Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1865-06-21

views, and greeted their eloquent ana point
ed endnciation with frequent and hearty ap-
plause.
THE LECTURE.
The powers ofmy voice are such, said Mr..
Smith, that I fear / shah not be able tomake
myself audible over ali this spacions Hall,
but shall do the best can. The South, in
plunging the nation into tbs hoTrid war,
committed the great crime of the age; the
North, Under strong influence from the press
ana the pulpits to punish the South, is in dan
ger of commi ting the crime of the age
[Applauss.l Lips and pens no more infuen-
tial than mine can do but little to avert this
thing, but what little they can do shall be
done; for, If this mean crime shall be com
mitted. 1 shall want the consolation Of know
ing that I, at least, have no responsibility
TAppIausel All over the North, there is a
clafnor for the blood of the leading Rebels
whom we have captured and OF those whom
we hope yet to capture. I have no sympa-
thy with this class. [Applause.l The South,
bv Lees Surrender, let bloodshed cease, and
all punishment should cease. [Great az
plause.l OF course, I have no reference to
the assassination Of our beloved President
nor to the starving of prisoners; let all rier-
tied punishment fall on the authors Of these
infamous and internal crimes. Cheers. J.
Ny basis is siHhply that the South shall no:
be punished for the Rebellion. or to use an
other word, that the South shall not be pun
ishsd FOR treason. Now, do not say this
because she has suffered, IN my judgment,
enough, or because the property Of her peo-
pie is wasted and she is reduced to desola-
ton; do not say this because the South has
not been guilty Of treason but say that
she is not to be punished for treason because
we have agreed that she shall not be. We
came into the agreement-very reluctantly
{ adrnit-to conduct this war according to
the rules Of war, by which I mean the rules
of international law. Now, hold that our
coming into this agreement was waiver
an entIre surrender of our right to punish the
South for treason LApplause.l That we
came into this agreement, to conduct the war
according to the rules of war, is manifest
We followed other nations, and accorded to
the South belHgerent rights. The Supreme
Court Of our httioh unanimously acknow-
edged those rights OF the South. Moreover
we have acted upon this agreement. In
stead of furnishing, of killing, of trying, con-
victing and ptnishing prisoners for treason,
we have treated them as prisoners OF war; as
enemies at war with US; and then, from
time to time, we have exchanged prisoners
for those the enemy have taken from us ;
there have been innumerable truoes Between
the Gnern7 and ourselves, for parole and 9TH
pr ruFposes. and there have been formal, as
we'll as informal negotiatidhs for peace be-
tween the North and South. Why, on one
occasion ws recognized her ds l':c,o natonali-
~ and all its outcoming dignities and rights,
bv choosing for our Commissioners of peace
the President himself and the Secretary OF
State; and these gentlemen did not wait to
have the Southern Commissioners come to
them sueinely and peadingly, but they hon
ored the Commissioners Of the South by 60
inc more than halfway to meet them. Zap
plause.l Now, all this, and much more than
! this, including especially our blockading Of
the Southern ports, goes to show, beyond
Controvgrsy thst TIE agreed with the enemy
to conduct this war according to the laws oI
war, and such an agreement is virtually an
AGREEMENT to treat prisoners as enemies in
var. Now; how CAME +e to consentto con-
duct this war according to the laws Of war
In ths first place, we came to do so because
the laws Of war rBquirs it. Let me rsaG
some authorities on this point. Vattel says
'sBut when nation becomes divided intc
two parties, absolutely independent and nc
longer acknowledging common superior
the State is dissolved and the war between
the two parties stands on the same ground
in every respect, as proper war betweel
two different nations; az, they decide thei
quarrel by armies, as two different nation
would do. The obligation to observe tn