The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1868-11-04
:. The Country Ruined 5,


fax Willie elected, but says their election
will complete the ruin of the country lie
US look atthis matter of ruin squarely, AM
see what it means and how it is applied.
When the Sentinel speaks of the country
it means the South When we speak of the
country we mean the nation of the United
States. To break up the nation, the rebels
of the South made one very vigorous at
tempt. To build up something they tried
to call another nation, they likewise made
strenuous efforts. They failed in both. The
kind of ruin they brought upon the nation
they fought, it is well enough to look at,
study and analyze, and see if it is not that
kind which results in life through death, in
exaltation through humility. At the COM
mencement of the war, the rebels predicted
that grass would grow in the streets of New
York; that the mills of New England would
cease to work and the owls and the bats take
possession of the vast manufacturing estab-
lishments that line the Merrimac and the
Mohawk; that from Boston west to the Mis-
sissippi, and from Montreal south to Pitts
burg, the hum of machinery would no longer
be heard and the click of the spindle would
cease to make music to the ear; that rail-
roads would no longer continue to stretch
out across the continent from the centers of
commerce, and that all individual and ma
tional enterprises for the development of the
resources of the country would be abandon
ed as profitlcss speculations. Were the rebels
true prophets, and did material ruin visit
that vast section of the country known as
the North2 That is the question we want
the Sentinel to answer first, and after that is
answered, we want it to prove how the same
region is to be ruined by another similar at
tempt on the part of its friends.
When the war commenced, the line of the
Pacific Railroad was being surveyed from
Omaha westward. A month or two after
fighting commenced, while an army of sew
enty-fve thousand, at the call of Abraham
Lincoln, was pushing its way southwark, an
army of another character was pushing its
way westward, and rapidly constructing the
longest and most difficult railroad in the
world, and during the whole war did not
stop one moment, never for one second of
time Jagged for the want of men or money,
but while great battles were being fought in
the South, carried on battles against the great
range of Rocky Mountains, and never, tor
one moment, was defeated, disheartened, or
driven back; but, at every step it took,
achieved a victory over what had been con-
sidered the insurnountable barriers of ma
ture. The South said at the commencement
of the war that she would have her Pacific
Railroad first. Has she got it, and was the
Pacific Railroad of the North ruined? But
not alone the Pacific Railroad, but fifty other
rail! Dads were in progress when JEFF Davis
started his Confederacy.
Was work ON one of them stopped during
the war? New York built two hundred
miles of new road and doubled tracked the
Erie, the Central and the Hudson. New En-
gland built four hundred miles, and double
tracked half the main lines. At the West,
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa built
flee thousand miles of road, and did not
stop work day on single road they had
commenced when the war broke out. The
resources of the nation were never so rapid
ly developed as during the war. Work of
all kinds seemed to be carried on with SUI
perhuman energy, and aoorL never yet has
been known to produce ruin to country,
when directed to the development of its re-
sources 1t is great historical fact that
the nation instead of being ruined by the
war. came out of it richer, stronger, more
self reliant, self-respecting and respected than
when she went into it.
"The country ruined" by the election of
Gen. Grant Is there man in the South so
stupid and idiotic as to believe it2 The
South can be SAVED only by making the
world believe she belongs to the nation of
the United States. As the South, what
country will loan her dollar of money
Whoever before heard of running bank
rupt2 As well talk of running street
tramp. Alone, the South has nothing to
ruin. 1t is only as she can lay claim to
some of the general prosperity, the general
wealth, the general credit, the general hon
csty of the whole country, that she can gain
the least respect As disorganized South,
in the meneyed circles of Europe, she is
seedy, battered, broken down and ruined
speculstor. AS part of the nation of the
United States, pointing to the national flag
as her banner, she can draw upon the Roth
childs for thousand millions as easily as
she can for a thousand cents. And what
can JEFF. Davis draw for to-day, and what
will he be able to draw for fifty years
hence2 The rebels may massacre every 10y
al man she has, but they cannot ru the
country. They may drive from their midst
men of genius and talent, of wealth
and enterprise, but they cannot touch the
country. The moment they again raise
their hand against that, they fall, and if Gen.
Grant happens to be President when that
is done, they will achieve their own ever
| lasting ruin, but the country will stand like
!, the Rock of Ages and bless and save all who
cling to it for support.
"Every vote lost to the Democratic ticket Is o
vote to sustain the odious government of the
bond bold ariefnnraov ,I-EIou Eus,