The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1867-07-31
Gerrif Smith on Our Duty 10 the
sOuth-A Letter 60 Thaddeus

Gerrif Smith on Our Duty 20 In,
SOuth-A Letter 60 Thaddeu,
Stevens.
Hon. Thaddeus Stevens: a
DEAR SR-YOu are reported in the New
York Tribune as having recently said OIL
the floor Of Congress. ~
1T is now held by one Of the most liber
al gentlemen in the c1untry Il mean Gerri
SMITH that we should even pay portion
Of the damage inflicted on the rebels, and
pay portion of the rebel debt" li,.
OF course you do not mean that this 1:
literally so My often repeated PROPOSE
ton is that Government ought to lend OF
give moneys to the South to help her to an
upward start from the depths of her power
ty and desolation. By what logic you were
| able to construct from the letter of this pro-
position your figure of speech, is for you,
not me, to explain. am truly sorry that
it is in your heart to hold up to ridicule nv
reasonable proposition. You are too old
and too intellectual to be making such con-
cessions to passion and prejudice. There
are two reasons why the North should be
glad to help the South First, the South
is pOor-very poOr-and the North is rich
very rich.
Second, the North is largely responsible
for the poverty of the South. Our fathers
united with the fathers of the South in ma
king this land Of slaves; and in our own
day the North has gone with the South in
upholding and extending slavery. Until
the breaking ont of this war, every Con-
gress was for slavery. ... 81 ..l
The repeal of the Missouri Compromise
was the work of the North as well as of the
South, So, too, was the enactment of that
internal Fugitive Slave Act, which even the
good Abraham Lincoln was compelled, by
the pro-slavery sentiment of the North as
well as ot'the South to enforce so vigorously,
With comparatively few exceptions, our
Northern colleges, theological senlinaries,
and political and religious parties, were on
the side of slavery. The commerce of the
North was emphaticaly in the interest of
slavery. --.. ... -......s ~. .a
In the light Of such facts it surely can
not be denied that the North made herself
large y responsible for American slavery.
But the war came Of slavery; and the pow
erty and desolation of the South came Of
the war; and hence to the same degree that
the North was responsible for slavery is she
responsible for the war and for its ruinous
results to the South. ... ... ..s
You call my sympathy with the South,
and my desire to have the North help her,
''sickly humanity, call it simply hon
esty II my neighbor and | join in getting
each other drunk, and he in his frenzy goes
to tearing down my house, and |, in self
defense, demolish his, | am not to disown
his claim upon my sympathy. am to
ioel that honesty requires me to help him
rebuild. . .,.H
Would to God that Congress wers SO just
and wise as, at this very session, to lend
fifty millions Of dollars to the Confederate
States-to each Of them so much of it as
would be proportionate to her population
and to what she has suffered from the raw
ages Of the war! The share falling to each
State to be distributed throughout her ter.
rltory in loans upon adequate security
This, by proving the love and pity of the
North Tor her, would win the heart of thu
South, and would thus produce a true and
lasting peace betweenthem. And then it
would be worth to the nation if only in
financial point Of view, many times fifty
millions of dollars. Gold would no 10 niger
bear among us premium otforty per cent
and our Government would no longer have
to ray seven per cent. nor much more than
half seven per cent interest on its loans.
Very respectfully, yours,
.g ,. GhKRIF SMITH.
pETERSp0Pn .I,ilv