Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-07-19
@blo Statesman. / u I.
The Political Future.
Important Letter from Hon. Hem
ry j. Raymond, M. C.--The Rad
icnIs Have Taken the First Step
Toward Another Civil War.
From the New York Times.I


From the New York Times.l , ....u
WASHINGTON, Sunday, July 15,. 1866.
Political panjcs are quite as mischieyous
In their. way as panics in an army. Par
ties are demoraIized, and sometimes routed,
by the apprehension of dangers that prove
to Ohave been wholly imaginary. Sometimes,
too, O,these fears create the dangers they dread,
and thus fulfill their own predictions. The
Union party In Congress is just now ex-
periencing panic OF more than usual Sc
verify, and It's action, under the circum-
stances, does more credit to its zeal than to
its discretion.
You may have noticed the passage in the
House, few days since, OF q resolution
offered by Gen. Paine, of Wisconsin, call
ing Oh dle States TO Orqdnize, discipline and
eitip their militia, and directing that t1o0-ttrdS
of he arms, ordnance and ammunition ROto an
der custody OF the, General Government be dis
tributed among he Stdtes-the distribution
among the loyal States to take place mme-
diately, and that among the States lately
in rebellion to be postponed until further
orders. The resolution came up from the
committee on Military Affairs, and was
pushed to vote, without debate or delay,
under the previous question:. 1t attracted
as little attention in Congress as 1t has in
the country: and the public will doubtless
receive with incredulity the assurance that
IL 1ods Intended, bythoSe lobo secured It's pass
age, as the first step t0lodrd preparation for
another CiUil toar. Although no debate was
had upon il, members were urged to vote
for it by direct conversational appeals on
the floor on the part of The few who were
prlvy to its introduction. Some were I'D
that it was necessary to enable the South
ern lOyalists to protect themselves :-Others
that 1t was simply matter of detail in the
War Department Others that the arms
must be taken out of the hands of the Pres
ident: and others that it was proposed at
the instance of the Secretary of War. An
appeal was made by Mr.. Kasson, of Iowa,
to allow debate upon 1t, rs 1t seemed to be a
matter of importance-but this was re-
fused. '9. -. ....... ...... LII ..s .
Most of the leading and rejecting Radi-
Gals in Congress take this view of the pOlit-
ical future: If the Fall elections result in
the choice of Northern Democrats enough
to constitute, when added to the members
from the Southern States a majoriCy of the
House, thev assume that this majority, thus
constituted will claim to be the Congress,
and will act accordingly, and that they will
be recognized by the President rs the body
to which he will send his message, and
whose sessions he will, if the necessity
should arise, protect by military force
They assert, on the other hand, that the
Union members from the loyal States-if
they constitute majority from those States
will claim to be the only legal Congress,
and will, If necessary, invoke an insurrec-
ton of the people to maintain them in that
position. They do not in tte least conceal their
purpose, IN the eveRt Of such a collision, 10 dp-
peal TO force, and TO "driUe the riUdL Congress,
a1ith the President and his Cabinet and support
ers, into the P0tODldc," TO use the Ldngldge of
one Of the dbLeSt and most sincere Oftheir mum
Der. If you will recall the remarks OF Mr..
Boutwell,, of Massachusetts, in last weeks
first caucus, you will see this movement
clearly foreshadowed-indeed avowed. He
declared his belief that an issue OF force was
rapidly approaching, and that we must be
prepared to meet IL. He acts, and all who
cooperate with him in these measures pro-
fess to act, under the apprehension that the
President intends to resort to force-that
he means to dsperse the present Congress
on its reassembling in December, if it re-
fuses to admit the Southern members; and
Mr.. Farnsworth ascribed to Mr.. Seward the
declaration, that this Congress should new
er reassemble unless the Southern members
were admitted--in support of this belief
l need scarcely say that Mr.. Seward never
made any remark of the kind, nor that the
project ascrlbed to the PresideNt is purely
an invention, or at best the crazy dream of
political nightmare. But in either case
it serves the same purpose. 1t covers, and
is held to Justify, the determination to
arouse the North, and prepare for a resort
to force upon The assembling of the Fortieth
Congress in extra or in regular session; and
this determination is arOaCed. And the reso-
luton to which ! have referred, for an Or
ganization of the militia and distribution
of arms in the Northern States, is the initial
step to its execution. 81 atr s.to
do not propose to comment upon the
result of such movement. 1t is obvious
that If any such contingency should arise,
the war would not be sectional, as was the
last; it would be a war of political parties
and of neighborhoods. Not only have the
great body of the Union party in Congress
no sympathy with these views and purpO-
ses, but they are in the main ignorant aud
incredulous of their existence. That the
extreme Radicals entertain them, however,
there is not the slightest doubt, and we
know, from the experience of Secession
in 1851, how few men 1t sometimes requires
to plunge great party or a great nation
into war. nggI ,h3sH l5.l5. eael
The Philadelphia Convention is another
source of panic to the Union party. By the
Radicals of whom l have spoken, 1t is re-
garded as intended to pave the way for
tringing Northern Democrats and South
ern rebels into close concert of action un-
der the protection of the President, at the
opening ofthe next Congress for the pur-
pose referred to above. Aud by nearly the
whole Union party, as represented here, 1t
is believed that its object Is to break up the
Union organization and form a. new party
which shall embrace Northern Democrats,
Southern rebels and such portions of the
Union party as may be detached from the
old organization. It seems to be overlook
ed thatltbe Conventions called simply for
consultation-tth it, is not proposed to
make nominations for any office, to organ /
ize any new party or to interfere In any
way with existing political parties. Any
one or all of these things may be done by the
Convention-but none Of them are en-
braced or proposed In the call for it.
Those who may do them ID Convention, or /
support them when done, will of course be
responsible fol-. their action. .dH the Com
vention should take steps hostile to the
Union party, no one could longer adhere
to both. If It should make hostile nomi-o
nations, or adopt hostile platform, no one
could, support both. Butluntil something
of that sort is actually done, it Is not easy
to. see why any man Of any party may not
20 into coiIsaitdtioR with his fellow citizens,
from every party and from every sectlongI
without torfeiting his party relations. The
idea that Members Of Congress have any
fight I'M caucus Or elsewhere, to issue de-
orees OF expulsion or exclusion in suohHl
ease Ia simnlv ahsurd .9Vl9SeII