Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-02-20
NUMBER ;,E 100.

armistice what tits here defined. It does
not mean withdrawal of force, only its
suspension. But, sir, we can let the war 90
on and still talk ofiand act for peace
A treaty may be Sin progress up to
the very moment of the end - of
hostilities it may be celebrated by the fir
| ing of hostile cannon; or, iass at New Or
leans, in the late war, hostiiities may con-
Time after a-trcatyis signedG in Ignorance
OF its signing.1-But, sir, cannot, in the
| short time allotted, speak on that subject.
! only'wished for five minutes to speak
upon this question, because stand here as
a representative, as believe from the vote
taken the; other day upon my resolution, of
The loyal and patriotic Sentiment of the
people OF the country, whose hearts
are yearning toward da9peace and union,
ana who, want to eseapei taxation aud
bl0odslled and drafting, and see the
old political relations between the
States, If it be possible, and as nearly as
may be, restored to the. whole country.
| Ihey believe in superadding to the force Of
the army and navy that higher, nober and
benign Christian elemeDtof Cancellation to-
ward Which the President is approxima-
ting, even if it has not been fully tried and
exhausted. do not see, as some of my
friends around me do, any discouragement
Ill the negotiations, so far as they have ad-
Vanced. | would not represent my dis
trict or State, certainly not my party, ifJ
dld not encourage every effort of the proper
authorities to end the war and save the
nation. "a ...ot,
At the outset of these negotiations the
President made three propositions First, to
restore peace on the basis Of the restoration
OF the national authority. We would all
agree to that. No man, no Democrat, no
li1ot, ,trstH -, IL
dispensabe condition. Secondly he saws
there will be no receding from his position
on the slavery question as developed in his
messages and documents. can draw, sir,
any proposition, on any side of the negro
question, from these messages and decu-
ments. From them may be drawn either
the principles of constitutional regard for
the local government of States over slavery,
as enunciated in his first message, OF the
principles of gradual emancipation, or Of
compensation, or of total abolition. If the
President desires to settle the conflict
by resort to his messages, he can, in q
diplomatic way, find the material in his
letters or messages. This condition i do
not choose to regard as insuperable.0 In
the third place, he says that there, shall be
no cessation of hostilites short OF the end
of the war. Very well; then we can stin
60 on and treat for peace. Hostilities nav
go on without armistice, and negotiations
may go on at the same time. Thereis no
reason, therefOre-and | choose to give the
most charitable Interpretation to these me-
gotiations-why the people of this country
may not hope for Il restoration of peace aud
the reunion Of the Statesif the President
is not broken down in his laudable efforts
by the fierce onslaughts OF his radical adj
herents. God help him to do all. and do it
courageously, to save our land from its ter
rible woes, while something worth having
of material wealth, social order, and polit-
ical virtue, remains to be saved. '.i