Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-03-28
States';itl1llalr1t, i
[FrOm The N. Y. Tribune, March al
The WaY 10 Pence. s!'

The Way - Peace. sHi lo
The N. Y. Times, with the partial con-
currence of The Herald, opposes any further
setting forth by President Lincoln of the
conditions whereon a pacification may be
secured by those now in the attitude Of hos
tility to the Union! Says The Times: 1p3 .
''fhe President has already said all that
he can say, and all that is needed. The
Southern people, as body, perfectly well
| understand, what he has declared from the
| beginning, that they can have peace by
submitting to the Constitution and laws,
and on no other condition. They also un-
derstand that, so far as he has any discre-
| tion in the premises, his policy is generous.
In none of the Southern cities, that have
recently come into our possession-a-Savan-
| nah, Charleston, Wilmington--has there
| been a necessity for any effort TO dispel
misapprehensions concerning the disposi-
| tion of the Government. The readiness of
| the people to bestow their confidence,
proved that all the lying of the Rebel press
concerning an intention of President Lin
coin to grind and ruin them had ceased to
have the slightest effect. The thousands
who have deserted from the Rebel armies,
without single misgiving concerning the
treatment they were to receive, are witness
es of the same fact 1t is absurd to gauge
the mendacity of the Rebel prints. The
white man is not more obtuse than the ne
gro; and the latter were not deceived by all
the assertions that the Yankees, if they got
hold of them, would sell them to Cuban
masters. No conciliatory language that
President Lincoln could use would hasten
the submission of the Southern people one
single hour. What is needed, and all that
is needed, is the dispersion of the Rebel
armies, and the breaking up of the civil
organization of the Rebellion by the arrest
OF its leaders and managers. This is the
province of the strong arm, notOf the bland
tongue"
Let us consider and try to understand:
"The Southern People," says The Times,
''can have peace by submitting to the Con-
stitution and laws, and on no other condi-
tion." ....
"Treason against the United States" says
the Federal Constitution, "shall consist only
in levying war against them, or in adhering
to their enemies, giving them aid and COM
fort. Congress shall have
power to declare the punishment of trea-
SON." a# .0 .r.' t. D..
Congress has declared, accordingly, that
treason subjects those guilty of it to the
confscation of their property and the for
feiture of their liberty and lives.
Such are 'sthe Constitution and laws"
| which The Times says 1.-The Southern Peo-
| ple' "can have peace by submitting to, and
on no other condition" VIGOROUSLY, that
7 "People," as body, stand to-day exposed
to these penalties. They haze "levied war
againstthe United StatesI'-all of them con-
structively and in the tull contemplation of
law; most of them actually. And now
they can have peace, Tie Times tells them,
by submitting to have their necks stretch
ed and their effects divided among strang-
ers. And this it considers all the concession
that is needed to secure an early peace.
No, The Times does not so consider; yet
such is the fair import of its language. For
! it proceeds directly to say that 1T D., l.
IF The Tribune means that the military
and civil chiefs Of this Rebellion should be
asked to submit with an offer of full
amnesty and condonation, 1t is wide of the
mark. Such an offer would probably only
| be laughed at by the men to whom it was
addressed; and certainly it would not be
tolerated by the loyal sentiment of the
country. i.
".Atter these men have once submitted,
the disposition that shall be made of them
may become serious question: but most
assuredly they will get no bribe or person.
| al promise in advance as an inducement to
submission. The Government will not
bargain with men who are striking at its
life. 1t will vindicate its authority and es-
tablish its power first of all. When that is
done, the time will come for determining
what shall be accorded to justice and what
to mercy"
Now, we refuse, as we have so often re-
fused, to be dragged into any public discus
sion of the terms which ought to be prof
fered and accorded to those who have been
voluntary participants in the Shareholders
| Rebellion. All such discussions are neces-
sarily conducted in the presence of the
public enemy, to whom they proffer sug-
gestions if not positive advantages, and are
calculated to weaken and embarrass our
own Government. But we protest against
the above programme of The Times being
accepted as that of the President or of the
great body OF the supporters of the Nation
al cause. 1t surely is not ours, nor that of
any oracle entitled to speak in our behalf.
| 1t is not conceived in the spirit which i'm
PEELED the Presidents personal participa-
| tion in the Hampton Roads conference. In
fact, no conference of any name or nature
| looking to peace and restoration should
ever have been accorded or held, if the
sentiments of The Times are those by which
our Government is actuated.H ~ lae.1 = ?
The Herald discusses the general subject
with less ferocity than The Times, but with
a corresponding default of consistency. 1t
says: 81 9a..r! r.G.a
"No special authority from Mr.. Lincoln
| Is needed to enable Gen. Lee, in a confer
ence;with Gen. Grant, to put an end to the
/ war; To this end, all that Gen. Lee has to
do is to propose to Gen. Grant that the
armies of the so-called Confederate States
shall lay down their arms. From this es-.
sential starting point, treaty of peace can
/ readily be ACCOMPLISHED. The rebel COM
missioners in the Hampton Roads confer
ence, were officially informed by Mr.. Lin
coin that, with submission to the Constitu-
tion and laws of the United States, on the
part of the authorities and people OF the
rebellious States, they would be generous
! ly dealt with-that graceful submission
| would secure them many Advantages upon
collateral points. This peace offering is
still before them, and it is as far as Mr.. Lin
clon could go in proclamation. ~ ai
..As for the Copperhead argument in
reference to Gen. Grant, it is only bit of
party strategy for party purposes. But the
question before us Is too large and compre-
hensivet to be made an instrument of party
trickery. After all our experience in rebel
diplomacy, we think that President Lincoln
has acted wisely in paying no attention to
the proposition from Richmond for peace
conference between Gen. Grant and Gen.
Lee. 1t was but a shallow device on the
| part of Davis to gain time. Let him resign
or be removed, and peace will Immediately
follow. AS the best thing that he can now
do for the suffering people OF the South and
! for himself we would advise him to resign
and be off for Mexico as fast as possible. In
Remaining at Richmond, he stands nthe
way of peace, and dangers thicken around
Z llsfH# D. .