Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-01-21

inc DDpONllt lncDiy IItNtub9 thV lfbuin
of the revolted States upon the condition Of
laying down their arms it denies them
political existence which enables them 70
come back upon any terms it holds that
States in the rcvolted section of the country
must be ''re-estahlished that States here
after made may or may not hold names or
! boundaries of the States thus destroyed,
although sit is suggested as not improper
that these namesand boundaries, etc, should
be maintained.
} The war, therefore, is not to be brought
| to an end byshc submission Of these States
to the Constitution and their return to the
/ Union, but il must be prolonged until the
| South is subjugated to the acceptance, not
of its duties under the Constitution, but Of
such terms as may be dictated. Until States
are thus 're-cstablished, it is held that
| there are no political organizations which
can bring back the people to their allegiance;
that if the nine States spoken of in the
| Proclamation of the President should lay
down their arms, and should return to the
performance of their duties, they would not
! be recognized nor received. This theory
designs a sweeping revolution in the section
! OF our country now in rebellion, and the Gre
alton of a new political system by virtue Of
executive decreeS.
Is this calculated to stop the waste of
J blood and treasure? If the South is reyo-
| lutionized, its property devastated its in
duStry broken up and destroyed, will this
benefit the North?
Those who urge the restoration of the
Union, and the preservation of the Consti-
tuition, contend that in addition to uphold
\ ing our armies and our navies, every meas
urc of wise craftsmanship and conciiatory
policy shall be adopted to bring this war to
a successful close.
Only the ends for which this war has be
gun should be sought; because they are the
most easily attained, most beneficial when
gained and in their support the most va
ried, the most enlarged and the most patri-
otic influences can be cxerted.
On the other hand, it is insisted that the
war shall be prolonged by waging il for pur-
poses beyond those avowed at the outset
and by making demands which will excite a
desperate resistance. A demand is made
that the people of the South shall swear to
abide by proclamation put forth with re-
luctance; and which is objected to by large
share Of Northern people, as unwise and un-
just. as it makes no distinction between the
guilty and the innocent.
They are to take an oath to which no rep
e utablc citizen of the North of any party will
subscribe, that they will uphold any future
Proclamation relating to slavery. They arc
to submit themselves to uttered and unut'
tered opinions and decrees. No longer re
gardng the war as directed against armc(
rebellion, it is to be waged against people
property, and local institutions! 1t is hclt
that the whole population within the limit
Of certain States are stripped Of all poltica
|. rights until they are puged by Presidcntia
cemency
The disorganzation and destruction OF
the South are not to save us from the cost
of war. The plan for the future Govern
ment of the seeded States demands the
, maintenance of armies and a continued
, drain upon the persons and property Of oul
people. Whenever one-tenth Of the voterr
of either of these States shall submit them
selves to the conditions imposed, they may
= form new Governments with new or old
names and boundaries. This inconsiderablC
, minority is to be supported in the exercise
r of power by the arms and the treasure OF
, the North
There will be no motives on their part tc
draw the remaining population into the
, support Of the Governments thus created
There will be every inducement Of power
Of gain, and Of ambition, to perpetuate the
conditions of affairs 50 favorable to indiyid-
ual purposes. 1t will also be for the inter
est Of the national administration to con.
tinue this system Of government, so utter
~ at variance with representative policy.
, Is not this the same mistaken theory upon
r which other nations have tried to govern
r their dependencies ? Has complete subiu-
cation for centuries produced the quiet the
obedience to law, the ORDER the security
to life and property, the kindly feelings OF
the mutual contributions to prosperity
which belong to real peace?
Governments thus formed would repre-
sent not the interests Of their citizens but
the wills and interests that creates and sus-
tains them. The nine States thus control
led would balance in the House of Repre-
sentatiyes in the choice Of President, and
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Mas
sachusetts, Missouri, Kentucky and Wis
consin with united population Of l6, 533,
333, which is more than one half of that OF
our whole country. The one-tenth who
would accept the. proclamation for the price
of power would not only govern the States
made by Government DEGREES, but they
would also govern the North Fourteen
hundred men in Florida would balance il
the Senate of the United States the powe,
of New York. Less than seventy thousanc
, voters i'll the nine States named III the Pres
ident's proclamation would WELD power
, suttlclent to weigh down that of the nint
most populous States in the Union.
, We should thus have, with the nominal
States of Eastern and Western Virginia. a
system ofrotten boroughs which would gov
E ern the Union and destroy the representa-
tive nature of our Government This, in
connection with existing inequalities in
State representation, would be dangerous
invasion of the rights Of majority of the
American people. 1t would enable an ad-
ministration to perpetuate its power.
F 1t is fact full of significance, that every
measure to convert the war against armed
rebellion into one against private property
and personal rights at the South, has been
accompanied by claims to exercise military
F power in the loyal States of the North.
The Proclamation of Emancipation at the
South, and the suspension Of the writ OF
habeaS corpus at the North the confscation
Of private property in the seeding States,
ann the arbitrary arrests, imprisonment
and banishment of the citizens Of the loyal
States; the claim to destroy political organ
izations at the South, and armed interter-
ence by Government in local elections, have
been contemporaneous events.
These acts at first were justified upon the
ground that they were necessary to save the
national existence. We now find that new
and more extreme claims to arbitrary power
are put forth when it is declared that the
! strength of the rebellion is broken and that