The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-10-18
Mr.. Greeley on he Stump.
IFrnm Harper's Weekly.l

by these speeches. They show that
upon she most vital political question
of the war he is either not in accord
with the principles that prevailed Ill
the struggle, or that lie does not
know what he does think. These arc
his words at Pittsburg. Abiding to
the beginning of secession, he says:
II denied that the great majority
of the Southern people were against
the Union. l demanded that there
should be an open, free discussion,
that Southern people might have an
honest, uuterritied, uncOnstrained
vote, and, if they approved, ifthe peo.
pie of the South said they wanted
disumion, / would consent TO 1t. 1
knew they would not
And he continues:
And now, to-day, il the nation
were to be Imperfect, and there were
lust two modes of saving ito trust
the chances of civil or the chances
Ut a free vote of the Southern people
i would very greatly prefer to take
the latter chaice rather than h
former"
The first statement is exactly that
of Davis and other secession leaders.
Their States, they said, solemnly vo-
ted to sccede. Mr.. Greelcy's opin-
ion, that if there had been an open
and free election they would not have
done so. is a mere theory. 1t is very
clear that the dominant opinion in the
seeding States was in favor of Sc
eesaion.
III the people of the South said
they wanted disunion, / would on
sent toit." Is the man who says tina;
tho man to be made President of the
United States i'll 1872? In his mes
sage rs Mayor Of the city Of New
York. in 1861, Fernando Wood sug-
gested, upon similar grounds, that
the city might End il wise 10 sccede
from the State. 1t is a doctrine which
is subversive Of all political society.
| What is ''the South" except al opin-
ion? There is 40 section of the cOuu-
try properly known as such, and TO
| speak as Mr.. Greeley does, as if 1t
expressed a certain district. is to talk
nonsense. The theory II as true of
1.-THE North" and of ''thc East" and
"the West" and "the Northwest" and
''thc Center" as Of the South
| Then the remark becomes q decla-
ration that Is the people of IL part
| of the country said they wanted dis
union, he would consent to it. Very
well; u State is part of the country.
If the doctrine is true Of six States, it
is true Of one. And il is thcrefore'a
| plain statement that n majority of the
voters-for they only, in a political
sense, are the people--in any State
vote for secession, Mr.. Horace Gree
ley is in favor OF il ; for ut Pittsburg
| he did not say that he had changed
his opinion. AID saving this. he
Aouis the soldiers of the Union, and
prattlcs about clasping hands over q
bloody chasIn.
lie pvosseds to say ihnt if there
were but two Eodes Of saving the
Union, he should prefer TO save it by
a vote to saving it by u war. WEo
wouldn't? Who prefers u war 10 q
vote? Who ever did prefer it Did
any body prefer il in 1860 or 81? lie
expresses the opinion that if u vote
had been taken at that time in the Sc
seeded. But if he is mistaken, how
then? If a majority vote TO sccedc,
then what Would Mr.. Greeley take
the result as 4 proof that the vote
was not "free." or would he let the
States go? Now mark the evasion;
mark what certainly seems like du-
plicity. lie first says that if "thc poo
~ple"-thut is, the majority-said that
they wanted %disunion, he would COLI
sent to it. But he then adds, if there
were but two modes of saving the
Union, q vote or a war, ! should pre-
fer the vote. Yet if the vote was for
secession. it would not, of course. be
a mode of saving the Union, and
therefore Inc would resest to war.
That is to say, having declared that If
n State voted to secede he would eou-
sent, lie further declares that as sceeS-
sion would rot save the Union, whcis
he a~scertained that the people wished
TO secedc, he would make war TO force
them to remain. How heartily the
clear headed aud consistent secession.
lists must dcspise their laundering
apologist!
If Mr.. Grcclcy's views in his Pitts
burg speech are correct, there is no
Union. The whole nation is at the
mercy of ally handful Of malcontents.
If the vote Of "thc people of the
South" ina dissolve the Union. SO
may the vote of any State, and of any
county i'll any State. This speech
was, of course, most carefully cOnsid-
cred. II was intended to show his
position upon al essential question,
and there is no doubt of the signifi-
canoe Of the words MI. Greeley used.
But at Cincinnati he recalled every
thing he had said. or eourse his as
sertion that he did not think the
States would have seeded had they
had n fair election was OF no import
ancc, because he had conceded that
the secession ola State might be de-
termined by a vote. But the mo-
mcnt his speech was printed every
body saw what we + now saying ;
and therefore an evening or two at
terward, he called the inevitable in-
depreciation of his remarks a misrcp-
reseptation Or perversion. He says:
"Those remarks which | made last
evening have been misrepresented,
have been, | think, perverted into an
expression of a present belief, a pres
eut conviction. that any State has
Il right to dissolve this Union Mt its
own good pleasure. Fellow-citizens,
l utterly rcpudiatc and condemn that
sentiment ! do. not believe that one
State, Or that ten States, or that even
a majority of alb the States, have O
moral, legal, Dr. Constitutional right
to dissolve our Union"
What, then, does MIR. Greeley mean
by saying that if to-day there were
two modes Of saving the Union, war