The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1865-09-29
]Fron the ". Y. Times (.Se,rards Organ)1
The North and SOuth--The Speech o
Hon, Ihad, Stevens,

AlUut 1IQus St0gELbs
| There are great many Soulhcvners in this
| city trying to make arrangements for 2 Tesump-
! ton Of business. As q general thing, their
conduct is manly, frank and sensibIe-calcula-
| ted to win the confidence and respect of every
generous and just community. Nine in every
ten of them have been utterly ruined by the
rebellion. Most of them cast their fortunes IL
to the struggle fer cause whieAo ieAo ,ePF teleEeead
| to be be UlGttfh7{talfy and GnaIy defeated Tbey
have lost position, influence, pronertv ahildren,
friends-eyerything which makes lie dasir2Gies
Under such circumstances, weak men sink down
into abject despair or drag out the rest OF their
lives in the safe obscurity Of foreign lands -
The defeated Southerners meet their calamity
in a more manly style. They show in their
defeat, as they did in their strugglo-courage,
desperate tenacty Of purposes and that high
spirited readiness to meet all the responsibilities
Of their conduct which never fails TO command
! the respect OF the world.
| 1t may not seem wholly in keeping with this
courageous temper that quite number OF these
persons, on reading the speech Of lion. Ihad'
| Stevens, have abandoned their business projects
| and gone home discouraged. They say they
cannot face tie desolaton which his plans pro-
nose for the South They cannot put their
| farms again in order, clear them of their in
cumbrances. rebuild their ruined dwellings,
plant fresh crops and get a new start IN lite tor
| their children and themselves, with the prospect,
at any moment, of seeing the whole swept a
way by a ruthless contiscation. They cannot
work with heart or hope while such sword Is
hanging over their heads.
We cannot blame them forthis feeling, butthe
fear out of which it grows seems to Us quite
unwarranted 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 by Mr.. Stevers will be adopted.
True. Mr. S. is a prominoH; and Influential pub
Ec man. His ripe age, his long experience IN
public life, and his position as official leader In
the House of Representatives combine to give
weight and Importance to his view q pabhc
affairs But as a public man ho belongs rather
. to the past than the future. He is universally
known to be extreme in all his views, some
times to the verge Of eccentricIiy; and while
Congress and the country always listen with
attention and respect to his expression of them
they are never allowed to shape, to any consd
able extent, the practical conduct Of public at
r fairs. Mr. Stevens insisted throughout the las
!, Congress that tie Southern States and people
= Il
! gress never concGrred in his opinion. in th'
, Baltimore Convention he urged the exclusion
, Of delegates from eveey Southern State tha
had been in rehelIi2n--5ut they Were admitted
by 9 vote of two to one. So we venture L
! nred;ct that ;f Mr. Stevens should INTRODUCES
, Into Congress his last grand scheme fcr sweep
. ing confscation Of Southern property, be VIII
j. not get tscentg-frs votes in Its favor.
: President Johnson's speech to the Sou:her
J., delegation the other day, ought to roassar
i Sorthscn mon upon this point. His authorit
c IS certainly quile as high as that Of Mr.. Stev
/ ems, anl hs influence upon the coHrse OF !esl'
d lation VIII 6e ten-fold greater. He assures tn
Y South, in the most emphatic terms, that the
# will not be persecu,ed nor treated harshly-
V that their welfare will be consulted-that thei
IT past suferings have atoned for their past otter
Il ses--that we regard them as members OF IL
o same great family, aEena.ed and betrayed INT
" fearful crimes for a time, bat still bound TO
4? by ties of affection and to Le trusted and che
" ished upon their return to the authority The
b. have tried to overthrow. This is the l&ngUa;
N of a generous and magnanlinous statesmanshl
70 and it finds an echo in the national heart II
f people of the North are not reTen5eidl. -,
r have never hated the South. Even IN the mid
ed of the war they have cherished kindly sen'