The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-08-19

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cherished institution in order to enect Il.
Unions are made by people taking ono au0thee
az thew are, and think 1t has never YET &C
cured to any man who was anxious to torme
partnership with another, that he shoud nIet
attempt "a force the other either TO chan9enis
religion or his politics. Is not the answer on
vioris: would not the other say to him III
Won do not like my principles why do you
wish to be partner with me-? Have l not as
GOOD q right to ask you to change yours as
condition precedent l'lTH .IWl Z 5n3GE
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 before,
because they did not believe we were aboli-
tionists. a The other half were In open rebel
any one conceive of greater folly on our part
than that we should destroy the faith Of our
friends and verify that of our enemiesl Could
not ANYBODY have foretOld we would have
lost one half BY that, and then we would have
no one left TO form q Union with We drove
that hslfoyer to the rebels and thereby increas-
ed their strength thousand fold.
Is not all this history now The great facs
is staring us full In the face to-day; we are con-
tending with q united people desperately In
earnest to resist us. Our most powerful ar
mics most skillfully led have heretofore failed
to conquer them, and Think will fail % long
as we pursue this fatal policy. IpiGJIi.og a.
q Now, Mr.. President, 1 appeal TO Senators
whether 1t is not time to pause and Inquire
whether that policy, which has certainly united
the Southern people In their cause, and which
quite as certainly has divided the Northern
people in the support of ours, ought to be
abandoned at once. Why persist in it longer?
Can we do nothing to retrieve our fortune BY
retracing our steps? Can we not divide the
rebels and unite the loyal men of the loyal
States by going back to the single idea of war
for the Union or Is 1t now too late? Have
we lost frrecOverably our hold on the affections
of our countrymen who were for the Union In
1861-eyen in 1862? IL there no way by which
we could satisfy them that we yet mean Union,
and not conquest and subjugption q And what
q difference in the meaning of the3e two phra-
SEES The first offers the hand of . brother,
the second threatens the yoke of q master. Or
are we obliged now to exchange the hopestwe
had of Southern Union men for that other, and
miserable hope in the negro7 Is he all that Is
left of loyalty IN the South, and the only ally
we can rely upon to aid us in restoring the
Union? Ye gods what have we come to at
last? Either to yield to an unholy rebellion,
to dismember an empire, or to 60 into national
companionship with the negro! Is this the
alternative to which our madness has brought
us?
Mr.. President, these things are enoueh to
drive sane man mad. After all our preten-
sion, all our boasting how absurd will we APP
pear in the eyes of all other nations if we fail
in this struggle! Especially as almost all the
measures about which we have occupied our.
selves for the last three years have been based
on our success already assumed az O fixed fact.
We provided for cOnfiscating the estates Of
reoeis before we got possession; we emanci-
pated slaves before we got them from their
masters, and we provided for the disposition
OF cOnqnests we have not made; we have dis
posed OF the skin of the bear, and the bear it,
self is yet uncaught all this we have put on
the record; the statute book will bear witness
against US in all coming time; and we cannot
escape the consequences if we fail ..r
Mr.. President. our government was intend
ed to be enc of law. pre-eminently of law.
There was to be nothing in the administration
OF it LETT to the arbitrary will of an individual
or individuals. This was its merit. or intend.
ed SO, par excellence. am for preserving its
character In that respect strictly. Let no man.
from the President down to the most petty of.
ticer, dare to do any thing, whether to friend
or enemy, except as warranted by law. Let US
make war according to law, and let us have
peace according to law. If we fight a beliger.
ent enemy. five punish or restrain refrac-
tory citizen. let us do it by the law of the
land, by due process of law" Had we had
faith in our Constitution and laws and our peo-
pie, we had rot been in our present condition.
Had we made war and war alone, the loyal
people North and South, to man, would have
been with US. The voice of faction, If not en-.
tirely hushed, would have been harmless. The
capital OF the demagogue would have been
worthless, and the nation would have been ir-
resistlble. Had we treated the negro as the
Constitution treats him. as person. as ano.
Their man had we made no distinction or DIFF
ference between him and other citizens, we
had not aroused against him that tribal antipa-
thy which will be far more likely to destroy
him than false philanthropy will be likely to
elevate him in the scale of being. If he was
friendly to US the same use could have been
made OF him that we have made; we could
have enlisted him In our armies now as
we have been enlisting him in our army for
long years. We could have reached him as a
volunteer: If he was able-bodied without look
ing to his complexion, and we should have
drafted him without inquiriug into the rela-
tions which existed between him and his mas
ter, any more than we inquire into the relations
OF the white man of twenty years of age with
his parent or his guardian. State laws adjusted
all these questions, but to the United States Il
made no difference whether he owed service to
individuals or not he owed his first duty to
the Republic as military service was required.
All this was lawful and no loyal man ever did
or would have complained Of it, kindly done
in the proper spirit tE 81
l have only to say in conclusion, sir. that I
hope that the joint resolution will not be re-
pealed and that this and all kindred projects
will fail in the future, for the simple reason
that they strengthen the rebels by uniting their
people with them, and they weaken the Union
cause by dividing its friends and distracting
them with unnecessary issues. Let us unite
upon the single idea of suppressing the armed
opposition to the Government. Let the en-
ergies OF the nation be devoted solely to that
purpose, and success NAV yet come, if success
is possible. '"''
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