North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1864-01-13
Could the Democratic Party restore the
Union,

morning, repuDllsn from tne ieShuou CO
amifier depicting in strong collars tie suffer
ings of the South naturally Pro7okes tht
question, why il is tina: people so sensible
of the discouragements of ther situation ar,
not induces to abandon sinking caEse anc
resume their old federal relations, Their,
can be but one answer the craftsmanship
success. War itselfis only an instrument
1t is not an end, but the means for at
to tanning an end. It's OBJECT is to bring
such pressure to bear upon hostile com
lnunity that he will be willing to submi,
reasonable terms Of peace. Few wars in his
tory have inflicted such havoc, or carried
such desolation, as the one in which we are
engaged and in the natural course of things
judged by ordinary human experience, the
victorious party should be able to conclude a
safe, honorable, and lasting peace. That il
has neither the ability nor the expectation oI
doing so, on its face, proof that it is une-
quail 10 the situation.
But would the Democratic party if ii
stood in the s hoes in the administration
do any better? This is a grave question, be-
cause, on the answer which the majority Of
the people will this year return TO it, hangs
undeniably the future destiny Of the country
1t is true that, in any answer which may
now be attempted to this question, our rea
sonins must be more or less hypot hetical
but it seems to gs that the case Is in some
aspects 50 clear that we may nevertheless
proceed upon very solid ground On one
side we have facts and experience to 90 upon;
for its incontes table that we have inflicted
suffering upon the southern people to bring
them to terms, if this were an ordinary W ar
and our nation authorities had the ordinary
sagacity, prudence, aud suroir tdire ola vic
torous government. But what reason is
there for thinking that the Democratic party.
# in power, would do any better? The case
seems to US so PLAIN that i; is almost to argue
it. If, the relative military situation being
precisely what it is the lamcnted DOUGLAS
were alive and were now President; if Mr.
CUSHING. or man of equal mental rescur-
ces, were Secretary of State, and General
SCoTL Secretrry of War, we do not believe
there are ten men in the country whose opjn-
ions is worth regarding that would not ex-
pect peace and restor. Union within three
months. IF there could h9 such change Of
administration or one at all resembling 1t
the mass of the people, in both sections,
would be exalted at once into state OF
hopeful expectation. They would look for
an early peace, restored Union, and such a
general and sincere pasiication as would rem
der it safe TO reduce our crimes tc moder-
ate peace establishment. The present diff
Guilty is, not that we have not sufficiently
crippled and humhled the South for victory
to bear its appropriate fruits, but that this
administration is politically incapable of
making just, magnanimous, and satisfactory
peace.
But why could q Democratic aiministra
ton deal with this problem more successfully
than that of Mr. Lircolt? The reasons are
various. In the first place, the Democratic
party has never given any countenance to the
twenty years'crusade against southern nstiu
tons kept up by the abo!tioni5ts. The South
is in negotiating with a Democratic admin
istratiOn, would have no fears of being ertraDp
ed into false position and crcumventcd by
perGdy. They had some experience of the
good faith of Mr.. LINCOLN and Mr.. SEWARD
in the spring Of 1861, when Judge CAMPBELL,
of the Supreme Court, was the nterme diary
between the South and the government with
the knowledge and privity of Judge Nelson
of this state. The war would probab Iy have
been avoided had 1t not beeu for the strong
radical pressure upon Mr.. LINCOLN, and the
faithlessness of his Secretary Cf State Even
if the administr ration had adhered to the con
stitutional policy proiessed in Mr. LINcoLN's
inaugural, the South would naturally recoll
from an attempt to arrange this controversy
with the same officials who deceived them
with false professions in the very crisis OF
these difficulties.
But Mr.LINcoLH has made peace impossi
bic unless the South will consent to the de
struction Of the most valuable part of their
property, and the subyersion Of their indus
trial system. Whatever may be the cash
value Of this property, every dollar Of it is al,
argument against sub buission addressed by
Mr.. LINCOLN to the self interest Of the
South. The southern people know that the
Democratic party does not approve Of thus
policy that they have steadily protested
against It as a fragrant violation Of the Con
stitution. If the Democratic party were IN
power, the question would be simply be-
tween further resistance on the one hand
and submission to the same Constitution un-
der which they formely lived aud prospe red
on the other. Whatever forleitures have
been operated by the necessary result If the