The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-10-16

TINS pfetenucu lmpcHcnnleni blih lhN'uN'e |
depOsing of the President, will be resisted
TO the last extremity. lie Is President
under the Constitution, and has precisely
the same right 10 exercise the duties OF the
office to the ond Of his term. March ! 1861,
that the members Of the Senate or House,
or any other of the officers Of Governments
have, and these men will find a million
hearts Of oak and arms of steel 10 defend
him In the eniOynlcn of that right. We
want no more war-above all. no more civil
war; but if they will force IT, II shall be, II
will he "war to the knife aud the knife To
the hilt.n
But, TO return. The recent civil or sec
tiOnal warts over. The Confederate armies
have surrendered and been dispersed, and
Che Federal army. l,A0,000 stroug, has
been diminished to less than 10000. The
war is over; but the tnion is not restored.
Did war restore the Unionl Let every
soldier and every officer answer. If war
did restore II. what are they doing here,
advocating the Presidents policy? They
nil did their duty like brave men. IL was
no fault of theirs that their work did not
restore the Union. They broke down the
armed hostility to the Federal Government,
aud Il was only because In the eternal ma
ture of things, by the decree of the Omnip-
otcnt God. force could not cement Il Union
matte bv consent that the Union
was not restored; and now the entire Dem
Ocratic party Is where IL has always been.
and every soldier and officer who fought In
that war ought to come forward and unite
with the Democratic party In achieving
through the ballot the work that war could
not accomplish.
Again. did believe from the beginning
that the war was fort abolition ofsavery,
and not for the restoration of the Union.
True, heard Abraham Lincoln say, on the
4th of March. 1861, In the inaugural to
which have referred, that lac had neither
the right nor the desire to abolish It.. Again.
on the day after the battle of Bull Run. |
saw John j. Crittenden present for the
second time, a resolution which, when Of
fered a few days before that battle, had
been laughed ont of the House; and | saw
every member of that House vote for it,
except two Republicans. voted for il
because ! thought If we We're to have war;
1t ought to be declared, at least, a war only
for the supremacy of the Constitution and
the restoration of the Union. ! remember
too. that in the several Executive orders
calling Tor an increase of the army and
navy, and in the first message of the Presi-
dent to Congress, il was announced that
the purpose of the war was to restore the
Union. But | remembered that Abraham
Lincoln was chosen President by section |
al party-that he had avoWcd the doctrine
of the irrepressiblc conflict, and declared |
that this Union could not endure part
slave and part free, and knew that he |
never intended that it should be all slave. |
and was therefore resolved that |
1t should be all free. Remembering |
these things, how could | be de |
ceived? knowing well the character
of the Republican party. how could | be
/ remembered further, that after
the first Monday in December 1861. the
party never had re-aiirmed the
Crittenden resolution. | remembered that
In the seeoned and third sessions of the
Congress aud throughout
the whole of the Thirty y-eighth Congress,
that resolution in some form or other was
offered by Democrats and moderate men,
and regularly laid upon the table by Re
publican majorities. | remembered. fur
ther, that on the 22d ofSeptember, 1862. or
about that time, the President issued his
pI exclamation declaring slavery abolished
in the United States. | believed, then, that
the war was not for the Union nor the Con-
stitution, but for the abolition ofslavery and
that this would lead us to the very question
which is threatening us to-day with anoth-
er civil war. Now, who was right in all
thatg Was it not for the abolition of slave
rY! Has 1t not set free three or four mil
lions of slaves. and are we not to-day de-
batting the status of these slaves now freed
meny
But candOr eOmpels me to say that. while
right on these two'great questions, l was
was wrong in another. l did not believe
that even the whole power of the Federal
put forth with such terrible
energy and earnestness as it was. and met,
to some extent by corresponding energy
and earnestness on the other side could. In
any reasonable period Of time. break down
the military strength of the South. In that
was absolutely and totally wrong. But
could not forsec that the resources of ten
4 l.,.... |
the men in control of the Confederate
as to become exhausted in
four years; butupon the main propositions,
that war could not restore the Union and
that il was for the abolition of slavery, |
was right-and So, too, as to the other con-
siderations. | believed that when the South
should be broken dOwn-if broken down
she could be-the country would be per-
picked and harassed by questions ten times
more difficult of adjustment than the
slavery issue ITSELF These are the ques-
tiOns now and to-day before us. AS Mr.
Lincoln predicted, the identical old ques-
tions of terms of intercourse are again upon
us.
Now for the facts. The President, and
with him the National Union or johnson
party, and the whole Democratic party
proclaim that the terms of intercourse be-
tween the North and the South shall be the
old Constitution of Madison, Washington,
jefferson. Jackson, Clay and Webster. The
Republican party proclaim that the terms
OF Intercourse shall be the new or amended
Constitution of Thaddeus Stevens. Charles
Sumner and Benjamin Wade. That is the
issue which is forced upon us now, di-
rectly and plainly stated. But behind all
this lies the question: What shall be done
with the negro, now free? First, the Re
publican party proclaim. as part of their
policy, that it is the duty of the United
States to take care of these ''black children
of the natiOn," laughter,l as they are
termed and accordingly we
have had, for eighteen months past, Freed
mans Bureau. 1t is still in exist
ence. The bill, for its enlargement.
was in a modified form passed
over the Presidents head and that bureau
has appropriated, for its support during
the current year, seven millions of YOUR
money, and that by the vote of your Rep
Robert c. Schenck. Seven mil
lions of money! But that is not all. They
were not content with the old bureau; a
new one must be provided, of rarer and
more costly material and manufacture a
Bureau bill which the President has de-
clared, il it had become law, would have
taxed the people tifty-three millions year
for the support of this black population.
Now, beg to know upon what principle of
the Constitution, or of right and Justice,
the black man or the black woman Or the