The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1866-03-15
A D D r e S s
DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF
THE OHIO LEGISLATURE.

We, the undersigned members of the Ger
eral Assembly of the State of Ohio, beip:
in the minority in that body. and having
no adequate means for an expression upol
the present condition of public affairs, of
ticially, deem it not improper tosubmit the
following, through a less obstructed chan.
mel, the public press.
Public events of great Importance hav,
recently transpircd, Happily for the peo
pie and the pcrpetuity of the Union, the
war had been brought to termination.
The great mass of the southern people
soon restored order, aud commenced reviy.
ing their civil organization They voted
and elected legislatures which repealed the
ordinances Of secession They repealed
the clauses of their State Constitutions in
gard to slavery, and adopted an amend
nent to the Constitution of the United
States, forever prohibiting their system Of
servitude. The people of every State in
the south, except Texas, and she was taking
like action, had organized State governs
ments.
In official or corporate capacity, these
States stood in the same relation to the
Federal Government as the States of the
North The rebellion ceased to exist
The Constitution became and was operative
in the whole Union. Nor were the
authorities of the Federal Government in
active. The armies were gradually with
drawn. Excepting the arrest of few
persons. the people Of the south were left
undlsturbed, and were encoWged in the
work demanded by the Constitution. The
action of their State Legislatures was rec
ognized by the Federal authorities as le-
gally essential and binding. Their States
were reorganized as States in the Uuion,
and their people as citizens. Taxes were
laid and collected of them, and the burdens
imposed by the Constitution were acknowl-
edged and borne. The whole people of
the south were struggling to bury their
suTerings and calamities, and had heartily
yielded themselves up to full allegiance
| to the Government Of the United States.
/ Under these circumstances, and as a still
further evidence Of total repudiation Of
every other Government, they elected
persons to represent them in Congress.
This was the crowning duty imposed by
the Constitution. This alone remained to
be done to bring each southern State ful-
ly into its old Constitutional obligations.
Candor and patriotism require that the
causes Of public events should be finally
prObed. The causes ofthe war are at work
yet, though the war has ceased, and are
more active and provocative OF their inevi
table consequences, by reason of warren.
gendered passions. A considerate view of
the past establishes the fact that two radi-
cal extremes brought on the confict-that
the war was provoked-Abclitiohism in
the north, which openly avowed it's pur-
pose, and for thirty years was the assail>
ant, was met by spirit hostile to it, The
latter was broken in the name ofthe Union.
but the former remains, bloatcd and fcro~
cious with the blood of its rival. The
President of the United States lately said :
Son this matter tie extremists of both
sections, while pursuing different means,
labOred steadily to the accomplishment of
the same end-the destruction of the
Union. SO far as the dissolution Of the
Union is concerned, one is as bad as the
other. When the rebellion is put down
and we find party for consolidation and
concentration, it is the same spirit as res
bellioa and leads to the same end-destruc>
ton of the Government"
The assailing spirit of abolitionism vet
survives, nourished into immense propor>
tions and intensity by the influences
of the war, aggravated in its
strength by causes foreign to its nature,
and crazed by its power, without reasoning
as to Its own elementary formation it vainly
imagines tselfsuperior to the Constitution
Having, as it claimed, fought the Union
it Is now engaged in systematic scheme to
prevent union. Can those who dcpre-
Gated the disunion fanaticism Of the Abo-
lition party before the war, sustain
1t now with that fanaticism unabatod and
enlarged In its destructive purposes p
Sectional, political and financial ambition
and cupidity were the motives and causes
of our civil troubles, and the successful
faction has reaped wealth and power.
The masses Of the people have never
been known to profit by civil disorder, by
violations Of their Fundamental law, or
usurpation. Constitutional order, while
fatal to sectional aggrandizemenr, is full
of blessings to the people. SO must be a
speedy recovery from public disorder. To
restore the south to the Union endangers
the powers, and restores equality. To gov
ern the south as a conquered people and
territory subserves the purposes of ambi-
ton and cupidity, but ruins the people
The leaders in power are Of the old aboli>
tion party. devoted toaeitation, supremacy
and monopoly. They are the vultures of
the late public calamity They do not
propose to surrender the advantage gained
under cover ofthe war, though it be at the
expense of the overthrow of the Constitu>
ton. Their sole purpose ard interest seems
to be to prey upon the southern State
To do this they must likewise prey upoa
the whole north. The machinery neces-
sary to accomplish the first, result in the
other.
A standing army thousands of salaried
officers schemes of plumber and rapine
thefts and expressions the postration of
commerce the drying up of the fountains
of revenue the increese of extravaganza
the swelling ofthe public debt the increase
Of taxation-these are the legitimate re-