The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-12-20
0he intel i(egrle1s ep d
The Bourbons of thc So11b-

The Richmond EEdmiRer, revived by
its former Joint editor, 81. Rives Pol
land, is probably more correctt ex-
ponent of southern feeling than any
other paper in the reclaimed States. It
is bold and outspoken. It feigns no
new love Of northern principles and no
belief that the defeat Of the. rebellion
will, in the end, prove a good thing for
the South. 1t ridicules the southern ad-
vocates of conciliation,-and says:-
eve are to sing through our noses
past bury its dead We are to hush all
the noble voices that ring in our ears
still out of the struggles of the last four
years. We are to yield to that strange
delusion, which is so comInoH in the
case of individuals,-that peculiar in
iatuaton which leads SO many to think
that silence annihilRtes the past. Say
nothing more about it and be good
triendsP as II our bloody debate had
been nursery quarrel, and Abel could
get up to shake hands with tCain.-
These things, and many more of the
same kind, the South wtll persistently
refuse to do. Slavery is dead. but the
principle on which slavery rested-tbe
common-sense view OF human nature
Is not dead. Secession is dead; but how
far secession was an instrument for
asserting principle, how far it was the
principle itself in the minds of the
southern people, is a question which
may admit of discussion. Secession
was tried as remedy. 1t was a des-
perate remedy It has failed. We were
conscientious in trying it. There
is no human probability that we
shall try it again. But the principle of
the equal rights of the, States-that
principle which constitutes the practical
element, Of State sovereignty-t though
1t is asserted boldly to-day by men who
resisted the doctrine of secession to the
last, and it will survive so long as any
vestige of liberty is left"
Yet the Examiner goes on to assert
that the submission of the South lis
frank and loyal, and admits that free
labor will modify the tone of southern
society, but hopes that the South, If
true to itself, will preserve nearly all
those distinctive peculiarities "of which
it has been justly proud" In another
article on the political situation, the
Examiner says: IG
"a strong party in the North, now
that the war has closed, advancing even
beyond their pretensionS as aYowed
until recently, claim that the war has
established not only the freedom of the
slaves, but the slavery of the freemen
at the South. We are TO be held not MS
citizens of q free country, but as tho
subjects of our own government, Which
is to enslave us. The President of the
United States, happily for us, is at con-
hict with thosewho ounbIushinRIy ayow
this doctrine. So far as he maintains
this contest, so far is it the duty of every
fri nf
north or south of the line which mark
ed the recent contest) to sustain him.
For this contest involves not only the
freedom of our. people, but that of
America"
We do not quote these passages from
the Examiner to prove that such Vir-
ginians and other Southerners as it rep
resents are badly reconstructed, and
not to be trusted with political power
till they are converted to better senti-
ments. 1t was not to be expected that
sectional feeling, either at the North or
South, should die outat once upon the
close of the fearful conflict which has
grown out of it; apd the marvel is
that there have been SO few such
demonstrations in the South. Nor do
we apprehend any serious consequences
| from such as occur. The effort of the
Examiner and its allies to prevent the
prompt burial of the dead past is unfor-
tunate for themselves, and for the
South, if they succeed. All former diff
ferences between North and South have
originated in slavery, and with its death
these should perish, and will eventual
ly. But the old Democratic politicians
of the. South seek to keep alive preju-
dice and i'll VIII between the sections.
for their, own selfish, party objects.
They must be fully aware that it is for
the interest of the South to become
national in its Institutions and its poll
tics, and to devote itself to the arts OF
peace, to education, and all the various
means of prosperity and elevation that
accompany free labor. They mus,
know-the best of them have often ac.
knowledged-that their section has
fallen behind the rest. of the world in
the race Of intelligence and progress
because of the incubus of slavery. And
yet, now that the incubus itself is re.
moved, they seek to perpetuate the pre-.
judices and animosities to which it gave
birth, and to hold back their people
from the noble career Providence has
opened before them. If they succeed
they will arrest the social renovation o.
the South, and entail upon it evils
| worse than those inflicted ll1ry the ,,,a,.