Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-08-20
ADAREss,O
tconcludsd Prom 1st pcgelgaC

the President Of the United States and
the Generals in immediate command
ofgtheir armies, and to the liberal meas
tifes which were afterwardl takeb to
restore order, tranquility and law tpSt the
States where all had for the time been over
thrown. No steps could have been better
calemiated to command the respect, win the
confidence revive thepatriotism aud secure
the permanent and atiectionate allegiance
OF the pc pie of the South to the Constitu-
tion and laws of the Union than those
which have been so firmly taken and so
stea fi.tly pursued by thr President of the
Unt-d states, And III tnat cpntiCfrTpe
aid loyalty have been since impairtdsif
tire propie of the South are uo-rtay Tess
cordial in ih' ir allegiance than they were
immediately upon the close OF tue war, we
believe it Is due to the changed tone of the
L'gi-lative Department of the, General
GOverument toward them; to theacti0n, by
which Congress has endtavOred to suppiant
aud defeat che Presidents wise and benei-
cent policy Of restoration; to their ex-
clusioh from all participation in. our com
mon on-Goveinment; to the withdrawal from
them OF rights conferred and guaranteed
by the Constitution, aud to tie evident
purpose of Congress in the exercise Of a
usurped and unlawful authority, to reduce
them from the rank of free and equal
InctlDtTS vi II VI DldJtS,I NIbn
rights and dignities unimpaired, to the
condition of conquered provinces and a
conquered people, In all things subordinate
and subject TO the will of their conquer0rs;
free only to obey laws In making which
they are not allowed to share.
No people has ever yet existed whose
loyalty and faith such treatment long con-
tiIIued would not alieuate and impair. Aud
the ten millions Of Americans who live In
the South would be unworthy citizens of a
free country, degenerate SONS of an heroic
ancestry, unfit eyer to become guardians of
the rights and liberties bequeathed to ms by
the fathers and founders Of this Republic,
If they could accept, with uncOmplain-
Ing submissiyeness, the humiliEtions thus
sought to be imposed upon them. Resent
ment of injustice is alway and everywhere
essential to freedom; aud the spirit which
prompts the States aud people lately
in insurrecton, but insurgent now no
longer to protest against the imposition
OF unjust and degrading conditions,
makes them all the more worthy to share
in the government of free Common
wealth. and gives still firmer assurance of
the tuture power and freedom of the Re-
pubic. For whatever responsibility the
Southern people may have incurred In re-
sisting the authority of the National Gov
ernment and in taking up arms for its over
throw, they may be held to answer, as indi-
viduals, before the judicial tribunals of the
land;-and for that conduct, as societies
and organized communities they have al
ready paid the most fearful penalties that
can fallon offending States in the losses, the
suferings and humiliationsof Unsuccessful
war. But whatever may be the guilt or
the punishment Of the conscious authors of
the insurrection, candor aud common
at
the great mass of those who became in-
volved in its responsibility acted upon
what they believed to be their duty,n
defense of what they had been taught tO
believe their rights or under q compulsion,
physical and moraE which they were pow
erless to resist. Nor can it be amiss to |
remember that. terrible as have been the
bereavemeDts and the losses of this war, |
they have fallen exclusively upon neither |
section and upon neither party-that they |
have faIlen, indeed, with far greater weight |
upon those with whom the war began /; that |
in the death of relatives and friends, the |
dispersion of families; the disruption of So |
cial systems and social ties, the overthrow |
of governments, of law and order, the de- |
struction of property and of forms and |
modes and means of industry, the loss of
political, commercial and moral influence, |
in every shape and form which great ca
lantities can assume, the States and people |
which engaged in the war against the |
Government of the United States have suf- |
fered ten-fold more than those who re-
mained in allegiance to its Constitution and |
laws. |
These considerations may not as th ey
certainly do not, justify the action of the |
people of the insurgent States; but no jus st |
or generous mind will refuse to them |
very considerable weight in determining |
the line of conduct which the Government |
of the United States should pursue toward |
them.
They accept, if not with alacrity, GER
tainly without sullen resentment, the de-
feat and overthrow they have sustained.
They acknowledge and acquiesce In the
results, TO themselves and the country,
which that defeat involves. They mol longer
claim for any State the rightto secede from
the Union; they no longer assert for any
State an allegiance paramount TO that which
Is due to the General Government. They
have accepted the destruction of slavery,
abolished 1t by their State Constitutions,
and cOncurred with the States and people
of the whole Union In prohibiting its ex-
istence forever upon the soil or within the
Jurisdiction of the United States. They in
dicate and evince their purpose, just so 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
its tribunals equal and impartial justice to
all classes of their Inhabitants, They ad
NIT the invalidity of all acts of resistance
to the natiOual authority, and of all debts
incurred in attempting its overthrow.
They avow their willingness to share the
burdens and discharge all the duties and
obligations which rest upon them, in COM
mon with other States and other sections
OF Ehe 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 faith and alleg-
lance, through all time to come, to the
Constitution OF, the United States, and to
all laws that may be made in pursuance
thereof.
w-CoUNTRYMEN We call upon
you, In full reliance upon your Intelligence ]
and your patriotism, to accept, with gen err
Gus and ungcudging 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 bring back peace and concord to
iarring States. The war Just closed, with
all its sorrows and disasters, has opened a
new career of glory to the nation it has
saved. 1t has swept away the hostihties Of
sentiment and OF interest which were a
standing menace to its peace. 1t has de-
stroyed the institution Of slavery, always a
cause of sectional agitation and strife, and
has opened for our country the way to uni
ty of interest, OF principle and of action
Through ali time TO come. 1t has developed
An . horh saetiOna a military caDacitV--an