Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-02-01
MEDICATION OF THE RIGHT.

opinions: and becauSe-furth er-we have cX-
pressed the conviction that a few timely and
absolutely needful concessions on the part of
the leaders of the Union party here, would
have proved all important to them in retaining
the power they have to control for good the
destinies of the State.
Few know better than ourseIves-we pre-
sumo, the rigid requirements of party; and
fewer still, the angry establishment engen-
dered, when party dictatiOn fails TO control
those presumptuous enough TO ay0w differ
ence of opinion, when a certain course has
been fixed upon by those who are, or assume
to be, the party leaders. But-thc conviction
of right should be, and with us, is, stronger
than even this, potent as in the view Of some
it may seem and therefore, we were not I'M
willing to test the queshon-whether an indie
pendent journal, one yet true to the Union
true as the truest-could be suffered to main
tain what it deems the best interests Of this
noble old commonwealth as well as of the
Union party, and find others, themselves low
ing true independence Of thought and action,
to sustain it.
amongst the wiscst and most reliable of the
Union men of Maryland we have had greet
ings of cheer and encouragement: men who
see further ahead in consulting the best inter
ests of the State, than to the petty triumphs Of
party, for a day; men who, had their views
and wishes prevailed, would have left the
DISTINGUISHED no excuse or rretcyt for the
holding of a convention at all.
And now if we have been blamed for hay
ing-as some may deem it-sought too hon
estly and earnestly to induce the Union party
through its accredited leaders TO do itself
simple justice, we propose to go a step further.
in urging it to save itself from the untoward
consequences, which, unless better couusels
prevail, may yet prove disastrous to it in the
extreme.
And to begin with-no one detests more
heartily than ourselves, that contemplated
tyranny-and to the extent it could be cxcr-
cised-that actual tyranny, which in the out
set of the rebellion prescribed Union men
here, prescribed the flag of the nation, and by
the poor device Of a secession ordinance,
sought TO take the State into the Southern
Confederacy. Perfectly aware of what the
conflict thus and in other ways Initiated, cost
the Unionists of the State and nation, we
watched, and waited, and labored, for the
four years that the war lasted, for that peace
which could only be won finally by the armies
of the Republic.
But we did not watch, and labor, and wait
in the interests Of mere party, but in the
broader interests Of restored Onion; and
with the splendid political capital gained. and
justly, too, by the Union party Of the State,
we had hoped that the rule of those who had
thus helped to save the Union would be the
rule of years-to say the least; that those who
had attempted to destroy the Government
and revolutionize the State, would be made
to suffer those penalties reserved in the
national statutes, for offences so grave and so
mOmentOus in their consequences.
Well, when Richmond finally fell who was
it-let us ash-that led off in dealing softly
with the rebellion? Who was it that at once
taking the initiative in Virginia, in the law of
kindness and forgiveness, induced the great
body of the nation to abate much of that ran
cor, naturally engendered by the terrible con-
fiict? who but the lameutcd Abraham Lincoln,
the second savior of the nationally, in the
fmghtful struggle it had gone through? And
if the easy terms conceded to Generals Lee
and Joe Johnston, were sanctioned most re-
luctantly by the nation, were not these terms
but the beginnings Of policy which, persis-
tently followed up, finally compelled acqucs-
cence on the part of the majority of the Union
men of the nation,-soldiers as well as civil
ians,-and has not this course constrained
Unionists everywhere, to endeavor, like those
great men, Lincoln and Johnson and Grant.
who led off in this policy, to forgive and
forget?
And now looking to what has been occurring
at Washington; looking to the general acqui-
essence elsewhere in the leading features of
the Presidents Cancellation policy, who here
can justly presume to arraign US for too much
iemency, when the merest good sense pro-
claims the want of wisdom there is in attempt-
ing to make Maryland the exception? With
the tairest and fullest warning of the inevitable
changes that were approaching, was it wise
for few men to set themselves up here. as
the barriers to that advance? Could they
hope to by any possibility shut out from the
State the facts in the case, refusing to concede
anything based upon the President policy,
and upon the many months of peace that had
already prevailed? Let it be noted that enter
tanning the views we have SO freely avowed.
we do not want the dsloyal back into power
any more than does he who, for effect, is
-. Il
dents. But are they wise, who, by giving
these mena chance to cry out-''pcrsecution !"
furnish them with the best possible capital for
factionist triumphs? On the mere score of
expediency-not the most elevated motive,
certainly-are the sturdily intolerant, wise?
Let us suppose-for we intend to indulge in
the most entire plainess in dealing with a
matter of such signal importance, let us sup
pose, we say-that shrewdly looking at the
aspect of the great changes afoot; that is, from
condition of war to one of peace, that some
leader of the Union party at Annapolis had
offered resolutions reciting the changes that
had occurred in the several months Just past :;
stating amongst other things that having no
wish to deal too harshly with citizens of the
same State, however they may have erred or
offended, that at a given time in the future,
those clauses in the Registry law that were
most needless and obnoxious would be placed
before the people for verdict in the premises!
How much better would that have been how
much more politic,-if that is the point to be
studied-than reiterating the provisions of the
act in order to provoke angry discussion pro-
posing, meanwhile, for an indefinite period,
to adhere rigidly to it. Postponing thus the
further active discussion of it, the Union lead
ers would have gained a character for mag
nanimity, wherever these matters were dis
cussed, at home or abroad; they would have
been accredited with desire to abide in good
faith by the policy of the President, of which
they have lately been the official eulogists, in
Inc interests Of real peace; and we repeat
once more, the other side would not have had
means rendered them, of raising political
capital by an appeal to the indignant sympa-
~. -@EA 10. L.