Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-08-25

reverse of that which would have been sue
cessful in supprcssing the rebellion. We
were filled with incorrect ideas of the work
we were engaged in, or of the only methods
by which we could perform the gigantic
task we had undertaken. We started out
with exaggerated notions of our own
strength, and we disdained to think that
our success depended upon the loyal men of
the South we thought we did not need
them, and treated them accordingly. Think
of such proposition as that contained in
this law, that if they do not lay down their
arms in sixty days they will be punished by
loss of their estates How pray, are tbey
to lay down their arms? Surely we know
enough to know that this is mere mockery.
and that the rebel president might as well
expect soldier in our armies to lay down
upon a promise Of protection.
Mr.. President, have sometimes doubt
ed whether we could be serious when we ex-
pect any good result to come from such
measures as this, which not only exposes us
to ridicule but does harm to our cause.
What was wanting in this crisis of our his
tory with new criminal legislation, when the
code was complete before? We had stat
ute Furnishing treason with death lust
and proper punishment, one well according
with the magnitude of the crime as well as
the majesty of the law which inflicted it.
For all those who conspired the dismember-
ment Of the republic, who used the means
and perverted the state governments to
bring it, this is the fitting punishment, be-
cause it is the highest and falls upon the
the guilty alone, where it ought | would
have mad no additional laws; in law they are
not needed / would have contemplated
no reforms within the area of the rebellion:
they cannot be made at such time. What
we wanted was men and money; these gran
ted, the true function of Congress was over
until peace was restored and all parties again
represented But above all things | would
not have played into the hands of the enc
emy; would not have done that which the
rebels most desired to have done, because
have no doubt that this and kindred schem-
es have been the very ones which they most
wanted US to adopt. | do not know that
Jefferson Davis ever prays; but, if he does,
l have no doubt he would pray
Mr.. Wade. Pray for just such an advo-
cate.
Mr.. Cowan. Pray for just such a states
man as the honorable senator from Ohio.
the most etfectually he ever had or could
have.
He would have prayed for measures on
our part which were obnoxious to all people
of the South loyal and disloyal, Union and
disunion. lie would have prayed that we
should outrage all their common preiudices
and cherished beliefs; that we shonld do
these things by giving ourselves over to the
guidance of men whom it was part of their
religion to hate; to hate personally and by
name, with an intensity rarely witnessed in
the world before. He would have prayed
for confiscation general and indiscriminate ;
tbraa xroIl thn via n tho
patton as the usurpers themselves as well
those we were bound to rescue as those we
were bound to punish. Ferventlyh he would
have prayed for our emancipation laws and
proclamations as means to fire the southern
heart more potent than all others; they
would rally the army populations to his stan
dard of revolt as if each had personal quar-
rel. lie would then have q united South !;
while as the result of the same measures a
distrcated and divided North.
That is the way | think he would have
prayed and would pray now Is any man
so stupid as not to know that the great desire
on the part of every rebel is to embark in
revolt with him the whole people of the
disaffected districts? Is not and has not
that been considered enough to insure sue
cess to him? And where does history show
the failure Of any united people, numbering
five or six millions, when they engaged in
revolution? Nowhere there is no such
case.
What did we do to bring this unity about
in the South? We forgot our first resolve
in July, 1861, to restore the Union alone,
and we went further, and gave out that we
would also abolish slavery. Now that was
just exactly the point upon which all south
ern men were most tender and at which
they were most prone to be alarmed and Of
Tended. That was of all things the one
best calculated to make them of one mind
against us; there was no other measure, in
deed, which could have lost to the Union
cause so many of them. 1t is not q ques-
ton either as to whether they were right or
wrong-that was matter for their consider
alton, not ours, for if we were so desirous
of union with them, we ought not to have
expected them to give up their most cher
lshed institutions in order to effect it.
Unions are made by people taking one
another as they are, and think it has new
er yet occurred to any man who was anxious
to form partnership with another, that he
should first attempt to force that other Ell
ther to change his religion or his politics.
Is not the answer obvious; would not the
other say to him: ''lf you do not like my
principles, why do you wish to be partner
with me? Have not as good right to ask
you to change yours as a condition prece-
dent ?"
So it was with the Southern people; they
were all in favor of slavery but one half
of them were still for Union with us as be-
fore, because they did not believe we were
abolitionsts. The other half were in open
rebellion because they did believe it. Now,
can any on canceive of greater folly in our
part than we should destroy the faith of
our friends and verify that of our enemies?
Could not any body have foretold we would
have lost one-half by that, and then we
would have no one left to form union
with? We drove that half over to the reb-
els and thereby increased their strength a
thousand fold.
Is not all this history now? The great
fact IS staring us full in the face to-day we
are contending with united people des-
perately. in earnest to resist u.s. Our most
powerful armies mostskillfully led have here
tofore failed to conquer them, and / think
it will fail as long as we pursue this fatal
policy.
Now, Mr.. President, l appeal to senators
whether it is not time to pause and inquire
whether that policy, which has certainly uni
TED the southern people in their cause, and
which quite as certainly has divided the
northern people in their support of ours,
ought to be abandoned at once. Why persist
in it longer? Can we do onothing to retrieve
our fortune by retracing our steps? Can we