The Portland daily press., 1866-10-17
DAILY PRESS.
PORTLAND.
"Wednesday Morning, October II, 1865.
wi-cnsse, and Quebrc.


We feel sure that no one whose home dur
ing the last six months has been in Portland,
viii have read without thrill of almost Ego
nizing sympathy, the account OF the fearful
calamity which has betallen the city OF Que
bee. Twenty thousand human beings driven
by the raging confagratiOn at midnight into
the omen street. shelterless, foodless, penni-
less, is condition of things involving an
extremity of misery which no community
can so fully comprehend as ours can There
is something truly appalling in the frequency
with which of late such terrible events as
this have followed each other. 1t is but
few days since fire occurred in Wiscasset
nearly as disastrous in proportion to the size
of that place as the one of July 4th was to
u.s. Quickly in the train OF this follows the
calamity at Quebec, and yesterday the tele-
graph brought Intelligence of still another in
Ottawa, G. W., by which numbers OF people
were rendered houseless and pennliess.-
What enhances the misery in these later cases
is the advanced period of the year. which not
only increases the present suffering but rem
ders it impossible to take any immediate
steps for repairing the favases of the fire.
Winter is almost upon u.s. In the higher lat
itude of Quebec its advent is still closer at
hand. The work of yebuilding in that city,
as well as among our unfortunate neighbors
of Wiscasset, must OF necessity be postponed
to another year. How all these thousands of
human beings, stripped in an hour oil all their
earthly possessions, are to be kept from per-
ishing under the rigors of the approaching
winter is a question for the earnest consldera-
tion of the benevolent. ~ lse
This, indeed is the problem with which we
first have to deal. SpecuIations as to the
causes of all this destruction, and suggestions
for the prevention Of similar disasters in the
the future may be timely and judicious, but
after all, the mischief is done, and the first
thing is to consider how to relieve as far as
possible the suffering which must be its inevi-
table result. Portland has received in most
abundant measure, tangible proofs of the SYM
pathv and generosity which her own great
calamity called forth. The opportunity to
evnce her gratitude for all the kindness of
which she has been made the recipient and
her sympathy with those suffering from a like
misfortune, has come more quickly than she
could have anticipated Her own necessities
are s ill fearlully great. Her own losses are
not repaired, and the unceasing exertions of
the benevolent in her midst are required to
a. provide for the wants of her own sufferers. 1t
is little that she can do for others, but that
little should be all the more promptly and
heartily proffeied. Wiscasset did nobly by us
last summer. She sent us engines, food cloth
ing, and money in large proportion to her
wealth and population. From Canada also
came to us,substantial tokens of kindness and
goodwill, all the more agreeable to us then as
coming from those on whom we had not the
claim of a common country and allegiance
Let Is not show ourselves ungrateul now We
suggest that some early and public action on
the part OF the city or its prominent citizens
rendering TO these communities suffering un-
der like misfortune with our own, the ex-
preston of our heartfelt sympathy and the as
surance oil such aid as lies within our power,
would b. proceeding most becoming and ap-
PIRATE in us at the present Time Such
meeting might take into consideration what
assistance it is IN our power to render, and
take steps for the efficient and judcious ap-
plcation otsuch aid as we may be able to fur
nisll ~
THE CONFEDERATE DEBT.-The Argus now
declares itself opposed to the recognition of the
Confederate debt adding, "we think it would
trouble our neighbor a little to adduce the least
particle of proof that we believed in the
validity of that debt, or attempted to show that
1T had any, of course We do not know what
the Argus "belieyed." We know only that it
- copied trashy argument from, the New York
Worth, unsigned to prove that inasmuch as the
Contederacy had de facto government it be-
came invested with the rights, pow ers and du-
ties OF an Independent nation, and therefore its
debt must be assumed and paid by the United
States, its legal successor. Now ii this concur
SION IS not to be admitted, il is necessary to de-
ny one of the premises. Either there was no
t government at Richmond; or if there was the
existence of such government di, not make
the Coniederacy nation; or else, the Argus
ana World are right, and the debt must be
paid. we deny that the Confederacy had any
national existence. 1t was never recognized as
nation. The Argus asserts that if it had a
government it cds a nationals if the CITY of
Portland were a nation because it has a NUM-
cipal government! As we did not expect the
Argus to stultify itself by denying the existence
of the Richmond government, we could only
suppose that it had determined to assert the va
lidity of the Richmond debt and that opinion
was strengthened by the steady refusal of the
Democratic prest to unite upon the formal re-
pudiation of that debt demanded by the Repub-
lican party. .fs ~
As the Argus rejects its own conclusion il
must either confess that its argument is INSULT
Gent, or assert that there was no de facto gov
~ eminent at Richmond. If it adopts the batter
alternative, of course we can no longer reason
together. When man chooses to say that the
sun does not shine on clear day, he does not
reason; he merely denies plain fact f-isfa
By the by, speaking ofthe danger of recog-
milton of the Confederate debt, we notice a let
ter on this subject from Branton Duncan, late
Confederate officer, to the London Post Mr.
duncan says: whilst would not counsel
anybody to throw away their bonds it is vet
proper thai the truth should be known. There
is a bare possibility that the Enqlish debt man
some day be paid, and that is ALL" Yes, and If
We undertook to pay English holders, how long
would it be before the entire debt would be in
English hands? Let us extinguish this "bare
possibility" and have done with the business
once and for ALL ess eft
MISTAKEN POLITICIAN.-Mr. George FL.
fehdleton, of Ohio, after being beaten as a
candidate for Vice President has lust been
beaten again as candidate for the Lower
Houseof Congress- Mr. Pendleton did not 90
10 the oow-wows without warning The day
before de started for Washington in 1861. an
old irlend, democrat, called on him at his |
Office, and relates the sequel as follows in the
Cincinnati Gazette. He said
"George, you have known ma a,ar =; :