The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1866-08-25

death of relatives and friends. the dispersion |
of families, the disruption OF social systems |
and social ties, the overthrow of governments, |
of law and order, the destruction of property |
and the fc ms and modes and msans Of indus- |
try. the loss of political, commercial and moral
influence, in every shape and form which |
great calsmIties can assume, the states and |
people which engaged in the war against the |
government Of the United States have suf-
terred tenfold more than those who remain |
ed In allegiance to it's constitution and laws.
These conditions may not, as they certain |
~ do not, justify the acsIon OF tho people OF
the insurgent states; bot no just or gener-
GUS mind will refuse to them very consider
able weight in determining the line of con.
duct which the government of the United
States should pursue towards them.
They accept, if not with alacrity. certainly
without sullen resentment, the defeat and
overthrow they have sustained. They ac-
knowledge and acquiesce in the results, to
themselves and the country, which that de-
feat involves. They no longer claim for any
state the right to secede from the Union
they no longer assert for any state an allsgl-
ance paramount to that which is due to the
general government. They have accepted the
destruction of slavery, abolished it by their
state and people of the whole Union in pro
hibiting its existence forever upon the soil or
within the Jurisdiction of the United States
| They indicate and evince their purpose. just
as fast as may be possible and safe, to adapt
| their domestic laws TO the changed condition
of their society, and to secure by the law and
it's tribunals equal and impartial justice to
all classes of thsir Inhabitants. They admit
| the Invalidity of all acts of resistance to the
national authority, and of all debts incurred
| in attempting its overthrow. They ayow
| their willingness to share the burdens and
discharge all the duties and obligations
(which rest upon them, in common with other
states, and other sections of the Union; and
they renew, through their representatives in
this convention, by all their public conduct,
in every way and by the most solemn acts
by which states and societies can pledge
their faith, their engagement TO bear true and
} faithful allegiance, through all time to come,
to the constitution of the United States, and
to all laws that may be made in pursuance
} thereof.
Fellow COMMUNICATIVE call upon you, in
full reliance upon your intelligence and your pa
triotism, to accept, with generous and ungrudg-
ing confidence, this full surrender on the part OF
those lately in arms against your authority and
> to share with them the honor and renown that
; await those who brought back peace and concord
, to jarrng states. The war just closed, with al
, its sorrows and disasters, has opened new
= = career of glory to the nation it has saved. II
has swept away the hostilities of sentiment and
of interest which were standing menace to it.
peace. 1t has DESTROYED the institution of sla
> very, always a cause Of sectional agitation and
strife, and has opened for our country the way tC
. unity of interest, of principle and of action
' through all time to come. Il has developed in
0 both sections military capacity-sn aptitude
? for achievements of war, both by sea and land
before unknown even to ourselves, and destine
to exercise hereafter, under united councils, ar
, important influence upon the character and des
, tiny of the continent and the world And while
it has thus revealed, disciplined and compacteC
: our power, it has proved to us beyond controver
: sy or doubt, by the course pursued toward both
contending sections by foreign powers. that w6
/ must be the guardians of our own independence
and that the principles of republican freedom We
8 represent can find among the nations of the
D earth no friends or defenders but ourselves.
We call upon you, therefore, by every consid
t Grafton of your own dignity and safety, and in
the nam of liberty throughout the world, to
complete the work of restoration and peace
which the president of the United States has sc
well begun, and which the policy adopted and
: the principles asserted by the present congress
I alone Obstruct The time is close at hand wher
members of new congress are to be elected. II
that congress shall perpetuate this policy, and
: by excluding loyal states and people from re
presentation in Its halls shall continue the usur
patton by which the legislative powers of the
8 government are now exercised, common prudence
compelS US to anticipate augmented discomfort
| a sudden withdrawal Fl ON the duties and obliga
tions of the federal government, internal dissen.
, sion and general collision of sentiments and
, pretensions which may renew, in q still more
fearful shape, the civil war from which we have
just emerged. We call upon you TO interpose
, your power to prevent the recurrence of 80
transcendant a calamity. We call upon you in
every congressional district of every state, to
secure the election of members, who,
whatever other differences many characterize
their political action, viii unite in recognizing
the right of every state of the Union to represen-
tation in congress, and who will admit to seats
in either branch, every loyal representative from
every state in allegiance to the government, who
may be found by each house, in the exercise of
the power conferred upon it by the constitution,
to have been duly elected, returned and qualified
| for seat therein
When this shall have been done the govern
ment will have been restored to its integrity, the
constitution of the United States will have
been re-establshed in its full supremacy, and
the American Union will have become what it
was designed to be by those who formed it, a
sovereign nation, composed of separate states,
each like Itself, moving in distinct and independ-
ent sphere. exercising powers defined and reserv-
} ed by common constitution, and resting upon
the asscnt the confidence and cooperation of all
, the states and all the people subject to its au-
, thority. Thus reorganized and restored to their
!, constitutional relations, the states and the gen
eral government enter in a fraternal spirit
with common purpose and common interest
upon whatever reforms the security of persona
rights, the enlargement of popular liberty and
the perfection of our republican institutions may
demand. .-..szr
The address adopted by the unanimous
vote of the convention, followed by the most
enthusiastic and long continued cheering.
Hogan, the Disunionist.