Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1872-04-11

into submission to the supreme author
| ity. This issue was decided in favor {
the Union and the Constitution by til
election, i'm 1860, of the man Of the pee
pie, Abraham Lincoln. Fa-
The Democratic party refused to abid
this decision, maSe under and in accol
dance with the laws, and forthwith pre-
: ceeded to organize armed rebellio
against the nation. ..
The rebellion, thus organized, wa
emphatically q Democratic rebellion
so it is recorded and will forever STAN
recorded in history. 1t does not weaker
the force of the statement that man,
Democrats deplored the rebellion, con
demned and opposed it and the part,
that organized it; nor does it weaker
the force of the statement that man
able and eminent men who now adher
to the Democratic party deplored ant
opposed the rebellion. The fact stands
never TO be successfully contradicte(
that the Democratic party, as such, re
belled, and for four years of conflict, by
direction and indirection, sustained tn,
rebellion. Pardon me for stating will
so much minuteness the position occu.
pied by the two parties of the country
in 1850. 1t seems to me due to the oc.
casion, and to the truth of history, and
to the patriotic people, that the recorded
acts of these opposing parties be fairly
presented, to the end, that their respec.
tive claims upon the confidence and sup.
port of the country may be justly de-
/ termined.
In the approaching election for Pres
ident and for Congress, the people are
to determine to which of these parties
shall be committed the great trust OF
enacting and enforcing the laws, and
maintaining by law, and if need by, by
arms, the rights of the citizen, of the
States, and of the nation. If the Dem
Ocratic party has repudiated the alleged
right of State secession; If it has repu-
dated the dogma that a seeding State
cannot rightfully be cOerced; if it has
repudiated the Democratic declaration
that it is unconstitutional to defend the
Constitution by arms, or to enforce it
by laws, against the people of seeding
States. know not when or where in
what authoritative form this has been
done. Let me not be misunderstood. /
am not unmindful of the fact that thous-
ands, and tens of thousands of Demo-
crats supported at the polls, in the field,
and the council, the war for the Union.
Nor is it my wish to excite or revive
resentment against any portion of my
fellow citizens, who aided or abetted the
unnatural revolt against my country.
Especially is it no part of my purpose
to condemn the body of my fellow citi-
zens in the Southern States, the imme-
diate theatre of the great conflict.
Hundreds of thousands of its young
men rushed TO the lifted standard of re-
volt and bore themselves bravely on
every field of conflict, in the conviction
that their first allegiance was due to the
State, not to the nation. Nor am I'M
mindful that hundreds of thousands Of
the Southern people, who finally sup
ported the rebellion, were and are pat
riotic citizens, who yielded only to the
force of power, who resisted the trea-
on so long as resistance was possible,
who clung to the Republic, and cher
ished the hope Of its supremacy rs good
men cherish the hope OF better life i'm
the land of uprightness, and spoke for
the Union, against the madness of
treason, until their voices were hushed
in the roar of battle, and the arm of
their country shortened, that it could
not save.
have said all that is needful to be
said of the position of the two parties
of the country in 1860. 1t is my pur-
pose to demonstrate that in the years
following and now, these parties divide.
substantially, upon the same principles
and the same policy.
If this be so, it is important that the
people of the United States should so
understand, and act accordingly. If it
is their purpose, rs l believe it is, to
garner up and secure the results Of their
heroic struggle for the national life, it
is essential that they, in the words of
Washington, "put none but American"
Americans natural born, or Ameri-
cans naturalized-''upon guard"
This great and triumphant people can
not afford to commit their power to the
men who affiliate with a party which
doubts the right and duty of Americans,
native or adopted citizens, to defend
American institutions, and maintain
them intact and inyiolate.
speak as an American, altogether an
American, to American citizens, "natur-
al born" and "naturalized." make
no distinction among citizens of the
United States on account Of nativity,
race or color.
Here, and now, speak of parties, not
of men. l wonld not indict whole
people, nor all the adherents of any
party. Principles and policy, not men,
constitute the question before the peo-
pie of the United States.
Passing from the contest of 1860, tC
that of 1864, let us consider, very briefly
the declared position of the two parties
The National Democratic Convention
of 1864, the final year of our struggle
for national existence, when our heav.
ems were filed with darkness and the
habitations of our people with dead, re.
solved that the war for the Union was :
failure "that it has to restore the Union
that it has been prosecuted under the
pretense of military necessity, wal
power, higher than the Constitution
that in its prosecution, "the Constitu
ton had been disregarded in every
part" and that ''humanity, justice ant
liberty and the public welfare deman
ded ''that immediate efforts be made fo
!, a cessation of hostilities.
! Did this mean anything else than
condemnation of the war for the Union
the denial of the right of the Nation t.
defend its life, and demand, as cow
ardly as it was insolent, that the peopl