The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1867-11-29
The Country Needs Pace.

We commend to all, and especially to Radical
editors in this State, the following timely article
from that leading Republican paper, the NJ =.
Times:
What the country needs now more than any.
thing else is Pacifcatiou. We want Pc ce--uot
only in form, but in fact Peace that shall in
vove harmony of sentiment unity of purpose and
OF feeling amo,g the p ople OF the sections lately
at war. Without such u pc &c rs this, nothing
else that we may think We have secured will I've
worth straw. We nmy force negro suffrage
upon the South and mnintnin it by the bayonet /;
but until il is there by different tenure than
that, it will he cnrsr instead of blessing to all
concerned, and especially to the negroes Them
selves. When negro suffrage can be established
in the South with the assent of the Southern
people-an assent passed on the conviction that
it is intended TOR the common good, and is not
simply anothe. form of hostile force it will con-
sohdate Southern political society, and contribute
largely 10 the good of the whole country. But
this state of things cannot be reached until eaee
the spirit of peace as we'll as its form-is re-
stored TO the sections lalely at war. And the
same thing is true of MI the changes and reforms
which should follow IN the South rs the result OF
the war. We may force them upon The South
ern States, as upon conquered section. We
may maintain them there by military power
But so loug as this Is the only hold they have
upon the Southern people, they will only breed
suite and coutenton-not contribute to the peace
and strength of the common country. The South
will regard them rs simply force in another form
The great mistake in what has been done since
the war WAS closed is, that it has been done in
the spirit and temper o, couquerors dealing with
u conquered people. After war between indie
pendent nations peace comes through treaty-a
compact to which both are equal parties, is not
imposed by the victor, without the consent of the
vanqui.hed and maintained by constant display
of armed power. Such close of war would not
be peace. It would have nothing of'the spirit OF
peace. 1t would heal none of the wounds, soothe
none of the asperties, allay none of the ha'reds
which the war had caused and this is lar more
true ofthe peace that should follow war between
coutending sections of the same country. The
terms of peace in such case, ifit is to bring
with it the fruits OF peace,s must be such as the
Judgment of both artes can accept without q
sense ofhumilation. The Presidents policy had
this feature to recommend IT at I'LL events
Whether right or wrong in Its details, it made
the South an asserting and a willing party to
the peace which it sought to bring about And
the great defect in the policy of Congress has
been, that it springs from different temper and
breathes different spirit. Whether right or
wrong 10 its details, it is imposed upon the South
by force. 1t goes out under threats-backed up
ny IuliIhTJ pOWSI, hhu SuiOESSu 40 Nu oSe huo
badge of subjugation rather than offered as a
basis of peace which both parties can accept with
honor, and as conducive to their common inter-
ests. Differences OF detail would have been very
easily adjusted. If the subject had been thus
approached in the spirit of real and substantial
peace ..si -. a. ~,
But this has not been done. We are as far
from real peace TO day as we were when the war
closed. Indeed, the feeling that now prevails be-
tween the two sections is less peaceful, more Bit
ter and more hostile than it was when Lee SUR
rendered to Grant. The people feel this to be the
fact, and they deplore it as calculated to plunge
the country deeper and deeper in trouble and
confusion. We are not coming out of the War
with either credit to ourselves or profit to the
country. We are simply prolonging Its enmities
aud widening the breach which the cess ,lion Of
armed ST., lie ought to have closed. Nor does the
progress of Reconstruction, under the law OF
Congress, promise speedy relief That it is re-
garded hostile net by the people Of the South
ern States-as intended to overbear and hpmili-
ate them, and as calculated to dsorsanze' their
society and destroy their prosperity.