The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1866-04-05
From The New York EVsnipg Post.
THE POLITIcAL sITUATI0N.
WHAT DO WE WANT 2

II
ii From The New York Evening Puss.
THE POLITIcAL sITUATI0N. Ho0
wHAT DO WE WANT?
We ought to reason together, but we
are reasoning separately. Too many
of the citizens in public station appear
10 have lost their temper, or their self
possession, over the problem called are-
construction" and treat It as merely
personal affair, in which each individ.
ual Of them is urging his own views
as though only his aud none other could
be right. - nz
There is, consequently, wrangling
and confusion over a question which is
so grave that no one ought to approach
it except in most calm and deliberate
spirit, and so simple that only such
multitude ofobstinate counsellois could
| produce the disturbance which now
vexes and excitcs the public mind
We hear grave Senators, Represents.
tiyes, and other high officers of the
Government, aspersing each others
motives, bringing railing accusations
against men whose love of liberty and
devotion to The Union it would have
been thought foolish to doubt, six
months ago; and instead of taking
counsel together, and endeavoring by
deliberate and free consultation to effect
harmony of action, the men who ought.
for their own sake as well as the coun.
try's, to agree, are at loggerheads, and
push their resentments to the point
where the public interests seriously
suffer.
What do we want! What does the
President, and the Radicals, and the
Conservatives-all true men loving
liberty and Union-desire, in common
with the whole country? We want O
country in every part of which every
man shall have free opportunity tofol-
low peaceful and honest industry !; in
which all shall be protected alike in
life, liberty and property; and that is
all, absolutely, that any man in his
senses can or does ask. Now, is that
such difficult thing TO accomplish that
we must fall BY the ears over it?
What are the econdi:ions under which
we are likely to secure these ends, and
in time the others with them on which
some insist? They are first, that the
Constitution Of the United States shall
be acknowledged in every State and
District as the supreme law of tho
land, against which no one shall raise
the hand of armed rebellion. and in
accordance with which all State and
local laws shall be made. We must
have FREQ discussion by press and
speech. Finally, to counteract the ef-
feet of certain bitter but dying preju-
dices and class.hatreds which noto-
riously exist in the Southern States.
We need some expedient, the simpler
the better, by which, in any State or
District justice is refused by the local
authorities, it shall, nevertheless, be
done by higher power. We believe
no reasonable or humane person can
fail TO see tho temporary necessity for
such an expcdient, either the Civil
Rights bill just passed by Congress, or
something like it.
II we have these things, are we not
safe2 Can We not afford to wait for
what remains desirable to be accom-
pIished2 With rebellion put down,
the laws enforced and free speech es-
tabllshed, are we afraid that we shall
be worsted2 If any man has such
fears. he has not we'll studied the his
tory of his country; and he has not
that confidence in the American peo-
pie which he ought to have. What
does our history show? 1t proves
that by the mere power CT free dis
cussion, by the force of arguments ad.
dressed to the conscience, the common
sense and the enlightened self-interest
OF the people, slav1ry, the most gigan-
tic, thoroughly organized and 4insidi-
GUS enemy with which people could
contend, was gradually pushed back,
until, in 1860, every thoughtful man
saw that its end was near, and even
the SHAREHOLDERS knew that in the field
Of argument they werO hopelessly
beaten.
Does any one doubt that if peace
had continued we should in time have
rid our soil of the curse of slavery,
peaceably, by strictly legitimate and
constitutional methods? And whom
argument was thus powerful, against
such an opponent, and with such dis
advantages, still wo fear for the result
now that slavery is extirpated, tho
power of that united and desperate
oligarchy broken to pieces, and the
whole field open, the whole Union free
to every breeze of liberty, to all the
various educating influences Of FREQ
labor, FREQ speech and free inter-
course2
If spcechis free, and If the laws are
vigilantly executed, we can give any
odds to the adherents Of privilege
and the lovers of oppression. It ie
only by their own default, in sach q
case, that the friends OF liberty can DO
beaten. Men act and speak as, though
the ghost Of slavery frightened them
more than its bodily presence, Bur
are not these tears ridiculouse They
are alarmed Ut the bitterness OF tho
prejudices which exis. in the South,