Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-12-20
.,, oe tho South. attracted by our fnan.

o;oI Yroaneritv. came North and brought
their money With them. Meanwhile, with
The tiqbtaninR of the blockade, and the
inability of the South to get out their cot
ton Confederate finances collapsed. Their
| ieoal Tenders were worth but two or three
cents an the hundred, and the bitter gibe
of the southern peace party was, that they
took their money to market in the bas-,
ket and brought home the meat in their
nocketbooks.S They could supply their
armv with neither adequate iood, clothes,
shelter. nursing, or medicine, and three
fonrths of the troops who had enlisted so
enthusiastically at the outset, were now
branded on the rolls az deserters. From
these causes, more than all Others, resulted
the collapse Of the rebellion. Yet the fall
Of the rebellion was none the less q tri.
IImph of ideas, none the more victory OF
q brute force" because the ideas that con-
ouered welded the largest purse, the heayi-
est reinforcement of incn. and the greatest
material resources. 1t was because slavery,
starting ahead in the race, and working
| over the larger area and the inner territory
of our country, had resulted in sparser
| population, less intelligence and less
wealth, that 1t had leon condemned by
the people In tho tritlmphao OF the anti
| slavery sentiment. el ~ =
The failure of the rebellion through
| want of pecuniary resources, vindlcated
| the strongest anti-slavery argument, VIZ {,
that slavery is Improbable. Its failure,
from the oyer-weening vanity OF Davis,
vinGicated another anti-slayery position,
VIZ, that slavery develops vain and emrty
statesmen. It's failure, from want of kind
4 ness and good faith towards the rebel
troops. sustained third point In the abo.
lition creed, that slavery was treacherous
and cruel On the other hand, the expan-
siye power of our material resources
| proved the higher craftsmanship Of that
| free.labor system, without which there
/ could be no diversity of industry. Onr
| larger benevolence towards our soldiers
established our claims to a purer Chris
| tiauity; and the more liberal and truly
i democratic policies Of Lincoln, In the
! selection of his cabinet, the appointment
i of his generals, and his treatment Of the
army, were an impersonatcd demonstration
!, of the superiority of those free institutions
i which had lifted one so inexperienced, I'M
couth, and plebeian, into loftier grade
i of statesmanship than belonged to the
| accomplished, gifted, but perfdious repre-
1 sentative of slavery. The ideas that gave
rise to the conflict moulded its results
| Freedom had made the North richer, more
populous, and more independent, than
slavery haG made the South. This was
| the moral reason why the Republican par
| ty opposed the spread of slavery In the
Territories, the numerical reason why
they elected Lincoln, and the material rea-
son why they out-reintorced their an
| tagonists, and so subdued the rebellion.
/ Never was there SO purely, therefore, a
1 war of principles; or q struggle, in which
| the ideas involved, SO manifestly deter
mined the strength and endurance OF the
contending armies. ~ 81 '-0 -
Even when the sudden and startling
tragedy--ihe assassination of Lincoln,
| and attempted massacre of his cabinet
| and chief Generals CLOSED the magnificent
| drama of the war with a revelation of
baseness, humiliating TO every American,
the martyrs life long faith In the superb
/ ority of freedom, and the meanness and
turpitude of slavery, was sealed, beyond
future denial, as fundamental truth OF
4 ethics and of history. %
The emancipation of four millions oil
blacks, and the destruction of tea State
governments, in the progress of wal, had
| introduced into the problem of recon.
I struction two new difaculties. There was
not merely the Union OF loyal States with
the disloyal States to be restored, but ten
new State governments must be created
for the conquered States, Not merely
was the peace between the government
and the rebels to be declared, but the
terms Of peace between the sex-nlasterE
and ex-slaves had also TO be adjusted
4 For" as says Montesquieu, slavery ID
that state of perpetual war, in which one
antagonist is always vanquished, anc
the other is forever on guard"
\ To permitthe State organizations, which
had formed the ConfedeIacy, to be incor
porated into the Union, would have beer
both suicidal and Illegal Illegal, because
! no officer connected with them had fol
five years sworn to support the Constitu
ton of the United States, and every Office
; In them was therefore legally vacant, ant
the whole fabric Of State government wa
lapsed and void suicidal. because each o
E these governments was differed by rebels
whose only right. If they were to be re
a garded as citizens of the United States
was to be hanged for treason, or if aliens
then to be raadmitted to citizenship OF
such terms as should be prescribed. II
!. allow them to continue In the control O
ten States, would be to enter into partner
! ship with the rebellion, not to overthrow
: It, General Sherman proposed to Genera
johnson plan of surrender by which
!, these State governments would have beef
, preserved. Had President johnson thel
"A foreseen his subsequent quarrel with tn
S Republican party, he probably would hav
, affirmed the Sherman-J ohnston, treaty
| The country is indebted to the energy c
l Secretary Stanton, alone, for the fact tina
!. this treaty was rejected, and that the re
r construction proclamation, which 500
i followed, was based on the theory that tn
1 State governments were destroyed, an
= that new ones must be created. The Pres
Z dent therein built more wisely than b
3 knew" for, in assuming that new Stat
a governments must be formed, he necesst
. rily raised the question, by what authorit
r they should be constituted, and who shout
9 vote in forming them. The former ques
!. | ton could only be answered In favor {
4 Congress. The latter proved the entering
!. wedge to universal outrage, in issuip
y proClamatiors of reconstruction, and !
4 defining thsrein who should vote, pave
!. the way for reconstruction by Congress, o
. the basis of impartial suffrage, and refute
q In advance the positions he subsequent
4 took--that the States could not deatro
II their relations to the Union, and that th
!. National Government had no power to n
d construct them. X as
q Dir. Lincoln, In his letters to Governe
j. Hahn and General Wadsworth, had for
|. Swallowed strong predictions in favor
n universal suffrage as the basis Of recol
" struction. His humane instincts wou
IS have moved Kim strongly to couple VII
y It universal amnesty. No sentiment
\. animosity towards rebels, as such, WOu