M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1865-09-14
MARTHUR YINTON COUNTY,, OHIO SEPTEMBER IA l8e5.

1861, the Republican party in Con,
gross declared "that the war ia wag-
FED 10 defend and MAINTAIN the Gu.
lpr0nacy of ihe Constitution. aid t,
/ prdserye the Union, with all thu
dignity, equality and rights Of tn,
several States unimpaired. Wa.
this Irue4 Then the objects of th,
war are accomplished, It's purposes
are S;tained, and all that belongs t,
a s5tte of war should cease. W,
aa,Tot be deceived. 1t is a false
Jrustgt to cover over illegitimatc
ends. 1t seeks a screen for tko usc
Of uiurpod power. Courtg-maltial
military commissions, suspension o.
HabSas Corpus, suppression Of news
papeg, Interference with free speech
and free elections, these have been
the hshion for years past. When
We demonstrated wo were told they
were the necessary incidents Of o
statoDf war, and aids to the war;
making power; that when tie war
cease! they would cease, THEN they
were maintained to support war:
NOW the war is maintained to sup
port hem.
Ths war is at end. Many Of its
eflect9 can never bo erased, The
deep Burrows which it has lett in our
eociapand governmental system can
never be smoothed over. Its inAu-
ence on the feelings and character
of our pvoplo will remain. The re-
la!ions oftho people and the sections
can never bo exactly restored. The
questions which it han raised must
be settled. The result which it has
brought about must ba accepted
Wecan not recall the past. We can
not undo what has been done. We can
not re-e8tablish exactly the old order
of things; but we can be Just and
true. We can brayeIy and honestly
meet new issues, aud, like wise men,
accepting the unavoidable, yielding
to accomplished facts, we can, as
nearly as possible, aIhcre to old
landmarks, and thus secure to our
selves all the blessings of good gov
ernmD1s. .
"Let the dead past bury its dead" ."
Let us forget the war, except for the
lessons which it teaches. Let Us
Danish it as the horrid calamity, in
which the innocent and the guilty,
the pure and tho wicked, the uDfor-
tunate and the undeserving, the
conquergr and the conquered alike
suffered a common wee. If any
would recall it to nourish haired be-
tween the sections, or to excite the
people OF either section against each
other, lot Lis name and his fame be
accursed; let him be ana,hema mar
enatha.
When Mr. Lincoln delivered his
Inaugural Address, he said: Sup
pose you 60 to war. Alter much
suffering on both sides, and no ad-
vantage onepeither, you will have
the Same questions OF intercourse to
settle which you have now" lie
was right. We have had war-we
have had much suf.ring-a what
are tue questions remaining? The
status Of the negroes in the States,
and the relation OF the States alnoug
themselves. To a Democrat these
questions appear easy Of solution,-
lie brings them 10 tha test of the
Constitution. The Constitution dc =
clares that the powers mot delegated
are rcserved.N 1t also dehne8 the
relations Of the States. No power
has been given to the Federal Gov
ernment Or any of its departments,
to interfere with the status Of the
people of the States, or to change OF
define the relations Ct the States to
each other. Ii the war was waged
to maintain the supremacy o.
the Constitution, surely the
success of the war and the at
tainment Of peace should not be made
the occasion Of impairing it. These
questions must be left with the
States themselves.
If the war was for another purpose
if Black Eepublicanism was all {
| lie; if coercion was a base pretext
and armed revolution was the rea
design, we confront another question
What ought to be, not what is, th(
! Constitutiona And to this question
we are being brought. Men high il
authority PROFOUND it to US. | Oe'
that u citizen of our own State, nov
on tie stump, an aspiring man--'
member OF Congress-announ
that he will never consent TO the ad
mission to Congress Of Representa-