Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-03-15
4sThe sophIsm OF AssnmptIen "

stance of all the efforts Of Its leaders IN
both houses OF Congress. The efforts, In
deed, Of the leaders Of this party have been
all the time charged with envy and bitter
ness to the very brim. The excuse for the
Indulgence Of such feeling towards the
people OF the South Is the assumption set
up that the Southern people tried to de-
stroy the Government. All the movements
OF WADE, WILSON, SUMNER, STEVENS et i'd
omni genus, are based on this assertion.
This too has been thoughtlessly accepted
by large proportion of the people. Dur
ing the strife there was but little time for
reason or for the more prosy operation OF
looking up causes. Passion is now, how
ever, subsiding, and the people everywhere
are getting into the proper mood for in
quiry. 1t will not be long before they will
see that the "Sophtsm Of Assumption" has had
quite wide range in the logic of the Re-
publican party. By way of starting in
quirY, allow us to suggest to the reader the
askingof few questions: Who first COM
menced the preaching of sectional doc
, trines9 The Abolitionists. Who first be-
came dissatisfied with the National flag
and advocated the tearing of it down3 Abb
olitionists. Who spoke OF the Constitu-
ton as covenant with Death and a
league with He'll? GARRISON. Who first
elected a President pledged to the
carrying out of sectional doctrines; pledg-
ed indeed to use the power and influence of
his station to take from the people of one
section their property without compensa-
ton, property too that had been acquired
under the same sanctions of law that the
people of the North had acquired their
farms and houses? The Abolitioni5ts. Mr..
WADE in the Senate of the United States
absolutely gave, in one of his speeches, the
programme by which this act of injustice
was to be consummated. Knowing that
the people of the South could not be de-
priEed of their property by invoking the
CouAlitution, he was in favor of shelving
this instrument and getting in its place the
tcdr po,cer. This was very ingeniously ac-
eomplished. The Southern status of for
bearance was calculated. The amount of
insult the people would bear was discuss
ed. The plan was then set upon foot to get
them to ''strike the. first blo,o." The striking
of the first blow was circumstance out of
which a great deal of capital might be
made. 1t was trump card for the Abo-
litionists. They at once saw the advanta-
ges of their position. Men who had been
all their lives at heart disunionists, sudden
ly Veered round and became great advo-
Gates of the Union. No soldiers could
have been enlisted in the name of Aboli-
tionism, not any; but in the name of
the Union, who could stand back?
The next thing was to prepare something
in the way of buncombe appeals for the
people, something that would tell in
the way of getting up an army of invasion.
From the ingenuity displayed in getting
up these appeals no doubt they were the
result of conference among the leaders, OF
studied and we'll measured plans for cap
turing the people by surprise. Thus 1.-THE
National flag has been made to trail in the
dust" "The LIFE of the nation is in dan
ger" '"The rebels have put knife at the
throat of the nation" "What sacrifices of
life and property too great for preserving
the best Government the world ever saw?"
"The rebellion must be crushed out" "The
traitors must be subdued, If it takes the
last dollar and the last man." mo sacri- |
fees too great in the cause of the Union"
When CHASE went to New York to borrow |
money with which to commence hostilities, |
be said to the bankers thereof: "What will |
your city, with all its money and property, |
amount to, if the Union should be destroyed |
by the rebels?" t
The catalogue' indeed of dd cdptdndou1 |
phrases has been totally exhausted in eff
forts to fill the eyes of the people with |
dust and keep the real character OF the u |
sue out of view. Nor were these efforts un-
successful. Men, right minded men, all over |
the country looked with contemptuous as
tonishment upon the scene before them.
To see a people alike in chronological pecu-
liarities, with common interests, with
history prosperous beyond example in ma
terial things, holding the same views on
religion, and connected together by the |
same systems of internal improvements; to |
see such people plunged into civil war
the most vindictive in character, by set
of unprincipled place-hunters, and that,
too, on evidence having no higher claims to
confidence than the "Sophism of AsSump-
tion," is humiliating to the last degree. BY
such, the appeals "Who can stand back
when the life of the nation is at stake?"
" Who will shrink from duty when the best
Government the world ever saw is being
tried by fire ?" etc, etc, it was taken for
granted by the masses at the North that the
rebels had inaugurated crusade against
the Government and were bent upon its
destruction. The assumptions were care
fully fixed so as not to be perceived, and in
all instances had the effect designed. The
battles of AboIitionism were fought In the
name of the Union.
At one of the meetings of the Royal So
ciety Of London, question like this was
asked "Why does not vessel of water
receive no addition in its weight by live
fish being put into it?" The society went
TO work to ascertain the cause; some very
fine theories were proposed in explanation.
AT last some one of the Saxons called in
An1 a6unfffo6