Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1866-01-12

any limitation of our control over those who arr
subject to us. The pleasures of rulership anr
the Joy which is felt in the exc else of powel
have always appealed with peculiar force to III,
frailties of human nature and professed repub
icans have been as subject to their Temptation
as other men. In time like this most of u
feel the necessity Of checking our impulses anc
passions, challenging the motives and the con
sistency of our actions, and of fastening our at
tention, by effort of viii, upon principles of gov
ernment and of human rights which have beer
axioms to US during the period of the growth o
our institutions and of conflicts between us anC
powerful foreign powers. However unwelcomt
The task of self-examination, we owe it our
selves to make it thorough and searching. The
ancient corqueror was accompanied by slave
in his triurnphal car, who reminded him of his
humanity ard weakness: we must act as oul
own prompters to moderation and Justice, anC
remind ourselves of the rules which should con
troll our action, and of the dangerous terdenciei
of our own nature, We nsed no stimulus t
anything which runs with the whole current o
popular impulse and feeling; such things viii
take care Of themselves, but no duty can b.
more important than hat of stopping occasion
ally to weigh well " at seems to cross our de-
sires or TO question the direction of our pro
gress.
We have the right and are in duty bound tC
insist upon sufficient guarantees for the future
safety of the Union; but those guarantees mus
be such as shall not be inconsistent with re-
publican government for those who give as vel
as for those who receive such security.
Conquest does not rightfully give unlimited
sway over the persons and property of the con.
quered, and their right may be diminished nc
farther than is necessary for the public safety
If it were proven that itwould be impossible
for us to live safely, as sharers of a common
government, with the people of any State ol
community, our republicanism might force US
to consent to separation, but could not Justify
in holding them as subjects: and this PROPOSE
ton is true without reference to race or color.
Representation is not a privilege conferred
upon maorities, but it is most effective for good
when it approaches most nearly 10 giving voice
in the Legislature to all minorities in proper.
tion to their number. ru
1t is better and safer that a minority, how.
ever hostile TO MS in principle, should be so rep.
resented as to be openly heard and answered
than that it should have the advantage of win.
ming sympathy and gaining partisans by max.
ing issue upon the question of the right of rep
resentation instead of upon the falsity of OBJ.
noxious principles.
Military government is lin its very essence
despotism, and any long continuance of it after
the cessation of armed resistance is contrary to-
and confession of the failure Of republicanism.
These and many similar general maxims Of
government are the intellectual diet upon which
every living American has been bred, and Of
which we have been such earnest propagandists
that no one of us can deny them without incur
ring the contempt of the civilized world. They
are mere distractions, it is true, but we need to
bear them in mind none the less carefully for
IL oHefr uhofl {i,ox,
be the fornlul;p for solving the problems of gov
ernment or of other sciences. We recall them
to test our work and we reckon ourselves to have
made good progress in proportion to the faith
fulness with which we have adhered to them.
In the heat of our Just wrath against those
who would have swept republicanism from the
continent, had they been successful, we are in
danger of forgetting principles TO which we owe
allegiance, and therefore we should not excuse
ourselves from the 'thankless task of reminding
each other of them. To follow these rules and
yet provide that the national safety be not en-.
dangered, to determine who of the late enemies
of the Government are without the pale of elem
ency, and yet to extend amnesty to the other
millions of those who were rebels, to restore po-
litical privileges TO those who were formerly
masters, and yet protect the freedom of those
who were formerly slaves-such is the difficult
and delicate work before the executive and the
Legislature of the Nation, and they may rightly
claim of us all such appreciation of their task
as shall make us most kind and charitable jud-
ges of their differences from favorite measures
Of our own. We have, indeed reason to be de-
votedly thankful that the work has fallen upon
men in whose patriotism and wisdom we have
so great cause for confidence, and that the pro-
gress they have already made promises a con-
clusion which shall be reasonably speedy and
generally satisfactory to the country.
In the presence of the vast interests which
are before US as part of the Nation, the local
concerns which affect US as State alone, are
likely to be dwarfed and lose their proper at
tention / do not propose to enter into any de-
tailed or elaborate examination of our condition.
or to make recommendations of legislative ac-
ton. This has been fully and ably done by
my predecessor. l shall only glance at the out
lines of affairs and content myself with the
briefest and most cursory view of the situation.
In our official State duties we find no such
heavy responsibility as rests upon shoulders of
5he officers of our national Government. The
,lose of the war has taken from US the neces-
,ity for putting armies in the field, and reliev-
I'd us, in our State capacity, of the labors in
cident TO close corporation with the General
Government in all the great affairs which have
history. We are subsiding into the quiet rou-
tine Of peaceful times, aud as our young men
are returning to their farms, their merchandise
and their shops, the great drain upon our physi-
cal strength being removed, the energetic use of
intelligent labor will soon prove how rapidly
the recuperative powers of this people act and
how true it is that the times which make least
show in the worlds history are very commonly
those of greatest real happiness and prosperity
10 a State. Our veterans will not be adding
new names to the long list of their fields of
glory, but they will be winning victories over
physical nature and Transforming the fruits of
he sell and the minerals of the earth into that
wealth which shall spread comfort and happi-
less everywhere. We, who have been called to
guide the movements of our State Government,
will connect our names with no such brilliant
Icts as have given widespread reputation for
high craftsmanship to the succession of State
,ficers who have preceded US during these
roubled times; but in the humber duties
which will fall TO US we may rejoice that these
Iuiet days are, in some sense, our best days, be-
,ause they are, as We hope, the beginning of an
,ra of purer and more rapid advancement in
which tends to the highest civiliza-
ion.
The habit of grasping great thoughts and of
laring to do great deeds has apparently begot-
en- in our people disposition which makes
II business enterprise take wider scope than
heretofore, and the keen insight with which
Ill our resources are scanned, and the adven-
urous energy with which their development is
pushed, leave nothing to be desired in a busi-
ness point of view, unless it be an increase of
hat sagacious caution which may save us from
he danger of those commercial revulsions
which have, with considerable regularity, fol-
owed great expansions of the currency The
ate change in the banking system of the coun-
ny has transferred the control of the circulat-
ng medium to Congress, and comparatively
title can be done by US directly to provide
gainst the threatened evils to which / have
lluded, except % exhort our fellow citizens to
,repare in season for every contingency fu
The large tracts of valuable lands within the
State which are still uncultivated remind us of
he desirability of encouraging immigration,
nd of the evident policy of seeking to attract
he most thrifty and valuable classes of immi-
rants within our borders. Wise foresight and
rompt action may unquestionably do much to
induce the best class of the foreigners who are
locking to our shores to settle amongst us, |
7here they will find in the highest degree the |
dvantages which have allured them to this |
Will, Y,oo,r Of 4I,oeo ,o1ooe,.zz e