The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1865-09-15

of the year 1861; after custom houses,
vessels, forts and arsenals, and other
property beloning to the United
States, had been seized by Southern
secessionionists, confederated for the
purpose ofresistingnational authority
a call was published in the Ohio
Statesman, inviting the Ohio Democ-
racy to meet in Convention, in the
city of Columbus, on the 23d day Of
January. 1861.
This Invitation was responded to
by a large number of the leading
Democrats of the State. The Con
ventIon was duly organized and pro-
ceeded to appoint q Committee on
Resolutions, on behalf of which r.
p. Ranney made report, concluding
with the following:
"5th. Resolved, That the two
hundred thousand Democrats of Ohio
send to 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
Constitution and the South--then,
and not until then, will 1t be proper
for them to take into consideration
the doctrine of the right of the coer
cion of State; and then, and not un-
til then, should they attempt to put
down the alleged right of secession
tby the alleged right of coercion"
Thomas M. Key, of Cincinnati,
then member, Of the Ohio Senate,
entered his protest. He 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 this
State would recognize this right
He believed they held to the doc
trine that Congress has the power to
enforce the lass. He, therefore, Of
fered the following amendment to the
9th resolution:
Resolved, That the doctrine of the
n,0ht of secession is not sustained by
c cle Constitution; that the authority
r ior eiio'siug the laws of the United
,'sates - glNs- by the Constitution
TO the General Govr,>ment: that th o
exercise of the Authority to aroi,st
tthc people Of a seeding State, Ia a
portion of the-public policy to be de-
termined in view of all existing cir
cumstances; that such power should
not be exercised by actual force
against the people Jf State until
every peaceful means has been ex.
hansted, and until the non-seceding
States are prepared to perform all
their constitutional obligations, and
even then only in case where the
general welfare will certainly be pro
noted thereby"
Rufus P. Ranney, Of Cuyahoga
county, explained that it was not
meant by the 9TH resolution to recog-
nize 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 fra
tricidal strife as long as the North
continues to refuse to do what is just.
This is the meaning of the resolution,
that the North must first clean their
own hands before they call for the
subjugating of the South.
Al len G. Thurman, of Columbus,
iadroitly proposed an amendment,
patching up the 5th resoluation as
follows, in which shape it passed.:
Resolved, That the two hundred
thousand Democrats of Ohio send to
the people ofthe United States, both
North and South, greeting; 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 consid-
Grafton the question of the right and
propriety of coercion"
This "Greeting' of the Ohio Demo
cracy, in, Convection assembled, was
generally accepted and approved by
the Democratic journals Of the State,
and the antagonism to the doctrine
OF vigorous support to the National
Government in vindication of its au-
thority, to which the Democracy thus
committed itself, was given practical
force, when rebellion was inaugurated
at Sumter, by refusal, on the part
of prominent eXponents of Demo
cratic principles, to contribute ga
dollar or man" to suppress insur-
rection.
Bills and resolutions introduced
into the Ohio Legislature, then in
session, April, 1861 pledging the
State of Ohio to the support of the
National Government-making an.
preparations to aid in the organiza-
ton of troops, and denouncing the
insurgents as rebels and traitors,
were resisted by the Democrats, and
were only voted for by majority of
them, when 1t became evident that
parliamentary lillibustering could not
defeat them. This resistance was
supported by many of the Democrat.
ic journals of the State.
In February, 1861, the Cincinp att
Enquirer said F."
"If Lincoln's administration wants
money, it must compromise" "Co.
ercion is disunion, now and forever"
The Ohio Eagle, published at Ian
caster, said;
democrats of the North, are Won
to be drsgged into civil war of muir