The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1866-07-26
WASHINGTON, July Is, 1866.


the receipt of your note of the 10th inst,
with printed copy of a cal! for National
Union Convention, to be held at Phila-
delphia, on the. 14th day Of August next.
You request, in case the call, and the
principles enunciated in it, meet nv
approval, that [ reply at my earliest con
venience. This language would seem to
imply that no answer is desired if I do
not approve the call and the principles
avowed in 1t; in other words, that fall
ure to reply may be interpreted as dis
approval, not only of the call, but of each
and all of the principles announced in it.
This is position in which | am unwil-
ling to be placed, when [ approve OF
many of the principles set forth in the
call and yet do not approve of the call
itself. L will briefly state my reasons !;
first promising that I DO not recognize the
very respectable gentlemen who have
made this call as the acknowed ged organs
of the great Union party of the country.
Since the outbreak of tho terrific
struggle from which the country has now
emerged we have had National Union
party that has exhibited more devotion,
mado greater sacrifices, and manifested
more unselfish patriotism than any party
ever did previously in the history of the
world. That party is still in being, with
its organization intact, and its organs
known; and as that party, by its faith,
its doctrines, and its exertions, has, in the
face of the prophesies of half the New
and all the Old World, saved the Gov
ernment and the republican institutions
OF our common country from demoraliza-
ton, and indeed from utter ruin, by vim
dicating at all hazards the primordial
theory Of the eternal, indissoluble union
of the States, through which only can
particle of the theory of State rights ever
be maintained and carried out; it would
appear to me to be still the only OR at any
rate the most effectual means, as far as a
a party can do it, of finally adjusting all
the remaining minor and unsettled mat
ters of reconstruction consistently with
the requirements of tie theory mentioned.
This party is the same to-day as it was
in the days Of It's trial the same party
now as when; but few short months ago.
1t elected Lincoln and johnson, and the
majority of the present Congress and as
L acted with it then, for paramount rea-
sons, my sense of duty demands that [
remain and act with il now.
The pith and marrow of the present
call, | should say, tends toward conven-
tion to form party for sustaining, not
the Government in its entirety Gas has |
beer the mission of the Union party), |
but department of the Government -
And here l must take the liberty of add
ing, that can hardly conceive of any
sadder spectacle, under the crisis Of pres
ent circumstances, than that of the tried |
Union party of this country becoming
dislocated and broken up by divisions, or
that of one branch oc the Govern
ment of the country taking an isolated |
position upon questions of deep and COM
mon interest, and placing itself in hostile |
conflict with coordinate departments.
For these and other reasons which |
might be mentioned, cannot join in the |
call for the convention in Philadelphia |
I have said that many Of the principles
jectionable. I will net stop to criticise
those which arc Objectionable, but content
myself with stating that the call fails to
take any notice of one of the great issues
now before the American people. [ allude
to the question whether the severa! States
shall ratify or reject the last amendment
proposed by Congress to the Constitution
of the United States. This is grave and
all-important question. The issue upon
It cannot be avoided. 1t should be placed
fairly and squarely before the people
The failure to take ground upon so i'm
portant and all-absorbing a question must
be attributed either to a desire to avoid
the issue, or as declaration of belief and
policy against the adoption of the amend
ment. Being myself earnestly and dcci-
dedly in favor of the adoption Of the
by the States, | cannot go
into an organization that would either
openly oppose that measure OF that would
smother it by avoiding its discussion.
l must also add, that no man is more
desirous than l am to attain the entire
of the American Union, with
its practical workings in more perfect
harmony and concord than ever, and the
surety, as far as mortal affairs can be made
sure, OF endless rerpetuity in the future
The blessings to flow from such Union
ire countless and inestimable. But such
\ q MON, consistent within itself, maintain
ID by the universal consent of all classes
md sections, aud laughing to scorn both
he assaults of foes internal or external,
lnG the ravages of time and change, will
,nly be obtained by sternly retracting
every departure from, or compromise with.
he supreme and general idea of the
American fundamental law, the Constitu |