Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-07-07


disloyal. With such command of money,
and with such hungry horde of loyal adj
herents to receive it, and fight on their side,
can you wonder that the five or six ener-
getic and unscrupulous men who rule the
committee at Washington which now car
ricatures the Congress of the United States,
grow more daring and more reckless, more
secret and sudden in their action, more Sc
cure of the continuance of their power?
See how gradually, silently, surely, the in
ltluence of this political aristocracy, like the
serpent gathering fold upon fold, encom-
passes the Republic about and chokes it in
its Tightening embrace. To think, speak,
act, as this oligarcby ordain, is to be loyal.
! To be loyal is to share in the patronage they
can bestow. Who would not beloyal, when,
to be loyal is to be rich ? Thusyou see now
! power-the power of the purse rs well OF
the sWord-a power that appeals 20 all
mems hopes, and all mems fears, concen-
trates in Washington and gathers to ahead.
Thus the fatal conspiracy of the few against
| the many grows and strengthens apace,
cOrrupting, debauching the minds OF our
| people. Under its baneful influence the
rich grow richer, and the poor grow poorer,
and the faJal quarrel between copital and
labor, which in the older countries from
time to time shakes all society, here begins
to mutter and to threaten. Why
shoul the peasant of Ohio, or the artisan
of New York grow poor that the manufac-
turers and speculatorsof New England and
! Pennsylvania should grow rich? Is this
your idea of Republic? 1t is not mine. |
have spoken of the mischievOus change in
the theory and practice of OurGOvernment
here in the States which have been victOri-
Gus in the late civil war. See how it works
among that portion of the people on whom
| fell the weight Of defeat. Its more than a
year since the war ended; more than year
| since the defeated people recognized and
accepted the conclusions to which they had
been forced: that no State could of right,
or did in fact, cease to be in the UniOn.-
Yet these eleven States, which are now in
the Union, were always in the Union, could
| not take themselves out of the Union, have
been for more than twelve months denied
by this Oigarchy all the Constitutional
rights of States to be heard by their Rep
resentatiyes in the Great Council of the
| Republic. All obligations to the Union they
are held liable to perform. They must
obey the Federal COnsttuti N and laws, and
| pay the Federal taxes, yet the rights of rep
resentatiOn in the Federal Council, which
the Constitution secures to all, are denied
to them. They are treated, not as States of
the Union. but rs foreign conque ed peo-
| pie, whose lives, liberties, laws and proper
ty are held at the will of the cOnqueror.-
Is this constitutional? Isit lawful? Is it
Just? Is itexpedient? Is it in accordance
with the will of the American people ?
Remember the grievances against whith
the old colOnists protested as sufficient
ground for their revolt-taXatiOn without
representation! This was the chief ground
the most tlagrant violation of the princi-
| plies of British law and eternal Justice
| They laid it down that a tax is in its nature
a voluntary aid from the people to the Gov
ernment, and could not beimposed without
the consent of the people through their
represent itives, legally chosen. This vio-
latiOn of this principle they considered an
outrage worth fighting against. And yet
we, the inheTitors of their quarrel, of their
principles and their triumph--we who
read their Declaration of independence and
applaud tive Americans inflict on Amer
leans the self-same wrong. | say 'we;"
for is not this still a GOvernment OF the
people? Are not these half dozen poten-
tates at Washington, by whose DEGREES
these outrages are inflicted, the creatures
of the people, and bound to do their will?
Citizens, the peoples liberties can never
| suffer. Their rights can never be betrayed
but by the default of the people themselves.
1t is by their want of vigilance, by their
misplaced confidence in parties and men,
| by their apathy and torpor, that their ruin
is wrought. Oh for some master-voice to
rouse society from its stupOr-to stir it into
thOught-as did the angel of old stir the
stagnant pool that blind and paralyzed
might becured and invigOrated. Let but
| the people speak their voice will roll like
thunder over all the land. Who shall say
them nay? Let but the people wake, and
| these enemies of the Republic will be scat
| tered as the dew-drops of night the lion
| shakes from his name. | hear iJ said that
| the Southern people are not loyal, and
| guarantees are needed from them. Loyal
| to whatl To the Constitution? 1t is for
| the Constitution they ask. Where else but
| in the Constitution can theyfind any hope?
| They ask for its protection as well as its
obligations. That it shall not be only
| sword by which they are assailcd, but a
shield by which they may be defended
| Their conduct for the last twelve months
proves that they have abandoned-in good
faith abandoned-the theory of secession.
They pray for Union" and Union is
denied them. How long is this to
last? What was this civil war for?
On July 26, 1861, this resolution was of
feredin Congress: rl..p-J rg.-r.r..f
Congress, banishing all feeling of mere
| passion and re eminent, will recollect only
| its DUTY to the Whole country; that this
war is not prosecuted on our part in any
spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of
| oyerthrowing or interfering with the rights
or established institutions of those States,
but to defend and maintain the supremacy
of the Constitution and all laws made in
pursuance thereof and to preserve the
Union with all its dignity, entirety and
rights Of the several States unimpaired.L
a"Phat as soon Is this is accomplished this
war ought to cease3 Y-s' II
Passed, soto 5, .5,..
That was the deliberate, solemn declara-
tion of the North. a 1t was for that-to
save, restore, preserve the Union they
fought, For this purpose, and no other
then, young men left the plough and the
bench, and took up arms. For this they
suffered and died. Through all their long
days of toll and danger this was the prize
they soughtto win, THEY gainedit. They
conquered it. They returned to their
homes rejoicing that the Union their
fathers beaueathed to them had been by
their strong arms preserved. Aud now
they find they but grasped a ashadow. The
reality is snatched from them. TheUnion
is not saved. The Union isnot preserved.
The Union is prevented and DELAYED lest its
restoration may thwart the plans. or cross
the lspecuIatiohs Of the honorable gentle-
men in Congress to whom civil war and
disunion have been thesource0f profit and
power they could notlotherwise attain TO.
They need guarantees. Guarantees for
what? That the South will henceforth be
I0yal and obedient to the Constitution, and
the laws that accord therewith.a Whatbets
ter guarantee can you have than they have