Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1865-03-31
Tn Nnsinnal Isa.sEz..eer has fesrs lest

Tx National 1saEsESeIeCr has fears lest
the Government may force the rebels Of the
South '.so tie poia; when their moral
strength (thAs ia their tOrtitude, resigns
uoa, spirit, ana reliance on Providence,)
Constitutes a. slOSasat appeal to man and
aearss,H aaa it believes that such An st
sirsde vOald rertsss our positions. placing
the esass oE right '.i1 the defensive as
az2isst the resistless power of saving truth
sd jzEtes.7 1t then asks the question
ShA; can TIE President dot This inter-
reSAtioa II answers a. follows:
Hitherto the President has in eject
sos n isr8-Addressed the South as q for
ass people. BE has rather spoken through
tie forms Of their so-callsd government,
tksa directly TO the people themselves,
rise PrEEiSen: he is5 ana this alternative
Vas forced upon him by the magnitude Of
sAe rebellioa aod the power and complica.
fIss Gifts machinery. Now, in their COM
pAraIiVeIy demorsliEed condition, we would
have hin appeal directly to the Southern
r,eSPss, A. their constitutionalnesd, to come
back 10 their allegiance, in the name
e God, of patriotism, and Of inter.
ess- We would have him say 10
,hsn that the only conditions to resto
ration have been imposed by their own
obstinscy, which has destroyed slavery
sad forfeited it on the chances of war. We
would have him appeal to them to look back
and temporarily observe how blindly and
Wiekediy they have been aggressive sgainst
their own lives and all the dearest rights
and interest, not of America alone, bat of
that Constitutional liberty We boast, which
the soul of mankind worships and hopes
for, next to Heaven. We would have him
tell them that We weep for their self:en-
tailed woes even while we hold the sword
of justice suspended above their heads
and that We coDjure them to fly from an.
guish, distress, blood and despOtism, to all
the blessings of security, fraternity and
lasting peace. This appeal, united with
such rigor as is Indispensable to lasting
Union in the substantial matters of restor.
alton, we would have the President adj
dress, as their head, directly to the South
ern people, connected with such details as
shall plainly point out to them whit will
be their status on the basis of submission.
And this proceeding We would have re
peated as often as may be necessary.
The President virtually did all this in. his
first inaugural address, when he urged his
dissatisfied fellow. couutrymen" not to
become the aggressors, and told them that
we must be friends and not enemies."-
He has often since then held similar, Ian,
guage. .o-e o.
What he might do now with propriety,
would be to assure the Union men of the
South that they will be protected, and that
the rebel authorities will be held response
BILE toripjurles, outrages and wtougs: COM
mitted on those who would gladly break
with the tyranny that has oppressed them.
He can summon the South to its allegiance
and to a. recognition of the supreme au-
thOrity of the Constitution. To any plan
of reconstruction he cannot commit him
SELF Events change the situation every
day, and the remedy of one month would
be sheer empiricism the next. 81 e 81