The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-10-19
TIE NATIONAL ISSUE.
Appeal 10 MON Inclined 90 no NentraI-
LnLLer from ErnL. Mnhnn.

Mr. Lincoln and General NJ Clellan being equally
| nd tt'r mt 20 him, from an equal want Of conn
| dcnce, on bis part In their fitness for the Pres
doucy, BE should abstain from voting; and tuat
| be knew many persons Of bis way of thinking
who would do the same.
Now, though no politician, no party man. never
having raised my voice to give v0Jc, nor 10 in.
hueuce the vote Of others nevertheless, tn, dcc1-
| ration Of this gentleman. on his own part aud
| that OF his nrqunintanccs, thinking ls he does,
| is TO mo intNplicabc, ia crisis Ike the one In
| which the country now hudg Itself IfCyrrthere
| was n condition OF tbings in any land, to which
| the law OF SOlon-tha' pronounced the man who,
| ia D. scditon, stood aloot and took part wi
! neither side 10 be dishonorcl and disfranch scd
was applicable, surely t Is the one IN watch
| Wc lind ourselves 20 present
Try 10 blink this question ~ we may, TO doigc
IL, 10 get round it We are sl met With the alter
native, war TO the bitter end, for national intc-
gritty lasting peace and the future prosperity and
freedom of my rials OF the human family; or, an
ormistiCC, then disuniOn, then a chronic stlte OF
| wtr without, with anarchy within, then military
despotisW, worse, 1t worse can be, than slavery
Of the wht5 race and the general spread of that 81
The black.
That men, intelligent men, thinking men, who
| in their way intend well by their country, who
| have even given largely of their means 90 sustain
| the Government in the great struggle now going
| on do not see this thing, is 70 me incomprehen.
| slbie. why, my dear sir, to my apprehension,
no sunbeam was ever clearer. That any one who
knows as do, Jefferson Davis, Iee, Bragg, Beau
regard, and other officers OF like stamp In rebel
Hon against their former sovereign. should be.
licvc that, whoever may be elected President, nc
can negotiate peace with the South Onany other
terms than those OF separation, and yielding 90
| demands that must degrade the loyal States In
| the eyes Oi the rest of the nations of the world
| and does not see this, is moro than incompre-
| honsible.
Who are these men Arc they low, shulling,
| tricky party politicians who are playing miscr-
| able game for the spoils Of party? No sir; no.
They are Rebels it is true determined, desperate
1 RghplEs q Nh.Ny ura uo1fs,
| earnestly, in good faith, for they are, however
wrong, men Of integrity in their way; hgh-'oned,
honorable gentlemen, of sterling individual purity
Their past lives attest this Of them. IL is useless
for men 10 deny il. It is narrated Of Lieutenant
General Scott that on some occasion, when Jefi1r-
! tOn Davis wes accused of dshonorabc practice In
his presence, ereplied -"Sir, Mr.. Davis is gen
| ueman, a malicious gentleman, if YOU please, a
| malignant gentleman, but Of the millions that
may have passed through his hands do not be-
leyc that the least particle OftIcr dust hass.uck
| 10 his fingers"
| No, these men are not playing q mere pecuniary
] game, nor paltry partisan game. Theirs /, the
\ game Of Lucifer-ru.e or ruin. No ono ought to
| know this better than officers who have served
| with them. No one better than they ought o
| know that these men mean what they say, and
| that any attempt at diplomatic Oyertures, which
| are not based upon the Acknowledgement of all
| at il claimed by the South, would De dCrd d
| by these men, and will only subject those who
| make them To their cOntemptuOus sncers.
| What RoRllemen who, like my friend ia the
omnibus arefor playing neuirali between those
| who are for war Alone and those who are for
peace at any price, hope for in the future am nc
a loss to conjecture. Before the Rebellion we
| were q united, powerful nation, although with
| only an army Of some fifteen thousand men, and
| fleet Of a few vessels. Peace with the South,
| ard consequent disunion, would leave us impOy-
| erishCd in population and in wealth-even were
| the loyal States Of the North, East, and West 10
| cling togCther-with the necessity of maintaining
an army Of at least one hundred thousand men,
4 n q ont hal lful aAt4N
| curb the restless, encroaChing spirit which has
| ever animated the South; even If these could
| prevent collision between us. But it is useless
| to enter upon this theme, the consequences of
I which all who are not wi.fIlly blind, or for sheer
| party purposes have determined TO cOlesce With
the South against the loyal States, cannot fail
| 10 sec for themselves.
