The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1868-09-18
:, S,na1oIitiral.
. a sOUND. .ARGUMENT.
RspubIioans. tha. true Conservatives

Inc IOLOWlnS is the letter ol CnleI
Justice r. NJ. Pearson, of North Caro-
lima, himself, a Conservative, to the
Conservatives of that State, which has
been alluded to in late dispatches a.
To tie Conservative Pagtye o. a. -d,u
I am alarmed at the condition of the
country, and fear we are drifting into
auother civil owargd In my opinion. the
"waF clOudsR are as dark now as in the
winter of 186O-6I. We we're then
promised NpeaeefuI secession" we ire
now to have peaceful notification" /"
Under these circumstances l feel it to
ia duty to make known the reasoning
I by which have arrived at the conclu-
! sion that every man who has an inter-
est at stake, and who wishes to have
peace and avoid bloodshed, should
vote for Grant and Colfax. Being a
member of the Conservative party and
having been elected Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court on the nomination
of both parties, by unanimous vote
Of the people, it, is fair to presume that
| have their confidence, and that what
say viii be. considered calmly, as the
advice of friend who has no motive
save the public good. I trust to be
Justified, BY the emergency, for ex-
4 pressing my opinion, and 10 be allowed
to do so, without being drawn into the
vortex Of politics; with my views 81
lence would be criminal. God Al
mighty forbid a war of races! Violent
politicians avow their purpose to agitate,
turn things upside down, nuIlify, aud
bring on another war, rather than sub
init to let the negroes vote and hold
office. But is it not the part of wis
dom and patriotism to accept the
situation" and try to make the most
OF bad bargain, rather than make
bad worse? / cannot, as others seem
TO be able to do, exclude from nv
mind the fact that the South attempt
ed revolution and was subiugated,
and our condition is one Of the bitter
fruits Of rebellionl "Let us have peace"
This is the point on which my opinion
rests.
The New York Convention declares
our State government a mere creation
of usurpation, and of course not en-
titled to the allegiance of the people;
and It ptoclaims the Reconstruction
acts of Congress 'dnconstitutional
revolutionary and yoid"-omitting the
word null, lest it might call up uupleas-
ant recollections Of the days Of nullif-
cation, when the strong will of Jack
son prevented war. If The Reconstruc-
ton acts are void SO are the reconstruc-
ton measures of President johnson,
and the negroes are still slaves. This
leads to war. But it is said slavery
and secession" are deal issues. Why
or howl Admit, however, that the
oulyo Object is to deprive the freedmen
Of political rights How can that be
efected9 Some say, 'it is to be done
by hs-balIets aHd-not- by the bayonet."
HowAThats .thequesEi6nZ The freed.
men are now in possession of the right
10 vote; of course, if they vote, the
1constitution cannot be amended, so the
only mode is to carry ont practically
the doctrine that the Reconstruction
acts are void, and our constitution is
Of no effect This is notification, and, /
disguise it as they may, it must result
in war. History furnishes no instance
Of four millions of people, backed as
they are. in our State, by clear ma
jOray of 20, 900 votes, being deprived
of political rights which they have en-
ljoyed for years. 1t cannot be done
without civil war. It is against the
order of nature emit isdT 7aa edJ oil
Ny countryment it is time to pause, 1
and refuse longer to follow the lead Of
violent politicians We shall discard
! ,rrejudice and passion and act on our
own Judgment, as to what should be
done under tue circumstances by which
we find ourselves surrounded. 4
The most violent a. S'em3ers OF any
party, provided that they cal. get mem :.
bers enough at the start 10 M. e
respectable showing, always carry their
point, for reason IS put aside, vitupera-
ton and abuse are hurled at all who
hesitate, "He is not friend of the
South, he is a traitor to his race and
color DC" The women and children
Creatures Of feeling, JOIN in the cIamor,
and so it goes. You and 1 were op-
posed to secession, the bulk of the peo-
pie opposed it. yet we were hurried
into it, After the ordinances, like true
men, we adhered to our State, and |
rendered faithful allegiance TO the Con
tedracy up to the surrender. What |
did we gain by it9 l shoulI rather
ask, who can estimate what we lose by /
itf T'-a aai
1 will specify Instances where bad
was male worse by violent politicians.
1. We labored under the supposed
Inconvenience insnot being allowed to
carry slaves into the Territories, and |
owing to the prejudices against slavery, Il
fugitive slave could not be reclaimed /,
under the act Of Congress, without
more cost than his value. To remedy
thisyt the South seeded. We lost all
our slaves 4@ 1859 ' |,
m 2. At, The Fortress Monroe Confer
eDce it was INCUR pow err 10 be restored i
to all the rights Of State, provided
we would submit to gradual einancipa-
tion, that is, every negro, born after a
day to be fixed, should be free at the
age Of twenty-one. But the cry was
Independence or nothing" eight it
out" when it was known we could not
open the spring. campaign without
of 100000 negro sol
diers; which was impossible, or if pos
sible, fatal TO our cause. The result
wasMa surrender without terms, follow
ed by instant emancipation with four
millions Of freedmen in our midst! Sol
bad again was made worsei | Ii
8. What WIS to be done with the
!u The idea Of four millions
of people, not slaves, existing in our
midst without some political right, was
out of the question: Such a condition
of things never has, within the memory i
of imam, and never will exist It is
against the eternal lawsof nature! AT
that time we had It in our power to
put all things right by submitting to
qualified negro suffrage. That is, lot
every freedman who could read and
write, or owned, say $IOO worth of
property, have the right to vote. Not