The Van Buren press., 1867-08-23
Gerrit Smith on the Duty Of the North
10 the South.
Letter 10 Thad Stevens.

Letter 10 Thad stevens.
Hos. TnApDEUs SrEvENs-Dear SIR:
You are reported in the New York Tri
bune as having recently said on the floor
of Congress:
"It is now held by one of the most
liberal and enlightened gentlemen of the
country { | mean Gerritt Smith) that we
should even pay portion of the damage
inflicted on the rebels, and pay aportion
OF the rebel debt"
OF course, you do not mean that this
is literally SO. Ny often repeated prop
| ositon is that Government lend or give
money to the South, TO help her to an up
ward start from the depths of her power
/ ty and desolation. BY what logic you
were able to construct from the letter Of
this proposition your figure ofspeech. is
for you, not me, to explain. am truly
sorry that it is in your heart to hold up
to ridicule my reasonable proposition.
You are too old and too intellectual to be
making such concessions to passion and
prejudice There are too 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
the making of this land of slaves; and in
our day the North has gone with the
South in upholdng and extending slave
ry Until the breaking out of this war,
every Congress was for slavery The
repeal of the Missouri compromise was
the work Of the North as well as the
South SO, too, was the enactment of
that Internal fugitive slave act, which
even the good Abraham Lincoln was com
PEELED by the pro-slavery sentiment of the
North as well as of the South to enforce
so vigorously. With comparatively few
exceptions. our Northern colleges, the
ological scnnaries, and political and re-
ligious parties were on the side of slave
ry The commerce Of the North was
emphatcally y in the interest Of slavery.
In the light of such facts, it surely can
not be denied that the North made her
self largely responsible for American
slavery But the war came of slavery
and the poverty and desolation of the
South came of the war; and, hence, TO
the same degree that the North was re-
sponsible for slavery is she responsible
for the war and for its ruinous results
to the South
You call my sympathy with the South
and my desire to have the North help
her, sickly humanity" call it simple
honesty. Ifmy neighbor and | join in
getting each other drunk, and he in frenzy
goes to tearing down my house, and / in
sef-delence demolish his, | am not to
disown his claim upon my sympathy. l
am to feel that honesty requires me to
help him rebuild
Would to God that Congress were SO
just and wise as at this very session, to
lend fifty millions of dollars to the Con-
federatc States--to each Of them so much
Of it as would be proportionate to her
population and to what she had suffered
from the ravages Of the war! The share
falling to each State to be distributed
throughout her territory in loans upon
adequate security. This, by proving the
love and pity of the North for her,
would win the heart Of the South, and
would thus produce true and lasting
peace between them. And then it would
be worth to the nation, if only in linan-
cial point Of view, many times fifty mil.
lions Of dollars. Gold would no longer
bear among US premium of 40 per cent,
and our Government would no longer
have to pay per cent. nor much more
than half 7 per cent interest on its loan.
Very respectfully, yours,
GERRIT SMITH.
Petersboro, July l6, 1867.