| That any man not blinded by party passion or
sheer sclshnCss, hopes that peace at any price 10
the nation will nt least secure to him his posses
sious, does not see that Jefferson Davis and those
| who follow his lead in the aspiration Of fouuding
| great empire, with slavery rs n basis, to be gov
| cTned by an Oligarchy more exclusive and arrO-
| CANT than that Of England, inasmuch as they
| will seek 10 sustain themselves by military force
| alone, having stakGd their all in this Rebellion
| and made up their minds TO abide the issue, will
not ConC,dc an Ota that shall, in the loast, m lr
| these aspirations, can only be accounted for on
Tire suppOsiton Of infatuaon in some one idea ;
| or of ltOlid Indifference as to the result
Peace! Who does not gr1an for peace ear
nestly pray for peace ButwhO, that has studied
this Rebellion, that has analyzed the causes that
led 70 it, that knows the feelings that actuate the
controlling class in the South, tnat has person
ally known the leaders of the Rebel army is so
deluded as not TO know that there can be no
peace until the loyal States or the South can die
tate 1t from some inprtgna0lc vantage ground
I Until that moment arrives it must be war, war,
war. To talk Of armistccs, to talk Of cessation Of
hOhtiitics, to talk OF diplomacy as step towards
! reunion, before that point has been reached, is
to hold out worse than false hopes. II is TO
10 hn aIT Il. ,fNpl,,,
tional and political suicide, come from Whatever
| quarter IL may.
The question has been often put 70 me by ex-
ccllent loyal men But in seeking u Ob.ain
peace in your way, would you ruin the South /?
| My answer Is uuhesitatingly Yes, II IL is naces-
sary thereby 10 save the nation from dsmembcr-
ment. But am not very credulous on this ruin
| theory. Excellent loyal persons thought Eng
land ruined when Charles was brought to tho
| sCaiiold others when James III fed before VII.
liam Of Orange. All Europe thought France
ruined when Louis XVI was guillotinel and all
the mobiles either shared the saMc fate, were
murdered, or went into exile.
Many excellent persons In Maryland, and in
that happy dolce tar Riei'ts class in IL aud Nir-
ginia, SO fClicitOusy described in "SWallOw Barn"
By John p. Kennedy, whose lives are one long
holiday, that live in 20 many Of the Sleepy IGol-
low hooks that are 8prinkled so plentifully along
the shores Of the Elizabath, the Nansemond, the
james, the York, tue Potomac, and the two sides
Of the Chcgapeake bay look upon Virginia and
Maryland as ruined. And as they view it, so
they are
But there lies the fair portion Of earth called
by these names; the soil teemng with fertility
the interior Of II ineXhaustible in its mineral
richesj It's rivers alive with luXuries, both Of fish
and fowl, that cpcures purchase at any price; its
climate unsurpassed by that Of Greece, in all that
makes brilliant, versatile men and now, with
the burden, which their forefathers called curse
partly lifted OIL are they ruined In ten years,
how many of the names, even Of these excellent
persons, now groaning over this ruin theory, will
be remembered
In ten years from now, what glorious tide OF
prosperity may not be sweeping over this ever
lasting heritage Of a swiftly fitting race. would
ruin the South as / would ruin Ireland, by un-
Oosiug the grasp Of the English oligarchs upon
her throat; us would ruin England, by forcing
this self same small, selfish fraction TO do justice
to the working classes, so long down-irOdden. |
would say TO the few hundred thousand wealthy
slave owners, "Your reign is oYcr;" and call
upon the white nou-slayeholding population n
create for themselves and children those instltu-
! tions which, in the free States, have raised the
, wOrkingman 10 the intellectual and moral level
that wealth once claimed as its exclusive domain
Look at England what Is she now, aud whaI
might she not be now, as the Stuarts fell OF rose
Look at France what she was before her great
| revolution, what she Is now, and what she NIGH
] be now, had that great political food not haY,
/ swept away king mobiles, and feudai institutions
Had she not then risen up, In her unexpected