Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-01-09

bv 80 much does the dignity OF this contel
and the hnaAity of thsdecislon exceed ths
! OF any, hhman tribunal. five have nc
been right in pledglng our lives and ou
b5fthues 20 save our country, then the bloc
4 of the myriads of heroes who have falle
rests with murderous guilt upon our souli
4 and we should never consent that the jus
tification or condemnation of this grea
people should rest, now or hereafter, wit
any bench of judges, however learned, es
pecially when each Judge must determin
his own cause, since he must have been TO
| or against the country in her struggle
There are some things TO which courts @
law can add no sanction, and O nations ap
peal to God when 1t seizes the sword is on
| of them. We may, when necessary, try In
dlvidual traitors, and the people of tn
| United States will appear as prosecutor
but not asdefendant at the bar. hla
Being c0nqueror, the Government has tn
undOubted right TO impose terms upon tn
conquered, but In the statement OF wha
should limit and define those terms, diff
culties arise. We are apt, indeed, TO lister
with impatience to any Limitation of Ou
control over those who are subject to u.s.
The pleasures of rulership and the JOY
which is felt in the exercise of power hav'
always appealed with peculiar force TO th'
frailties of human nature, and professeC
Republicans have been as subject to theil
temptation as other men. In time lik'
this most of us feel the necessity of check
ing our impulses and passions, challenging
the motives and the consistency of our ac'
tons, and of fastening our attention, by eff
fort of will, upon principles of government
and of human rights which have been AK
IONS to us during the period of the growth
- H. n ~ - afe hot,
us aud powerful foreign powers. However
unwelcOme the task of self-examinatiOn,
we owe It to ourselves to make 1t thorough
and searching. The ancient conqueror was
accompanied by a slave in his triumphal
car, who reminded him of his humanity
and his weakness we must act as our own
prompters to moderation and justice, and
remind ourselves Of the rules which should
control our action, and of the dangerous
tendencies Of our own nature. We need no
, stimulus to anything which runs with the
whole current Of popular impulse and feel
ing; such things will take care of them
selves, but no duty can be more important
than that OF stopping occasionally to weigh
well what seems to cross our desires or to
question the direction of our progress.
We have the right and are In duty bound
to insist upon sufficient guarantees for the
future safety OF the Union; but those guar
antees must be sIch as shall not be incon-
sistent with Republican Government for
those who give as well as for those who re-
ceive such security.
Conquest does not rigbtfully give unlim-
tied sway over the persons and property OF
the conquered, and their rights may be
diminished no further than is necessary
for the public safety. -...s .a-.l
If it were proven that it would be i'm
possible for us to live safely, as sharers of a
common government, with the people OF
any State or community, our republicanism
might force us to consent to separation,
but could not justify us In holding them as
subjects: and this proposition is true with
out reference to race or color.
Representation is not a privilege con-
ferred upon majorities, but it is most eff
cient for good when it approaches most
nearly to giving voice In the Legislature to
all minorities in proportion to their num-
Der.
1t is better and safer that minority.
however hostile to us in principle, should
be so represented as to be openly heard and
a Answered, than that it should have the
advantage of winning sympathy and gain
ing partisans by making issue upon the
question of the right of representation in-
stead Of upon the falsity of its obnoxious
principles.
Military government is in its very es-
sence despotism, and any long continu-
ance of it after the cessation of armed re-
sistance is contrary to, aud a confession of
the failure of republicanism.
These and many similar general maxims
of government are the intellectual diet upon
which every living American has been
bred, and of which we have been such earn
est propagandists that no one of us can de-
ny them without incurring the contempt of
the civilized world. They are mere alb
stractions, it is true, but we need to bear
them in mind none the less carefully for
that. All rules are distractions, whether
they be the formule for solving the prob
lens of government or of other sciences. |
We recall them to test our work. and we
reckon ourselves to have made good pro-
gress in proportion to the faithfulness !
with which we have adhered to them.
In the heat of our just wrath against |
those who would have swept republicanism |
from the continent, had they been success
full, we are in danger of forgetting princi- |
Piles to which we owe allegiance, and there |
fore we shOu not excuse ourselves from |
the thankless task of reminding each other |
vide that the national safety be not en-
1angered, to determine who OF the late enc
mics OF the Government are without the |
pale of clemency, and yetto extend amnes- |
5y to the other millions of those who were |
rebels, to restore political privileges to |
hose who were formerly masters, and yet |
protect the freedom of those who we're |
formerly slaves-such is the difficult and |
lelicate work before the executive and the
legislature of the Nation, and they may |
lightly claim of us all such appreciation of
heir task as shall make us most kind and
charitable judges of their differences from
avorite measures of our own. We have,
indeed, reason to be devoutly thankful that /
he work has fallen upon men in whose pa
riotism and wisdom we have so great
ause for confidence, and that TIN progress
hey have already made promises conclu-
ion which shall be reasonably speedy and
satisfactory to the country.
In the presence OF the vast interests
which are before US as part OF the Nation,
he local concerns which affect us as a State
Ilone, are likley to bedwarfed and lose their
proper attention. i do not propose to enter
nto any detailed or elaborated examination
# our condition, or to make recommenda-
ions Of legislative action. This has been
ully and ably done by my predecessor. /
hall only glance at the outlines of affairs |
md content myself with the briefest and /
most cursory view OF the situation. In |
,uf official state duties we find no such
leavy responsibility as rests upon the /
shoulders OF the officers of our National
Government. The close of the war has
aiken from us che necessity for putting |
lrmies in the field, and relieved us, in our
State capacity, Of the lhbOrs incident to
lose corporation with the General Gov
,rnmentin all the great affairs which have
made the past five years so memorable in |