The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-07
we Have Not Yet Began to Fight.

crisis q position which demands a similar
declaration, to be followed up by such hard
blows as will Danish from the minds of the
enemy all hope or dream of victory. Andrew
Johnson had not fairly settled himself in the
seat made vacant by the hand of the assassin
ere the unrepentant leaders of the Rebellion,
encouraged by his undisguised sympathy,
raised the clamor for our submission; aud
from that day to the present the uproar has
been spreading, until at last the voice of the
ex-Confederacy is practically united one. If
the demand which they make upon the loyal
North were confined to the mere bluster of
words, we could we'll afford to pay no atten-
tion to it. But from almost every section of
the South come reports of outrages upon
Union men, white and black, of such char
acter as to leave us no alternative save that OF
accepting, as the settled purpose of the par
ticipants in the Rebellion, determination to
enforce their demand in the most effectual way.
1t finds a ready and earnest echo in the
North. The sum and substance of the Tam
many platform is an invitation to lay down
our arms and yield up, without further parley,
all the fruits of our triumph on the field of bat
tie Like the Chicago platform OF 1864 it prac-
tically pronounces the struggle for the Union
q failure, and demands that it shall be brought
to summary close. The loyal blood that has
been shed, the loyal treasure that has been
squandered, the prostration of commerce, the
interruption Of friendly relations between the
two sections of the country, the imperilling of
our relations with the great powers of the Old
World, the long-protracted doubts of success,
the despair which followed our many reverses,
the flush of triumph which lifted up the heart
of the nation when final victory was assured
all these are to 60 for naught, and we are de-
liberately commanded to regard ourselves as
worsted in the contest, and the cause for
which we toiled and suffered and fought as
hopeless one. The Tammany summons to
surrender, preceded as it was by the re-
volutionary letter of Frank Blair, has
been followed up by series Of
characteristic pronunciamentos, all breath
ing the same spirit, all inspired by the same
deadly hatred to Union founded upon justice
to all men, and equality for all men before the
law. Andrew Johnson has reiterated his Oft
repeated declaration that the reconstruction
theory of Congress is revolutionary, unconsti-
tutional, and void; and therefore demands that
the loyal men of the rehabilitated States shall
be turned over to the tender mercies of the
Rebels, who shall have leave to punish, plum
der, and prescribe them under the guise of
law. Ould, the Rebel Commissioner of Ex-
change, has revived the old exploded ISLANDERS
fho fard Of ant i,,r
leving the loyal soldiers who were enduring
all the agonies of death in Rebel prisons, and
its refusal to consent to fair and honor
able cartel; and therefore demands that
the reins of power shall be entrusted to
q party whose standard bearer signalized his
official career by a studied attempt to
embarrass the Government in its warfare
against the Rebellion, who had no word of
sympathy for the brave men enlisted in the
Union cause, who clasped to his heart as
''friends" the murderers of helpless children
and the destroyers of orphan asylums. The
chiefs of the Rebellion, gathered in consulta-
tion at Southern watering place, proclaim
through Rosecrans the peace and goodwill
and thorough devotion to the Union, which
actuate the hearts OF the whole Southern
people; and therefore demand that the party
which rescued the nation from the hands of
treason shall no longer be entrusted with the
settlement of the country, and the adjust.
ment of all our difficulties on a basis which
shall be satisfaction for the past, a security
for the present, and guarantee for the future.
"Surrender !" is the cry, and "Rsvolution !"
is the sole alternative presented.
With this demand still ringing in our ears,
there is but one response that can rise to our
lips, We haze not get begun TO fight! On Tues
day last these words were proclaimed through
out the length and breadth of the land in no
uncertain, tremulous tone. Vermont, in
spired by the feeling which is coextensive
with our borders, gave them utterance; the
echo is lingering in the forests of Maine, only
to gather redoubled strength. We want no
more bloodshed no more measuring OF swords
upon the field. Blair cries, Surrender, or
fight" We respond, "Let us have peace -
And peace can be secured only through victory
at the polls. When we have made good our
challenge, we need not fear that the reaction
lists, North and South, will not call to mind
the past and profit by the lessons of Vicks-
burg, Gettysburg, and Appomattox Court
House. We hare not get begun to fight! Yer
mont proclaims it, Maine will re-echo it, and
November will stamp the words with such an
earnest emphasis that peace will be conquered
without another resort to arms.
HoRRBLE.-Jerry Black, one of the shining
Iiobts of lanes Buchanan's cabinet has beer