Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-08-06
loyal to the Goyerpment and to the country
under the changed, order of things.
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loyal to the Government and to the country
under the changed, order of things. ~ "
i. coNcERNISG UNION MEN. 20"
You will perceive that Ia speaking Of the
loyalty of the South have thus far referred
only to those men who were original eeeesT
siOnists and have had the secesh whipped I
out of them. i have made no allusion to
the so-called Union men, and now ap-
pr0ach that subject with some diffidence;
for it seems to me one on which the North
ern peOple-even those most friendly to the
South-have hardly taken a correct view.
At first sight it certainly looks like poetical
Justice that the men who opposed rebellion
and suffered for it should have the handling
OF the sp0ils now, that the rebellion Is,
crushed. But practically, under free re-
publican government, this Is impossible
1t isa disagreeable fact to state, but the
truth Is, the Union men of the South COM
prise neither the education, the intellect
nor the influence Of the country. could
name striking exceptions to this statement,
but am now generalizing and speaking of
the Union men as o class. To plaee'aH the
machinery of State Government through.
out the South in the hands of these men
would be an act of tyranny such as no
Northern State would tolerate! They are OBJ
jectiOnable not so much on account of their
Opinionsas on personal grounds. Many who
now claim to be staunch Union men merely
kept out of the fight through coward
ice, and held themselves in readiness to
shout with the winning side. Had the
COnfederacy succeeded, who more thorough
secessionists than they would have beeh at
this moment? The true Union men of the
South, as Iheard Mr. Wardell the foreman
OF Judge UnderwOod's packed jury, de-
clare, are to be found on the pris
on records of the Confederacy aud
on the muster rolls of. the Fed-
eral army, and they are very few in
number. For these men it is impossible to
feel anything but the strongest sympathy
and respect. They sacrificed their homes
and their property, aud were ready to sac
riice themselves for their principles. No
recompeuse within the power of Govern
ment to bestOw would be too great for them.
Let Congress strike medal In their honor,
erect them statue. build them hOmesteads
and pension them literally for life. Any
thing rather than force them into office TO
rule over a people whose confidence they
do not possess, and among whom they form
but an Insignificant minority. They could
only be put in power, could only be kept in
power, at the point of the bayonet. The
recent riots in New Orleans would be re-
peated in every city 10 the South, a d their
government would be an unmitigated des-
potism, yelled under shadowy semblance
of republican institutions. There are but
two courses open-either the Southern
States must be allowed to govern them
selves as the Northern States do, by men of
their own choice and in whom they have
confidence, or they must be ruled as Po-
| land and Hungary are ruled, or as Ireland
was governed in the evil times past. What
| the result of this latter course would be, let
the history of these countries show. 20, q,
..-..., , IN THE SOUTH ASKS ......,...
| for representation in the national Congress,
and restoration to the rights of American
citizens. They claim with great show of
reason that they have implicitly followed
| the programme laid down for them in the
| Presidents plan of reconstruction, aud that
having fulfilled their half of the bargain
they have waited with a patience new in
their history for the Northern people, to
| fulfill theirs. OF President johnson they
speak in terms of the highest respect, and
more than one prominent politician assured
me that the South would poll a unanimous
vote for his reelection to the Presidential
chair. The whole people are looking for
ward with earnest anxiety to the fall eleeL
tions in the North, to see if the policy of
the Radical majority in Congress is sus-
tained by the country at large. ,.-., d
.,. a.- % THE DANGER OF DELAY.
I cannot conceal the fact that there is
dangerto the country in longer withhold
ing recognition of the Southern States Not
danger of an open outbreak, but danger of
something else, which in the end may prove
even Worse--dangen of a resurrection of
sectional hatred. When the war ended all
the barriers built up between the two Sec
tions, North and South, by long years of
opposing systems Of civilization, were laid
as flat as the walls of Jericho. Every
United States officer i have met who was in
the South at the time of Lee and john
ston's surrender has testified to me that the
people threw open their doors to the Union
soldiers and welcomed them almost as re-
cOnciled friends from whom they had been
long estranged. Governor Wise stated in
my presence that, had the two armies
been allowed 10 settle matters at APP
| pomattox Court House, peace would
| have 'beeeh established on basis that
would have endured Ms long as America
remained a nation, 1 believe he Is
right, The course was clear then for con-
| ciliatiOn and concession. But as time went
on, and as the purpose of the Radicals TO
retain power in their own hands by hold
ing the Southern States as conquered prov
inces became fully apparent, some Of the
| old hard feeling towards the North revived,
the people looking upon the Radical Con-
gress as an embodiment OF the views of the
entire North. Disloyal articles appeared
in the newspapers, and the people, without
fully indOrsing these productions, read
them with grim kind of satisfaction. A
| feeling, not OF active hostility, but of sullen
apathy towards the North sprung up in the
uAder strata of Southern society,". Every
act of the Radical Congress helped to re-