Bloomsburg democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1867-1869, 1867-02-27
From tie Daily Ags.
Will the North Keep lts Prom.
lSesf AP

lSesf 49,
The North was called to arms in 1860 BY
the cry of protection to the Union. I'd ali
the Northern States this was the watch.
word. Politicians repeated it from tho
stump, preachers from their 'pulpits, lectur.
ers from the desk, and the soldiers sang
the praise Of the Union as they turned their
faces to the South. The one charge against
the people Of the South was opposition to
the Union. Congress declared that the war
was waged solely to restore the Union, ind
that when the rebels laid down their arms
it twould be restored. The war is over. The
people in all the Southern States have sub. p
mitted to the national authorities. The
States have remodelled their governmental
and from the Potomac to the Rio Grands
the authority Of the Federal government is
undisputed. In this state Of national affairs
patriotic men in all parts Of the country are
calling upon the dominant party to fulfill
the pledges made at the beginning Of the
war. The following appeal from the Rich.
mond Enquirer is full Of point, and should
be pondered by all who really desire speedy
restoration Of our country to peace aid con.
stitutional freedom:
"We appeal to all men Of honor at the
North, to respect the pledges and assurances
under which they waged the late war, and
invited us to lay down our arms. We up.
peal to them to observe their oaths to sup
port the Constitution. We appeal To them
not to overthrow and revolutiouize the gov.
ernment which they profess to venetate
We urge them not to alloo oany insane hate
Of the South, to unite them id measures
justified only by the post scandalous false.
hoods, measures wholly without excuse in
actual fact, and I0suel and arbitrary beyond
any. 4anmNe in ssian ukase or Chinese
edist. WeimploN them to rescue the Con.
stituticn from being made the sport and
expedient Of parry, to secure party ends
through abused constitutional FORMS
Where is Hberty-what has become Of re-
publican rTtue-when States are blotted
out for fear Of their votes, Presidents i'm,
peached because an obstacle to party, and
the judiciary dishonored and ovsrthrown for
holding the scales Of justice in even poise ?
We call upon the men Of the North to save
themselves from the indelible disgrace and
the country from the irreparable injury Of
the contemplated proceeding!
Let them look at it. Do they suppose
the South will be quieted and reconstructed
by the course proposed? Could any amount
of force applied to Massachusetts,; make her
people receive in quiet the disfranchisement
Of all her Republicans" and the rule Of
her anti-war Democrats The case is more
than paraleled here, for the exceptions to
the prevailing public sentiment are much
fewer. And what is the character Of most
Of the so-called "Union men whose sway
is to restore the South to the repose Of the
Sabbath Mr.. Boyer, in the debate upon
the Eliot bill, showed that their moral stand.
ing is not misunderstood. To ordain the
rule Of these men as the permanent regimen
of the South, would necessarily require the
continual maintenance Of a large army to
make it good, besides exposing them to per-
sonal perils which armies could not prevent.
The thousand tales Of horror now false ly
t,ld to Justify it, would become realities.
When men are maddened and made reck-
less, they cease to calculate and cease to fear.
When they are driven from hope they are
driven to crime. The distress that urges to
suicide prompts first to homicide: Com.
mittees might indeed disappointed to dilate
on ''the horrible state Of Southern society,""
but scenes fur darker than we have pic
tured will be justly chargeable upon The
the North, if it shall wantcnly and gratui.
tously drive the South into such desperate
The savage who covers his
prisoner with lightwood faggots prickled in
to the flesh, and then applies the kiHdling
torch, makes not more barbarous use Of
bis advantage than the North will make Of
hers, by the adoption Of the policy proposed.
If in OUR great woe Of defeat we had been
handed over to devils for torture, their cru
elites would have been mercies compared 10
the treatment now threatened by men who
swore ON their honor that if We woulhlay
down our arms they would receive us d
Hnd who swear on the Holy Evangelists
that they will observe the ooustitutioualcom.
pact. So.
1t is vain, 1t is idle it is foolish, to expsSs
to establish quiet and oontentment by the
policy recommended. If adopted; IL en-
barks the country necessarily on an Indefinite
period Of trouble and unrest. Every sensi.
bic man must know that thenceforth ws
could have no peace save in the shadow Of
camps; that prosperity and industry would
blighted and destroyed. The question Of
reconstruction, such as the country wants, is
no Gordon knot 10 be united by a.sword-
stroke: g
We entfeat the men Of the North to take
counsel Of their own knowledge 0f human
consult their intsrests-to re-
member their oaths and engagemeuts-in
their dealings with the South. If they will