Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1865-08-23
WHOLE NO. 255T
FouR YEARS AGO.

slavery The Republican party had
for years been opposing that system
First, because il was crime against
human nature and q dreadful wrong
against another race 1t was con
demned by the Judgment of the whole
civilized world Humanity and phi
.aatbroPy both demanded Of Us, as we
believed, that we should by every re-
spOnsibi!ity for such wrong. Sec
Ond, because it was dragging down
the pOer and non-slavehOlding whites
at the South to condition little bet
ter than that Of the slaves themselves.
" proved from the assertions of the
I Southern statesmen and the testimO-
ny of witnesses whose statements
could not be cOntrOverted, That virtue
WAS broken down, intelligence re-
duced almost to nothing, thrift van
ishing, and every thing which goes TO
make laboling population either
honest, industrious, or patriotic, was
/ disappearing before the influence OF
this system upon those whites who
I We're too poor TO own slaves, aud were
forced TO rely upon their own thrift
for their advancement. We opposed
IL also, in the third place, because
! wherever the system existed, all the
material interests of the country were
sacrificed to it; manufactures and
/ commerce became Of little worth, and
instead of that progress in wealth
and civilization which had been so
marked feature of our Northern
! ST ties, we beheld simply an agrieuI-
/ tural aristOcracy, using for their own
luxury the product Of slave labor, and
becoming, apparently, incapable Of
understanding even the advantages
I Of that spirit of progress which we
mad regarded as the peculiar pride of
our race. We saw, in short, that sla-
very was in irreconcilable antagOnism
to all free institutions; that its ten
dency was toward barbarism, and
that the Republican Government our
fathers had founded cOuId only be
/ preserved by its overthrow The
irrepressible conflict became yearly
more engrossing, and in spite Of all
our efforts to avoid it, we were obi
ged to make the issue whether our
country should ultimately be ali slave
territory or all free territory. So long,
! however, as the shareholders kept the
peaee, and refrained from violent OPP
position to the Government, we rec
ognized their right, under the Con-
stitution, to freedom from any inter
ference on the part Of the Federal
| Government in the concerns of the
/ States themselves, or in their dOmes-
/ tic institutions there. We recognized
! the fact that our powers could reach
the system only in the common Terri
tories belonging to the nation, add
that by preventing the extension
only could we properly oppose it. We
believed that, in the end, this girdling
/ Of the tree would destroy its life
that the progress of opinion and the
contrast in prosperity between the
tree and slave States would assist the
result we hoped for. by begetting IN
Southern minds q desire to emulate
that progress which the Northern
States were making.
WHY THE REBELLION WAS BEGUN.
The Propagandists of slavery at the
South, welded to their system, and
foreseeing its overthrow in tho Union,
at last determined upon rebellion
against the government and the
establishment Of a confederacy, avOw-
edly based upon the system Itself
The result was war-war deliberate
/ iy determined upon by the leaders in
! the secession movement, and urged
forward in hot haste lest, by some
/ agreement, or some compromise, the
opportunity for that disruption of the
/ government, which they sought,
should be lost to them and, whatev-
er may have been true Of the masses
Of the Southern people, we have abun-
dant evidence that their leaders fully
measured the great crime which they
were committing, and went into its
commission with their eyes open to
al the possible horrors and disasters
which it must bring upon the eOun-
/ try They doubtless had q lingering
hope that the mere show OF force
would Overawe the government, and
enable them to make their secession
an accomplished fact, without great
cost, either of life or treasure to
themselves But the Contingencies
which opened before them were 1St
forgotten, and, in their hatred of free
Government, they determined upon
the struggle, cost what it might. We
are now, IN some measure, enabled to
estimate that cost That Southern
country, which they were acGA8tOm-
ed 10 speak OF as the garden Of Ire
world, has been ravaged in every
direction by hostile armies The
sCOurge Of war has sited it with
such terrific effect that years must
elapso before the soil wilRbe rid Of
the pIainest traces of the conflict
which has taken their place tRoFe.
They have brought mourning upon all
their homes. They have almost
totally destroyed the youth and vigOr
Of their population; and now, inpol-
we'd ii almost hopeless bankruptcy,
those OF them who survive have to
iOOA bt-LA ADOtA ItAO HOAh VI -LubLE
own hands. We, too, have felt the
cost and the burden of the struggle.
Our homes also have been visited by
mourning, and our households also
have many vacant places But tie
armed power of the rebellioneFas at
last forced 10 succumb, and our tolls
and expenditures of treasure are at
last rewarded by complete 9litary
possession of the States recently in.
rebellion.
POLITICAL RESULTS OFOrHE WAR
The most marked Political results Of
the war arc two-frst, the complete
extinction Of the system of slavery :;
and, secondly, the establishment OF
the paramount duty Of allegiance to.
the National Government. as u duty
above all Obligations to. separate
States, and as being directly and inn.
due from the individual to