Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet., 1866-08-30
ThR GazRtte \ G0tltet
The Great Object Of the National
4 tEg 5a Convention aoE4

. From the National Integencer, Aug 2D1
The great object Of the Nationa
Union Convention was to bring to
gether the conservative men whether
Democrats or Republcans---of the
loyal States Of 1860, and also to
bring them into council with delegates
from the States lately 10 rebellion, who
represent the present Union senti
ment Of the people of those States
These three parties were to confer up
on the condition Of the country, and
unite upon measures and principles
which would secure the Presidents
policy by restoration OF Southern
representation in Congress. The
parties, therefore, were not Northern
and Southern. There were two par
ties in the North, Chat is, in the
loyal States the Democratic and
the Conservative Repubicans-lhat
must be united for the proposed po
litical object before it could compro.
mise any success. TO the Northern
Conservatives, therefore, belonged the
q duty Of calling the Convention and
prescribing It's objects, The excluded
Southern States were invited into
their connsels, though they cannot
fight The. battle at the polls against
~ our Radical opponents. They were
" consulted as to the platform of prin-
ciples which should govern the Con.
.5 tvention, and their views were res
~ pectfully considered. All three OF
the parties in The conference concurred
in the resolutions which are laid be-
fore the country rs the platform Of
the Convention.
. Hence the meeting was n complete
success. The Conservatives OF the
States now represented in Congress
are to do the work Of reforming
Northern sentiment, and thus Of rep
restoring the unrepresented States to
their full rights in the Union. But
what was needed from the South, and
has been obtained, was an assent to
the principles upon which the Con
g seryative action was founded. While
the Radicals would say that the ex.
cluded States were hostile to the
Federal Union, Radicaism would
~ prevail al the polls in the Northern,
Middle and Western States, the South
had an opportunity to speak for itself,
and has ifow placed itself upon the
highest Union and constitutional
ground.
The Conservative movement of
the loyal and represented States can
y not, therefore, be embarrassed and
belied by the Radical allegation that
the South is at war with the Union,
and cannot be safely admitted to
share in the national councils. With
an entire confidence in ultimate sue
cess, the Conservatives may now ap-
peal to the people in behalf of
speedy and Complete restoration of
the Union under the Constitution.
The admission of Southern repre-
sentatiyes into Congress is the first
issue to be gained by the Conserva-
tives: Without that, nothing. This
effected, the Radicals will at once
lose their two-third power in both
Houses, and become incapable of
further mischief. Then, also, will
be commenced a system of CONNER
cial and financial reform, by which
the tendency Of the country to ruin
will i, be checked. The tyrannical |
and irritating Legislation of Congress
against the Southern States will be |
stopped. This, now SO promising,
may, indeed, be subject to some i'm
pediments. Worst Of all would be
what we do not apprehend-any
course on the part of the South that
serves to afford any reasonable ex
cuse for the continuance of their
present oppressive system, and for
an ultimate resort to measures by
which confscation and negro suffrage
will be exacted, by military force,
from the South. EAsR
1t will hardly be expected that
every Conservative organ in the
North, or every newspaper in the
South, will at once approve of all
that the Convention has done; but
that all will ultimately unite to favor
The great object of restoration is con-
fidently believed.