The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-09-21

There are q greet many Sourherners II
this city trying to make arrangements for
resumption Of business. Asa general thin
their conduct is manly, frank and sensible
calculated 10 WIN the confidence and re
spect Of every generous and Just communi
| ty. Nine ia every ten of them have beer
utterly ruined BY the rebellion. Most o
them east their fortunes INTO the struggl,
for s cause which they believed to be right
| but which theysee and acknowledge to have
been fatally and finally defeated. They
have lost position, influence, property, chill
drsn, ,-friends-everyt thing which makes hf.
desirable. Under such circumstances, veal
men sink down into abject despair. or drai
out the rest Of their lives in the safe obscu
| rity Of foreign lands. The defeated South
i erners meet their calamity in q moro manly
style. They show in their defeat, as they
did in their struggle, desperate
tenacity Of purpose, and that highspiriteC
readiness to meet all the responsibilities O
| their conduct, which never falls to command
the respect Of the world.
Il may not seem wholly in keeping with
this courageous temper, that quite number
! OF these persons, on reading the speech o.
Hon. Thad. Stevens, have abandoned theil
business projects and gone home discour-
aged. They say they cannot face the desc
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They cannot put their farms again in order
clear them Of their membranes, rebuild
their ruined dwellings, plant fresh crop.
and get a new start in life for their children
! aud themselves, with the prospect, at any
moment, Of seeing the whole swept away By
/ aruthless conhseati0u. They cannot work
with heart q hope while such a sword is
hanging over their heads.
We cannot blame them for this feeling
but the fear out Of which it grows seems tc
US quite unwaFranted. There is nothing
either in the past conduct or the present
temper Of the North to justify the belief
that any such policy as that recommended
be Mr.. Stevens VIII be adopted. True, Mr..
S, is a prominent and influential public
man. his ripe age, his long experience in
public life, and his position as Official leader
IN the House Of Representatives combine tC
give weight and importance to his views oi
public atiairs. But Is a public man he be-
longs rather 10 the past than to the future
He is universally known TO be extreme in
all his views, sometimos to che verge of &c
centricity; and while Congress and the
conutry always listen with attention and re-
spect to his expression Of them, they are
never allowed to shape, to any considera-
bic extent, the practical conduct Of public
affairs. Mr.. Stevens insisted throughout
the last Congress that the Southern states
and people shoald be treated as alien enc
mics but Congress never concurred in his
opinion. IN the Baltimore Convention he
urged the exclusion Of delegates from every
Southern State that had been ia rebellion
but they wer9 admitted by vote Of two to
one. So we Tanture to predict that if Mr.
| Stevens should introduce into Congress his
last grand scheme for sweeping eonfsca-
tion Of Southern property, he viii not gel
twenty five votes in its favor.
President Johnson's speech 10 the South.
ern delegation the other day, ought 10 re
assure Southern men upon this point. Hii
authority is certainly quite as high as that
of Mr.. Stevens, and his influence upon the
course Of legislation VIII be ten-lold greater
He assures the South, in the most explicit
and emphatic terms, that they will not be
persecuted nor treated harshly-that theil
welfare VIII be consulted - that theil
past suaerings have atoned for their past
oAenees--that we regard them as members
of the same great family, alienated and be-
trayed into fearful crimes for a time, bui
still bound to us by ties of affection and e
be trusted and cherished upon their return
to the authority they have tried to over
throw. This is the language Of a generous
aud magnanimaus statesmanship, and II
finds an echo m the national heart. The
people Of the North are not revengelul
They have never hated the South. Even in
the midst of the war they have cherished
kindly sentiments toward the people they
were compelled 30 ight and now that the
war is over, they have no thought or wish te
crush lallen foe. For they know perfectly
well that the people of the South must come
20 be our irlenda-that as the nation IS one
so has all the people q common welfare
only TO be secured By common sentiments
Of respect and of mutual regard. Nobody
anywhere, who has any Just concep-
tion Of the duties and necessities Of
the immediate future, dreams Of strip
ping the already impoverished people Of
the South, as a means Of promoting and
building up the prosperity of the nation.
The great mass Of the Northern people,
without regard to party, viii sustain, heart
lily and vigorously, the policy Of the Presi-
dent. They went into the war reluctantly,
but they have fought it out victoriously; AMI
they accept the extirpation Of slavery, the
perpetuation cf the Unions the increased
consideration and respect which We enjoy
abroad; and the seii-relance aud courage
which it has developed at home, az an
equivalent for tho suilerings, burdens and
sacrifices It has involved. And much IS We
detest their cause, we have no reason to be
ashamed Of the manner IN which the pe0-
pie Of the South evinced their devotion to it.
Their courage, their devotion, their readi-
ness to sacrifice everything dear TO them in
its behalf, do honor TO-. the American name.
We trust the people Of the South viii
prosecute, with continued energy and conf
denee, their efforts TO renew the prosperity
Of the Southern States. Let them heed the
Presidents warning and pay no regard to
speeches that may seem % breathe a spirik
Of hatred and revenge. They have their
fate in their own hands. if they viii take
hold promptly and properly Of the task that
awaits thcm, appreciate Alright the new re-
lations, political, industrial, and social,
which tho war has brought aboAt, and act
with wise reference 10 the necessities which
those changed relations have created, they
can easily disarm all disirust and command
the hearty and effective sympathy Of all the
people in the Northern states.-N. y.
IimCs.