Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1865-09-21
The Completely Of Denocracy
H With Treason. hsno
ITS RECORD FOR Oh

After the national peace pad been
violently threatened ihS arly part
of the year 1861; after custom hous'
es, vessels, forts and arseaals, and
other property belonging 8'the Uni.
ted. States, had been seized D. South
ens Secessionists, confed& &ated for
the purpose of resisting Ional au-,
thority, call was publis in the
Ohio Statesman, inviting @e Ohio
Democracy to meet Iinn;pc inn pScanas;gtion,
in the city of ColuIi sSssiS 23d
day of January,
This invitation Tas Responded to
| by large number Of tlSsleadlng
Democrats of the State. The Con-
vention was duly organic ed. and pro
ceeded to appoint a CoWlnlttee on
Resolutions. on behalf of which Rufus
p Ranney made a report, concluding
with the following. i,4si sad
"5th. Resolced, That the two lrundred thou
sand Democrats of Ohio send to the people Of
the United States, both Northfhnd South,
greeting; and when the people of the North
shall have fulfilled their duties 70 the Con-
stitution and the South-then, E.l1 not until
then, will it be proper for them 70 take into
consideration the doctrine of the right of the
coercion Of a State; and then, ana not until
then, should they attempt to put down the
alleged right Of secession by tha<;esedn night
of coercion r. = - 3 -is,d.ufl ga
Thomas NJ. Key, of Cincinnati,
then a member of the OHIO Senate,
entered his protest Her said this
resolution did recognize, or would be
construed to recognize the right of
secession. Or if not this. that the
question of the right of secession
was not yet settled in the Democratic
mind of the North. He did. not be-
lieve the Democratic party in tins
State would recognize thisIight- He
believed they held to the doctrine
that Congress has the poxef to en-
force the laws He, therefore, offer
ed the following amendment to the
9Th resolution: CO..,
Resoiped, That the doctrine of the right of
secession is not sustained by the Constitution;
that the authority for enforcing the laws of
lliN OhiASh OiilGS 10 EiNtu bl VIC aSOucllbN
tion to the General Governments that the ex-
erelse of the authority as againS The people
Ui seeding State, is portion or tne Puofie
policy to be determined in view Of all exist
ing Circumstances; that such power should
not he exercised by actual force against the
people of a State until every peaceful means
has been exhausted, and until the nOn-seced-
ing States are prepared TO perform all their
Constitutional obligations. and even then only
in case where the general public welfare will
certainly be promoted thereby sTrr-7
Rufus p. Ranney, of Cuyahoga
county, explained that it was not
meant by the 9TH resolution to recog
| tnize the right of secession. Until
the North will do right we do not
want them to call upon Democrats to
wage war. We won't engage in frat.
ricidal s'rife as long as the North
continues TO refuse to dowhat is just.
This is the meaning ofthe resolu-
ton, that the North must first clean
their own hands before they call for
the subjugating of the South. - g.
Allen G. Thurman, Of Columbus,
adroitly proposed an amendment,
patching up the 5th resolution as fol
lows, in which shape it passed:
"Resolred, That the two hundred thousand
| Democrats Of Ohio send 10 the people of the
United States, both North and South, greet
| ing; and when the people of the North shall
have fulfilled their duties TO the South, then,
and not until then will it be proper for them
to take into consideration the question Of the
right and propriety of coerciop.r| .-
The ''Greetins" of the Ohio De
mocracy, in Convention assembled
was generally accepted and approved
by the Democratic journals of the
State, and the antagonism to the doc
trine of vigorous support of the Ma
tional Government in vindication of
its authority, to which the Democra-
cy thus committed itself. was given
practical force, when rebellion was
inaugurated at Sumter, by a refusal,
on the part of prominent exponents
of Democratic principles, to contrib
ute ga dollar or aAman" to suppress
insurrection. zu p --r-5
Bills and resolutiOnsl introduced
into the Ohio Legislature, then in
session, April, 1851 pledging the
State of Ohio to the support of the
National Government-making ap-
preparations to aid in tie organiza
tion of troops, end. denouncing the
insurgents as rebels and traitors,
were resisted by the Democrats, and
were only voted for by majority of
them, when it became evident that
parliamentary fllibustering could not
defeat them. This resistance was
supported by many of the chief
Democratic journals of tue State.
In February, 1861, the Cincinnati
Enquirer said:
"If Lineoln's Administration wants money,
it money, it must compromise. Coercion is
disunion, now and forever, $40 -s
The Ohio Eagle, published at Ian
I;c;:s:sster, said;
Democrats Of the North, are you TO be
dragged into civil war of murderous horrors
for cause in which yen no sympathyf Let
those ishs izaaugurafed this sear fight their oicH
battles. IF blood mad be shed. LEEsIT BE
REPUBLICAN BLOOD !n'
The Democracy of Fairfield. in o
County Convention, endorsed not
only the Eagle, but even exceeded
it:
ssResoIrsd That we heartily endorse the