Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1865-11-30

gument against us and insist, rs We did,
that a Constitution not ratified by the peo-
pie may have effect. but no moral effect
whatever. Third-The Presideat can on oil
occasions Insist that they should elect Con
gressmen who could take the oath prescrib-
ed by the act of 1862; but, in defiance Of
this, and insulting the President and the
country, they have, in a large majority Of
instances, voted down mercilessly Union
men who could take the oath, and elected
those who boasted that they could not, and
would feel disgraced if they could. With
out mentioning names, one gentleman elect
ed in Alabama by large majority declared
iD his address to the people, before the cleo
tod, that the iron pen of history would re-
cord the emancipation act as the most mon
strous deed of cruelty that ever darkened
the annals of any nation; and another
avowed that he gave all possible. aid and
comfort to the Rebellion, ana denounced
the Congress of 1862 for enacting such an
oath. A voice-"Put them on proba-
ton" The South is filed with men who
cannot take the oath. 1t declares, II have
not voluntarily taken part in the rebellion. "
Every conscript in the Southern army can
take that oath because he was forced into
the ranks by conscription, and every man
who stayed at home and refhsed to accept q
civil or military office could take that oath ;
bat these were net the choice OF the States
lately in rebellion. Fourth-While it must
be expected that a minority of these States
will cherish for years, perhaps, their feelings
of disloyalty, the country has right to ex-
pect that before their mombers are admitted
to share in the government OF this coun-
try, majority of the people Of each State
oI 20 al nl
cheerful loyalty, not by such speeches as are
so common that they submitted the issue to
the arbitrament of war, but that they are
willing to stand by and fight for the flag of
the country against all its enemies at home
or abroad. The danger now is in too much
precipitation. Let us rather make haste
dations ofour government, when thus recon
will be as eternal as the stars. Applause. ]
confidence. cannot forget that in the
Senate, at the opening of the Rebellion, he
was the only Southern member who de-
nounced it and its eriginators, and that he
was faithful among the faithless Ap-
plause. Nor do forget that when on his
way from the capital to his home, insulted
though he was at many railway stations, he
never faltered in his devotion to the Union.
Nor can forget his speech wheu Military
Governor of Tennessee to a mass meeting
Of the colored men at Nashville, in which
he declared that all men should have fair
start and an equal chance in the race Of life,
and let him succeed who has the most merit.
You all remember his speech to the colored
regiment of the District of Columbia, where
he repudiated that stereotyped declaration
that this lis white mans country alone,
and insisted that it was theirs also. You
remember also his remarks to the South
Carolina delegation, that the only right sye.
tenn was tosproteet, al men, both white
and black, and that. if they got general
principles right, details and collaterals would
follow. We all remember, too, his earnest
dispatches to these Southern Conventions
in settling the Richmond elections, when q
disloyal Mayor and Common Council were
chosen, and that he has signed the death
warrant of every one who has been convict
ed of conspiracy The great Union organ
izationSof the country carried the nation
successfully, aided by cur heroic defenders,
through the perileus crisis Of the past four
years Our beloved martyr President lean
ed upon it in the darkest hours. 1t stood
by the national cause unfalteriugly. 1T
voted down the Chicago platform, which
declared the war to be failure, and de-
nanded cessation of hostilites. The peo
| pie gave the whole power. Of the Govern.
ment in its hands, executive, Legislative and
judicial, and reassured it by the brilliant
victories Of this Fall. Let us emulate the
example of its friends in all the States. Let
us study unity in the light Of duty, and
believe the Executive and Legislative De
partments of the Government, when they
compare views together. will cordially Co
operate in the great work before US all, anc
80 act that the foundations of our Union
wisely and patrioticaly reconstructed, shal
be eternal as the ages, with a hearty &C
ceptance by the South of the new situation
| rejoice to believe that under a system o
paid free labor and respecting the rights o
freemen the South will go forward in
career of prosperity, wealth and progress
unparalleled in It's previous history. 1t ha
a more genial cline than we have in tn,
colder North; a wider range of production
for it has cotton, tobacco, rice and sugar
which command such high prices now il
the markets of the world, with boundles
water-power, almost entirely unimprsved
Rid now of the shiftless system of slav
labor it will with it's loins girded anew
rival us in the race Of prosperity. In con
clusion, can but echo the words Of GU
departed President: with malice towar
none, with charity for ALL but with frmnes
to do the right as God gives us to see tn
right, and all will be WELL"