The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1866-03-21
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Tnsbem.crs ste%bers sfthe
Ohio Legislature.
bnG s0.rurloT
PHoPLE OF OHIO.

Z CoIuuabus, ONO, March 9, 1865"
the Psopleef. '0Aio'a
2We the undersigned members Of the
General Assembly Of the State Of Ohio,
being in the minority of that body, and
having no adequate means for an expires.
sion upon the present condition Of pub
|lic affairs, officially, deem IL not improp-
er to submit the following through less
obstructed channel, the public press.
Public events Of great Importance have
recently trabspiEed. Happily for the
people and tho perpetuity Of the, Union,
the war has been brought to a tefmina-
tiou. flf ft,,.Iif3 F.Et5t y
The great mass Of the Southern peo.
pie soon restored order, and commenced
reviving their civil organizations. They
voted and elected legislatures which re-
pealed the ordinances of secession. They
elected State and other officers. They
repealed the clauses OF the State Consti.
tutions 10 regard to slavery, and adopted
an amendment to the Constitution Of the
United States, forever prohibiting their
system of rervitude. The people Of ev.
cry State iuthe South, exceptTexas, and
she was taking like action, had organ
lied their State Governments.
In official or corporate capacity, these
States stood in the same relation to the
Federal Government as the States Of the
North. The rebellion ceased to exist
The Constitution became and was opera
tive in the whole Union. Nor were the
authorities ofthe Federal Union inact-
i've. The arm les were gradually with
drawn. Ey ceptng to arrest few per.
sons, The people Of the South were left
uudistulbed, and we're encouraged in the
work demanded by the Constitution. :
The action of their State Legislatures
was recognized by the Federal authorities
as legally essential and binding. Their
States were reorganizcd as States in the
Union, and their people as citizens
Taxes were. laid and collected Of them
and the burdens imposed by the Consti-
tuition were acknowledged and borne =
The whole peolls OF the South were
struegli G to bury their sufferiugs and
ealamhies, and had heartily yielded
themselus up to full allegiance to the
Government Of the United States Un.
der these circumstances, and as still
fur ther evidence of a total reputation ol
every other Government, they elected
persons toirepresent them in Congress.
This was the crowning duty imposed
by the Constitution. This alone re-
mained to be done to bring each South.
ern State fully into its old Constitution
; orbit. The South fully accepted all the
Constitutional obligations.
Candor and patriotism require that thu
causes Of public events should be finally
probed. The causes Of the war are Al
work yet, though the war has ceased, an(
/ IRE more active aud provocative of thei
inevitable consequences, by reason o.
war engendered passions. A coDsiderat'
view Of the past establishes the fact tina
two radical extremes brought on the con
flict--tliat the war was provoked-Abo
litionism Of the North, which only ayow
, cd its purpose, and for thirty years wa
the assailant, was met by spirit hos,il
TO it. The latter was broken in the nam
Of the Union, but tho former remains
bloated and ferocious with the blood o
its rival. The President Of the Unitet
. States lately said: "On this matter tn
: extremists Of both sections, while pursu
ing different means, labored steadily t
the accomplishment of the same end
the destruction Of the Union. So far a
the dissolution of the Union is concerned
one is as bad as the other. When tn
rebellion is put down and We find part
for consolidation and Capitalization, it !
the same spirit as rebellions and leads L
the same end-destruction Of the Gov
ernment. g.f
The assailing spirit Of Abolitianisn
yet survives, nourished into immens
!. proportions aud intensity by the infuer
. ces Of that war, aggravated in its strengt
by causes foreign to its nature, and craze
by Its power, without reasoning as to il
's own elementary formation, it yainly ir
!, agines itself superior to the Constitution
, Having, as it claimed, fought the Uoior
!. il Is now engaged in systematic schem
Q to prevent union. Can those who dt