The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-02-07
THE WAR FOR THE UNION AND
s THE WAR AGAINST IT. -

mark. Their fiery zeal will in due time de-
feat itself, and bring upon their own heads
the punishment with which they threaten
Others. For all this agitation in Congress,
this piling up of amendments to the consti-
tuition, this denunciation of every man who
differs from them, this anxiety to disable and
punish our fellow citizens in the Southern
States, is in strange forgetfulness of considc-
ration which the statesman who would live
must ever keep in view. 1t presupposes the
continuance during peace Of a public opin-.
ion which acquired force under the excite
ment and perils of war. 1t makes no allow
ance for the abatement of feelings which de-
rived their strength from conflict involv-
ing the life of the nation, and which are nat
uially modified, if not eradicated, now that
danger has given place to triumph. And it
ignores the fact that many of the measures
urged by. radicalism, and which the, radical
leaders would fain push to completion be-
tween the rising and the setting of the. sun,
cannot acquire any guarantee of permarence,
and may be annulled without ceremony by
another Congress. Even with regard to con-
stitutional amendments, it takes for granted
the concurrence of the requisite number of
States, although the known weakness of the
radical element in several of them renders
such a result extremely improbable There
is folly. therefore, as we'll as mischief in some
of the scenes now being enacted at Washing
ton 7ias57 s=se - 70 ~ i3f GO
The idea of subjugating the Southern
States and reducing them to the condition of
conquered provinces, obtained no favor dur
ing the period most likely to foster it. True,
the Wendell Phillipses on the platform en-
acted the same role of characters now PLAYED
by the Steyenses of another place, but the
great body of the people repudiated it un-
qualifedly and always. The Copperheads,
taking their cue from the Phillips school of
radicals, opposed the war under the allega-
ton that it was a war of conquest But the
people, from whom men and means to carry
on the war were derived, never regarded it
as other than struggle to preserve the ma
tional integrity. All their plans, all their
aims, were predicated upon the confined ex-
istence of the Union in its entirety, and con-
seauently upon the continuance within the
Union of the rebel States, throughout the
whole term of tie rebellion. The entire pol
icy of the government, foreign and domestic,
proceeded on this hypothesis. The procla-
nations of President Lincoln, the correspon-
dence of the State Department, the lcgisla-
ton of Congress, the efforts and aspirations
of the Northern peopl.-all werein harmony
upon this point 1t was this and this alone
which justified the war. 1t WAS this and on
ly this which sustained the North under re-
verse, animated it when things wore their
gloomiest aspect and gave uncessing vigor
to the spirit which led to victory. The States
were held to be States all the time. And the
close of the war was held to imply the re-
sumption of former relations as between the
federal government and the several States
which had been concerned in the rebellion.
This popular appreciation of the question
if of more value, for most practical purposes
than the abstract arguments of publicists on
either side. As the subtleties of the seces-
sion problem have been blown into nothing
ness from the lannon's mouth, so the theo-
RISING Of Mcss; Stevens and Shellabarger il
blotted out as of no account by the delibe
rate judgment of the people. We have the
testimony of Gen. Grant to the good faith
with which the citizens of the South ac
quiesce in the verdict of the war, and resume
their allegiance to the old flag. The terms
dictated by Gen. Grant, with the full !.nowl-
edge of President Lincoln, were calculated
to bring about this happy condition of af
fairs The great soldier who guided The
struggle to its end dreamed not of arroga
ting TO himself the functions of conqueror
or of imposing upon the South terms of vas
salage. They who did the fighting felt al
ways that they were fighting not to extend
conqueror's flag over alien territory, not to
add provinces to a republic and make its
glorious symbol "a Haunting lie" but to put
down rebels and restore the authority of the
Union over all its component parts. The ar
mics of the Union fought only for that. And
when that was accomplished, soldiers and
people alike felt that the work of the war
was ended, and that nothing remained to
keep Northern and Southern States apart
The Union was restored. and with the restor-
ed Union came back the equality of the
States and the full title of each to the privi-
leges conferred by the constitution.
The Northern people, have gone yet furth-
err From the moment when the rebellion
was known to be suppressed, they have stri-
ven to heal the wounds Occasioned by the
war, and to reassure the South in every re-
spect They have established lines of steam
communication almost without number
They have provided the means ofreconstruct-
ing railroads. They have furnished capital
to cultivate plantations and to promote in
tlustrial and commercial enterprises in every
Southern State. They have settled literally
with Southern debtors, and have sent on
credit goods to supply the Southern market.
In this manner the question of the Union and
the relations of Northern States to Southern
States have been virtually and satisfactorily
settled by the peoples of the two sections
Southern people come hither and find friends
and feilow-citizens, instead of aliens and sub
jugators Northern people go there and find,
in the varied resources of States now freed
from the curse of slavery, fresh gounds of
confidence in the power and prosperity of
the Union. .H ,aB - -ss5if ~ 10 loi
1t remains for men like Mr.. Thaddeus Ste
vens, to declare the work of the Grants and
Shermans of the army unfinished, and to con-
denim the magnanimous spirit of the Ameri-
can people. To man who had dared any
thing or done anything BETTING a hero, we
might be disposed to listen with respect. But
that men who never shouldered musket,
nor exposed their precious persons to danger,
should now scold and hector, and talk about
terms which conqreror may dictate, is sim
s ply intolerable Ard when Mr.. Stevens, who
during the war ate mpted nothing more for
midable than the drafting of absurd gold
bills, splits his venom upon the President
and impugns the sagacity and patriotism Of
Andrew johnson, the people will not he long
in deciding to whom their confidence should
be given On one hand, they see the type
of class of whose radicalism years ago af
forded Southern tire-eaters the means of 70
mentinp sectional strife ard whose zeal to