Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-02-15
THE NEED OF a GREAT NATIONAL.
UNION PARTY.


1t becomes more and more evident, as the
intentions of party leaders are made apparent
that the moderate men of the country, those
who believe the war betwixt the sections is or
should be ended, will have to combine against
pertinacious agitators, in the formation of
great national Union party. There is the less
difficulty in doing this, from the fact-that the
events of the past few months have been such
as to compel definite expressions of opinion
from nearly all of any influence who feel a real
interest in the government of the country: and
the fact being demonstrated that there are
men aspiring to control the nations destinies.
who are themselves swayed by desire for
notonety and the. fercest animosities, it is
plain that men Of more selfpoise, men better
capable of meeting the requirements of the
occasion, must be relied upon to heal those
deep wounds which have been inflicted by the
enemies Of the Union and of the Government
upon the body polite.
And in any definite movement for the pur-
pose in question, it is not hard to surmise, at
a glance who may be expected to stand aIoof
from any such action. They are the men who,
having had the best chance possible to aid in
composing the national differences, have un-
wisely and angrily thrown away such oppor-
tunity; and who, disappointed at not having
things all their own way, are determined there
shall be no harmony unless their power is first
secured and recognized. The time is past
for mere partizanship. twas not party action
which saved the Government from dismem-
berment and ruin; and with the war successful
on the part of the Government, the peopIe
want no assumed national organization based
upon sectional enmities. The people want
broad and liberal craftsmanship, instead of
party drill; they desire forbearance and kindly
feeling in the intercourse of communities and
States. rather than aggression and taunts in
regard to what has been determined by the
wager Of battle.
And that the way is fairly opened for the
success of those whose patriotism comprises
the wide bounds Of the Union, should seem
clear to even the least rejecting. Little by
little the extremists have been forced back
ward from their original position in the front
rank of those entrusted by the people with the
power to fully restore the Union; and made
at length to give place TO men whose moderate
views are better suited to the public necessi-
ties, the Iatter-well represented in the person
of the President-are gaining that command
ing position which must at length result in
exercising most wholesome influence on
public affairs.
And yet there is no occasion 70 quarrel with
such. If their angry resentments are carried
too far, and cherished too long, we must re-
member that there was time in the history
of the great conflict, when it needed all the
earnestness approaching TO ferceness exhibited
by patriotic men to save the Union. The
President himself IS an instance of this; but the
fact that lie has at length come to regard the
exhibition Of further resentment rs needless
and wrong, should be an admonitiOn to those
who have been less deeply implicated in the
strife, and have the effect Of making them,
too, pause to consider whether the antagonism
has not been carried far enough.
That these persistent quarrels and this de-
termined expression of distrust are telling
badly on the return to complete restoration
of the Union, and even on the national credit,
is painfully Ggq t6 dir ST hsEs is RGt44S ha;
that Is not held in allegiance, Or paralyzed TO
our hurt. The nation is held, We say. in
anxious suspense; and has been for months
now waiting to see what will happen. instead
OF treading boldly its pathway to better con-
dltlon OF things, strengthened and encouraged
by faith in those who assume to guide its des-
TIMES. And that restoration has been accom-
phshed even to the extent it has, is owing
more TO the hopeful temperament OF our
people, than 20 the wise measures of the Ma
tlonal Legislature: and who does not feel
and know in the light Of late events, that had
not the nation recognized in the President q
strong and determined statesman, one who in
the last resort could be relied upon 10 hold
fanaticism and old enmities in check. that
even to-day we should have been far worse off
than We are, still less confident in good
future.
We say the people know and feel this; and
that is the plain reason why they have neasur-
ably Withdrawn their confidence from noisy
agitators, TO bestow it upon him. And al
though these men may impute selfish and am
bilious motives to him; although they may
seek to find in this and that act of lis. pur-
poses unworthy of one III his high position.
and OF his antecedents, yet wLat is all this
against a record so eminently noble and truc
as that he presented to the nation. before he
was selected for the second Office in the Gift Of
the people. Surely that should count some
what with just and discerning and patriotic
men, in passing Judgment upon his actions
since he was elevated to the Presidency.
In view of what is occurring, it is evidcls
that the time is fast approaching when the
people will be called upon, and compelled to
choose ether one policy or the other; that
which the President-and we may add-Mr.
Seward-have indicated, or that which is in
almost every sense he reverse. The issue is
fast being made; not by the President. but
by those who in more or less decided terms
take occasion to differ with him. Aud is there
any question-for instance, whether if the
people at large and those men in Congress-
who are their really fitting representatives.
were definitely called upon to choose betwixt
the course or programme of Thaddeus Stevens
anu ludU Vi AIluTCW OOnUSOn, mat llCy would
unhesitatingly endorse the latter? And pur-
suing the test even to the end, is it not evident
that the nation is prepared to stand by him,
so long as his patriotism is manifested in an
honest endeavor to heal the wounds and re-
store the financial credit of the country?
And what better proof coGld he present Of
his determination to give the patton true
peace, one undiSturbed by either domestic o.
foreign collisions in the future, than the fact.
that in the changed relations of the country.
he has foregone and sacrificed opinions based |
upon and expressed under far different cir
cumstances. Amongst the most earnest and |
outspoken, for instance, in resenting the policy
of Louis Napoleon in Mexico, when it was
initiated, one might naturally have supposed |
that he would have carried these feelings and |
views into the Presidency; and advocating
them there, have with little delay involved US |
in a costly and needless war with France. |
Had he been the seeker for popularity he is |
nT11nt lY,,ar L l. |.