Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1864-09-06
CONSERVATIVE" War Policy.

uiity 10 the war uoN ~aSeu III its uoiensc
excited, they would probably say, BY
the lind Of wac thus wagei. They want
conservative, c0uci;ia;iog, essy-going
war, eherein all tbe private property
Of Rebels, but especially their property
in slaves, shall be satisfactorily resPe /;
wherein We shal. bi, them ss if We loved
them, aud bring them By solid knocks to
a realizing sense Of the folly ard wicked
ness Of their revolt, snd go to & lad re-
turn into the bosom Of the Union. To
the sincere apostles Of this faith, we beg
leave to commend the fol.oSiug consider
a,ions
You are proposing nothing uew. We
hat jlst such War as you propose-so
far as human iuirmity would permit-for
the twenty mouths succeeding tie bonn
bardmcut of Sumter. Gen. Scott, Gen.
Mcclellan, Gen. Patterson, aud one Gen.
Shermsu were, each liz bis sphere, dis
eple Of your sctool, aud SO proclaimed
themselves aud were recognized. Every
thing that could be was done IN their day
to coax aud cOiile the Shareholders and
their white satellites Into acq1iescebce in
sreSored Union. To this end, slaves,
escaping from Rebel masters TO our lines,
sometimes bringing important Intelligence,
were surrendered to those masters ven.
geauce. Proclamation after pr0clsmstion
VAS Issued, surcbargei with deSotion to
Slavery and the Union. Gen. M'Ciel.an
declared ths, be would "crush With an
iron haud' any iusurrectioo Of slaves.
When Gen. Fremont declared free the
slaves of Rebels 10 bis department, the
President suppressed the order. So with
like order Of Gen. Hunter 10 the De-
psr;uent of the South. Gen. Halleck
ordered our lines to be closed against every
uesto f-eiDg to our camps. Gen. She'-
msu tried to proclaim his deTotiou to
Slavery to the South Csroliuisus, but
could coax none Of them to receive his
proclamation. 10 short, nothing was left
uudone that could be dooe to assure ,h-
Slave Power tha, its only safety was to
be found uude. the protecting @gi= OF the
Union.
Aud sll 10 vain. Not jot of this salt
would lie on the tail of the shy bird, Sla-
very Its instincts could not be thus
cheated. 1t kncw-no matter if its foes
did not-that the Rcbellioa aud Slavery
were connected as root aud tree, plaus and
flower. The Uuion might shut lis eyes
to this; Slavery could not. Our armies
might shoot or stab, hang or drown, every
negro taking refuge within or lines; bu,
the masters knew that, if We we're not
Abolitionists, we ought to be, and would
hare to be if We attempted 10 earnest TO
put down the Rebellion. And so We
,oiled all night and caught nothing. The
Rebels did not even thank US for repelliDg
their runaways from our lines.
1t was while We were doing large
stroke Of this negro-ca,cbing business that
we were beaten eff from Richmond to the
James, ard hurled back from Cedar
Mountain to the defenses Of Washington;
while the army Of Buell (an intense slave
hunter and haier) was Gu, of BY regiments
and brigades, and finally compelled to ret
rograde from Huntsville to the Ohio.
Considering the immense prepondersDce
Of our armies at the outset, our campaigns
Of 1852 we're BY far more discredIts6le
and disastrous than those Of any other
year of the war.
Emancipation was threatened on the
22d of September, 1862, but was not ini-
tia;ed till January lst, 1863. We had
thus two nearly full years Of the War for
the Union under conservative leaders and
a conservative policy. If the Rebels had
been willing to return to the Union with
their "rigbts" guaranteed, they would
have been most welcome. Bot they chose
to stay away. I
1t is quackery, therefore-it is impu-
dent assumpiion-to say, "GiSs the slave
holders their constitution. rights, and
they will return to loyalty" If they had
been content with these, secured BY a
Democratic Administration, they never
would have seeded. They spli, the
Democratic party at Charleston on purpose
hat they might escape from the very cat
.gory which they are low proclaimed
eady aud eager to :e-enter. The pretense
S base!ess aud impuient. They are fight
Dg (as their Chief says) "for indepeu,
lerce," and for nothing less. They want
o be "let alone" II beaten, they must
submit; but they are no; coming back SO
long as they cau help it.-TrtJune.
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