Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1869-08-05
Ro.eer.n. a. solder and Politician.

R0secrans as SotuleT aAo FcAhaAciah
! From the Cincinnati Commercial.
| It has heretofore teen the custom ol
! Democrats to look TO Republicans iol
| Endorsements OF their Candidates. On the
! contrary il was considered damaging
! tact if any one OF them had so conduct ed
4 himself III public life as TO win the aCi.
miration and receive the applause OF his
political adversariessl Now all this is
| changed. Since; the domination of Cen
eral kosecrans ior Governor the Demo
| cratic press OF Ohio has enthusiastically
engaged III reproducing the opinions
expressed concerning the hero OF Stone
River by the Republican newspapers
in 1852 and 1858. SiDgularly enough,
however, they neglect 10 review what
they said and wrote OF him during the
eventful period when he was steadily
crowding the rebels out of Tennessee.
drumming Peace Democratic emissaries
out OF his lines, or sending through them
10 the enemy such patriots as Valandfg-
ham.
Now, it isto be presumed that there is
not a Republican paper in Ohio whicii
wifi go back ON any opinion il may ha Sc
expressed of General Rosecrans at that
time. They acknowledged in him valor,
capacity, sincerity, and SUCH warmth OF
patriotism and devotion to the Republic
as should always animate its soldiers.
But will the Democratic papers do so
much ? Will they stand by and defend
theopinions they have expressed of him
Dare any one of them reproduce its
articles on Rosecrans, letter TO the peo-
pie of Ohio, addressed to them through
the General Assembly, and defend
them? Not one; for they knew with
what reproaches they covered him and
what fierce denunciations they hurled
at him, while he was doing a soldiers
duty and a patriots service in his efforts
to prevent a shameful surrender to the
armed rebellion.
The fact is that their Endorsement of
Rosecrans now is atacil acknowledgment
of their error lhen. They were in the
wrong, and the whole party had fallen
under the condemnation of the General,
forthe party was committed to the peace
at ny-price policy, which he eloquent
ly and indignantly denounced, CHASING,
all those who advocated it with traitors
TO their country, and its worst enemies
1t would be no more than is required by
the situation in which the party in Ohio
Is placed, where its organs TO frankly
say that they were in the. wrong, and
that coercive measures TO put down the
iSOciiious even ~ TtoOrL udu ~ De nau 10
extra-constitutional powers TO accom-
piish it, were justifiable. But this can
dor is not to be anticipated, since pcliti-
clans rarely confess their mistakes or
acknowledge their inconsistencies.
4 The force of the Republican authority
now quoted, is, however, greatly imodi-
fed by the fact that what is said of
Rosecrans as a soldier has but a slight |
bearIilg upon ROsecrans as a pOliticjau
That he was brave and capable officer,
has no particular relation TO his couduct |
as civilian, What the people OF Ohio |
are now interested to knew is, whether |
General Rosecrans finds in the resolu-
tions adopted by the Columbus Conyen-
ton an explanation of his views upon
current political questions Ii i,e puts
himself squarely on that platform, they
will not be at loss to determine how |
to vote, in October; and should he be de-
feated, their verdict will not be condem-
nation of what he did as soldier, but /
what he believed as a politician. a4nsi