Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1864-10-22
FRIDAY EVENING. SEPTEMBER 10th. A. D. 1884

tuC PdSSlnH CNGuto vi CNEt1 udf NsoN NhCA
varying lights and shadows upon our situa-
ton, when our minds are tossed from fear to
hope, from dependency to exultatiOn, and
back again to doubt, il is necessary that we
should now and then fix our eyes firmly upon
those things and ideas which, through all the
vicissitudes of the hour, must serve as i'm
movable and permanent points of direction.
The affairs of this country have evidently
arrived at a crisis. We are engaged in war
for the restoration of The Union. The Union
is not yet restored, but we hear the cry of
Peace. The desire of peace is not peculiar
to any social division or political party-it is
cherished by all. But the question, What is
peace, and how is il to be restored this Is
the question to be solved by vote of the
people in November. Upon this question the
mind of every conscientious citizen ought to
be made up, whatever events to-day or to-
morrow may bring. This question once ire
vOcably answered by the voice of the people,
the future of the country is decided for
ever.
The advocates of peace We can divide into
four great classes:
First. The rebels themselves; they desire
peace on the basis of separation and final
dissolution of the Union.
Second. A large number of influential men
in foreign countries, especially in England
and France, who affect TO believe that the
war is hopeless on our part, and urge us to
consent to peace on the basis of separation !;
and who also urge foreign governments to in
tercede for that purpose.
Third. A numerous political party in the
lOyal States, who advocate, partly, peace at
any price; partly, the offering of concessions
and compromise to the rebels; but who all
express the desire that tue war shall cease.
Fourth. The great Union party, who advO-
a.. Il. q
the Union, and full and complete vindica-
ton of the authority of the Government, and
the employment of all the means which the
object may demand.
1t seems, then, that "peace" is word of
wide meaning, and before using it as pOlit-
ieal rallying-ery, we ought TO be careful to
ascertain and define its true significance.
REBEL TERMS or PEACE
The conditions upon which the rebels offer
peace we all know. 1t is the recognition OF
their independence; it is the cession of all
the States originally belonging to their Con-
federacy, with the addition of Maryland,
Kentucky, and Missouri and the District of
Columbia; the cessiOn of all the Territories
west of the Confederate States to the Pacific,
and probably some division of the public
property ia the hands of the Government at
the commencement of the war. 1t may he
doubted whether mOdesty is one of their vir-
tues They may indeed be expected to yield
a point or two. (Applause.) Although our
people seem to have made up their minds
about those propositions, there are many per
sons abroad, and few among us who believe
in the possibility of peace on the basis OF
disuniOn. In England there are men who
seem quite amazed and indignant that we
should refuse TO treat upon such reasonable
conditions
Permit me a rapid glance at the two deci-
sive QuestiOn-frst, Whether a settlement
can be made on that basis. aud second,
Whether this settlement would lead TO du-
rable peaeey
What shall be the boundary line - The
Rocky Mountains would not be too high, nor
the great lakes too broad, as a barrier be-
tween two powers exasperated by bitter
feuds. But the only natural frontier We can
find is the line of the Ohio and Potomac.
Can we cOneede that South of IL there are
two States that remained true To the Union
during the war, Kentucky and West Virginia
If we might agree to let the original sece-
ders 60, could we be base and treacheTOus
enough 60 sell our friends, to deliver them
helpless to the tender meTcies of their NOR
tai enemies for the rebels hate the Union
people of the slave States more bitterly even
than they hate Massachusetts,. Can We dban-
OOl IlGul AIpOSoiDlt W nat II Tie lEtl-
els do not yield that point! III we are
obliged to fight for Kentucky and West Vir-
ginia: Well, then, we can Just as well fight
for the whole Union, the war may go on, and
there is the end of the settlement. (Ap-
plause.) But suppose the rebels agree to
that territorial arrangement. Then the see
Ond question arises, Will this settlement have
the necessary elements of stability To the
COnfederacy it will be distasteful. As in
Kentucky and West Virginia the majority
stood by US, so a strong minority stood 10y the
rebels, and the same moral obligations which
bind us to the first bind them TO the second.
The result will be this the minority in Ken
lucky and West Virginia will unite with the
restless and reckless element in the Confed-
eracy to precipitate the latter into warlike
enterprises for the recovery of the two
States, and the authorities of the Confederacy
will not long be able to resist Does this
look like solid peace: So much for the
South.
But can the settlement be satisfactory or
even endurable to the North Remember
that the supposed boundary lines will leave
the lower course and the mouth of the Mis-
sissippi in the hands of the Confederacy.
foreign power holding the mouth of the Mis-
sissippi In the earlier stages of our histo-
ry it was regarded as a selfevident truth
ludb SUN power must Dt OF become our ldfu-
raj enemy. But if at that time, when the
great Mississippi Valley was a silently brood
ing wilderness, it was thought that we must
have the mouth of the river, because the for
eign hand that held it might choke our flu
ture development, what shall we say now
when the Mississippi Valley has become the
garden of America, the seat of empire The
matter is hardly fit subject for discussion.
The Mississippi is the great harbor of the Gulf
of Mexico il is the Atlantic Ocean ramified
thousands of miles into the heart OF the Con
tinent. Its great port is not New Orleans
alone; il is st. Louis, it is Cincinnati. and
the great cities that will spring up on the
upper river and along the course of the Oh
gantie Missouri. And the mouth of the Mis-
sissippi in The hands of foreign powers Let
it be so, and half our independence is gone.
(Applause.) Indeed, freedom of commerce
on the great river might be stipulated by
treaty. But what of that? Will not the
South, whenever any question oil internation-
al dispute arises, be able to force US to any
concessions or an offensive war merely bv
suSpendlng the operation OF the treaty. and
6y tightening It's grasp upon the great outlet t.
Is not this as if some person were constitu.
tiOnally permitted to have his grip upon your
throat, able and ready, whenever he wants
anything of you, to stop the circulation of
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