Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-02-07
..I,. snIrit Is treason"

The New York Tribune of Friday las'
bestowed some consideration to "The Pros
pect of Peace" and used this language:
"If there be any who imagine that tn,
President and Secretary of State on 'oul
side and Messrs. A. II. Stephens q Co. Oh
that of the Confederates are merely trying
to oyerreach or Outwit each other, in toss
ing back and forth the responsibility of fur
ther carnage, we envy neither his head mol
his heart. We knoto that this Peace move
ment originated in an earnest, anxious de.
sire for Peace, on basis just in itself and
honorable to all concerned, and we have nc
doubt that it Is prosecuted in kindred
spirit. Unuuestionably, there are obstacles
to be encountered, difficulties to be over
come; but we trust none of these will be
found insuperable. II, as we now infer
Gov. Seward, after first informal confer
ence with the Confederate chiefs has tele-
graphed to the President to join him with
out delay, then our hopes of an early
and happy issue far outweigh our appre-
tensions"
In the same connection, it copied leader
from Col. FoRNEY's Washington Chronicle
of the day preceding, as significant, and as
having been probably written after an in
+ btTNIcW Will LuC WI u NANA'NA -
editorial contains this passage:
'sPride, passion, and naughty sense of re-
fusing to repent, have been the triple cause OF
hatred among the families of men as among
the families of nations. But zoe cannot, be-
Jore God zoe dare not, forget that II 1t rs hard
to say am penttent, 1T is EASY TO SAY L
FORGIVE. How mysterious the philosophy
of the human heart! How full of pathos
and instruction the Prodigal Son! Who
ever read the Vicar of Wakefield without
shedding a tear, unless, indeed, he attempt
ed to outrage nature by showing that he
had no feeling? We know not il there are
commissioners from the seeded or revolted
States in this same city of Washington, but
we hope they are OH the ground. The more
distinguished or authoritative they are, the
more they should bewelcomed. The terms
of reunion are few and briefly told. The
reuoAed States are not sought to be returned as
captives, or as Interiors, or 0s degraded mem I,
bers Of the National family"
With the spirit of this editorial The Trt-
bume contrasts an editorial in TheNew York
Daily Neus on the same subject, which ar
CUES that Peace is not possible at this time,
save on the basis of the recognition of 1.-THE
of the States of the Confed
eracy." OF this editorial The Tribune says:
ats spirit is treason; its purpose to incite
more trdternal bloodshed.n We like this
sentence. The plain English of it is, that
any action, or any course of argument
calculated Ito incite more fraternal blood
she'd" is, practically, treason" Itmatters
not whether The New York Ne,cs argues
that the South cannot consent to Peace,
except on terms of the recognition of the in
dependence of the Confederate States, or
whether Abolition journals, like The Ohio
State Journal, argue that Peace is inexpe-
dent at this time, and that it would be i'm
prudent to seek to restore it to its sovereign
ty until the Rebel armies shall have been
pursued and destroyed; for, according to
the idea of The Tribune, their arguments
converge to the same point, and by this
conjunction, with greater degree of
force, "incite more fraternal bloodshed."
There was time, and not long since either,
when it was the general understanding
that refusal to be vociferously in favor of
the greatest possible 'fraternal bloodshed,"
was, in ''its spirit" "treason." Happily
times have changed, and the most powerful
journalist in the ranks of the Administra-
ton party now, without qualification, de-
clares, that "to incite further bloodshed" is,
in sits spirit" "treason!" Let heaven be
thanked for this. 1t gives to the people
once more the right to think for themselves
lit gives to them the right to pronounce
in favor of Peace-without rendering
themselves obnoxious to the charge of
t,.ai .