Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1864-10-12


Nv friends. did not vote for Lincoln
Il have never seen him-but from the
4th of March, 1861, to the present time.
/ have watched him closely. He has
said some things which do not approve.
He has done some things which did not
suit me- But for all that, | prefer him
to any new and untried man.
All my wishes, all my hopes, are CEN
tered in one thing, and that is the crush
ing out this rebellion by force OF arms.-
There is no other way to save the repub
lie. Whatever else may be said of Mr..
Lincoln, no one can doubt that he has
the srme purpose, and that from the
first he has never faltered in the great
work. Ny friends, do not wish to
change our President, or his Cabinet, or
our Generals. Lincoln suits me, so does
Seward, and Stanton, and Fessenden, and
Welles, and Grant, and Sherman and
Sheridan. and Dupont, and Winslow,
and Porter and Farragut.
IL was n lOhS eAhNA
changes, before we got the right men III
the right place. Where will you find a
new Secretary who will keep our relations
with other nations, matterof the great.
est moment, in better trim than Seward.
Many find fault with Stanton. They
say he is rude and overbearing, but who
questions his honesty or his nobility
Look at our vast armies; raised, equip
ped, transported over great distances.
every soldier to be provided every day
with his punctual rations, and consider
the vast and multiplied agencies which
must be provided. 1t is Stanton who
presides over all this machinery: and he
works it we'll Vast as his duties are, he
neglects nothing There he is, always at
his post, earnest and interchangeable
Nv friends, if you turn out Lincoln, you
turn out Seward and Stanton, and all
the other members of the Cabinet. Can
any one assure you that Grant and Sher-
man will not go also? | very much ieer
there would be clean sweep, not only
in the Cabinet, but in the field. There
is more than one disaffected Major Gen
eral, who has been retired, like McClel-
Ian, who would be sure to be restored
What further? A clean sweep OF all 9TH
er civil officers, from our foreign minis
ters down. This is the rule fully estab-
lished, first introduced by a Democratic
Administration, and never since omitted.
We complain of frauds and peculations
in our officers; but how shall we stand a
new and hungry swarm?
There is another most weighty consld-
Grafton against such change, and 1t is
this:
Ifin November next IL should happen
that the people displace the present Ad-
ministi alton, what would be the result?
That Administration would be paralyzed.
Set aside by the people, their services
ignored, their policy condemned, they
would lose heart and confidence in them
selves, and they would lose the conf
dence and support of the county,
What capitalists would lend another dol
lar. what soldier would risk his life in
another battle, for people who condemn
or seem to condem, the war? An out
going Administrator, whose policy has
been condemned, is powerless; and SO
from November to March nothing would
be done. Precious time lost, perhaps new
or to be regained. Have you forgotten
the fatal delays of the outgoing Admin
istration of Buchanan, when for months
the rebels were s'let alone?" The coun
try never was in such peril as in that six
months. Our escape was providential.
NV friends, in view of such obvious
results. what true lover of the Union vii
consent to make change now? Is there
any man so welded to his party as t.
forget what he owes to his country
Alasl there are many, many true Unior
men, who have a personal preference TO
a Democratic candidate, and many other
who have personal dislike to Lincoln
We call this class War Democrats; the.
incline to follow their party instincts arr
their, personal feelings.
For myself, l have lost sight of al
party ideas since this war broke out. Ii
November, 1860, no persuasion could in
duce me to vote for Lincoln. In Noven
Der, 1864, if live to cast vote, it sha
be for him. Not vote for him because b
did not belong to my party in 1862 No
vote for him because our political creed
do not coincide? We agree in the grea
business now on hand, and that is enoug
for me. "Shall l ask the brave soldier
who fights by my side, in the cause c
mankind, if our creeds agree?"
Nay, nay, my friends, no one can pc
suade me to vote Lincoln out. | am tho
oughly satisfied of the fatal policy {
IS change; so thoroughly that Lincoln hin
self could not, by any personal wrong
e indignity, he might infict upon me, pr
r vent that vote.
ri pretend to no Roman virtue, and ye
if tonight, l should be arrested, denie
the habeas corpus, imprisoned in Fo
3 Lafayette, and released in time 70 vote
IL November, it would be my duty to vo
i for Lincoln. | should not be justified
ar weighing my individual griefs again
le the paramount duty to my country.
n Some ardent lover of the rights of Il
e citizen might ask me "How is it, N
a Stanberry, that you, an old lawyer, c.
vote for man who has violated the Co
oil sutton of his countryi" would answ'
IS. at is great wrong if he has violat
d; that Constitution, but it seems quite Gle
h. to me, that while he may have been car
k, less of the Constitution, he has been We
n careful of the Nation. If he has tried
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