goose. IF Il
were "e; FOR the tar@:Hc-s OF this General
hsIe. and the TosiEcss Of that v"-lnert
ta.:c, J.! 1t were rot for this rain falling. c.
that storm blowing; i this Sliage had
been torn up. ar that guide had not mis-,
led US; II We had only caught that tele-
graph operate ic Il had not been for
,hst deserter who informed the enemy
# it lad not beer for this battery, or that
picket, in short. If there had been no war
and no Confederate army in tho road. how
easy il would be TO take Richmond II
We could only put e little pincn Of sa!',
ever so little, on the ,aII 81 the ConioI
crate bird, how readily we would catch
It How many ifs aud butt. have We
accepted as apologies or sXcusss, after
failure during three years How would a
confdinc people have got along without
them. during the past month? Il we had
ne: been repulsed al olustee. We should
have been victorious. i Far-agut had
taken Mobile. it would have been ours.
II Smith Lad joined Sherman he would
no: have come back so soon. II Sherman
had taken Ssima or Mobile, or beaten
Johnston, lie would not &c at Jackson i
Butler had Eae: no deserter, if Custar had
only cut the road and wires at Char!Cttes
Vile, II kilpatrick-ah how sad it is that
there should bes many IFS, and that We
should always come so very near success,
ana yet never achieve II
Is this mere talk, or is ii the serious con-
yersation of earnest men? How long will
such iafatuation exist? Are we in love
with defeat? Are We so euamored of dis
l. ! 1s.@
be apparent to US? Will the time ever
the announcement, that ''the expedition
under Gen. HobaGil, after losing a thousand
men and five guns, returned yesterday 10
the place of It's departure; it was emin-
emily successful, except ia accomplishing
the objec, for which it WIS sent. But it
destroyed the barn Of Confederate gem
eral, ransacked his papers and brought
away five hundred negroes VIII the
time ever come when such a bulletin will
carry to the northern people its true mean
ing of ignorance and inCapaclty; OF utter
Inconsistencies Of the work to be done
of stoid c,nceit, which refuses to be in
structed; of brutal indifference to the
sacrifice Of their means and lives? Are
not the evests OF the last month sufficient
to open their eyes ? Look at the picture
as reality paints il. The mysterious hints
OF death blows to be struck; the silent
chuckls Of the ccntidants cf the secrets
the Oft repeated promises, Eay assurances
Of triumph; the cool assurance of the ad
mnistration; tho preparations for distrib-
utions of the spoils the debates as TO the
disposition to be made of the conquered !;
expectation all agog the people on TIP
toe Of anxiety for the final crash OF
the stubborn opponent-and To- she
end has come Lees rebel banner tlennts
in our faces. his cannon can be hoard from
the window. Of tie white house, thou>
sands of white men occupy mourntul
graves. an the negro stands srinnIns over
us with his polished bayonet. Are not
these tho resulsts?
If-oh if cur rulers had only brains, and
honesty. aud virtue. and q real regard for
our welfare These are the ifs that are
the marplots Of our enterprise. the inhe-
rent, original, ineradicable barriers to our
| success When there are none of these
"ifs' to be pleaded, then We may hope to
be spared Ihs hopes falsely excited, thu
mocksries of broken promises, the relapse
into despair, the humlliations, the disgra'
ces, and disasters which are now our por
tien.-PhA Ags.