The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-10-24
From Harper's WeeklyI
GTeeiey on the Sgump-Is Such 4 YaFi.-
latIng Nan Fit for the PFes.deacye

: From Harper's weekly
Greeley on the SEHmp-Is Such 4 Yarl.-
, latIHg Nan Fit for the Presidency?
, Mr.. Greeleyis speeches in Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, and Indiana viii not help
his cause He is an experienced
politician, aud he understands the art
. OF political platform hut no man can
, escape himself, and the public Opin-
/ ion Of Mr. Greeley's fitness for the
. Office he seeks can not be changed by
T these speeches, They show that up
: on the most vital political question of
the war he is either not in accord with
, the principles that prevailed in the
! struggle or that he does not know
what he does think. These are his
! words at Pittsburg, Abiding to the
beginning Of secession, he says:
81 denied that that the great MAORI
; ty Of the Southern people were against
. the Union. / demanded that there
should be an open, free discussion,
that Southern people might have an
honest, unterrified, uncOnstrained
. vote, and, If they approved, if the peO-
pie Of the South said they wanted dis
union, would consent to il. IkneW
they would not"
And he continues:
"And now, to-day, IL the nation
We're to be imperiled, and there was
just two modes of saving ito trust
the chances of civil war or the ehane-
es of free vote of the Southern peo-
ple-I would very greatly prefer 10
S1ke the latter chance rather than the
former"
The hrst statement Is exactly that
OF Davis and the secession leaders.
Their States, they said, solemnly vOt-
ed to seeede. Mr.. Greeley's opinion,
that II 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 Of the
seeding States was in favor of Sc
cessiOn.
''If the people of the South said they
wanted disuniOn, / would consent to
It," Is the man who says that the
man to be made President of the
United States in 1872? In his mes
sage as Mayor of the city of New
York, in 1851, Fernando Wood sug-
gested, upon similar grounds, that the
city might find it wise to secede from
the State. It is a doctrine which is
subversive of all political society,"
/ What is 'the South" except an Opin-
| ion There is no section of the cOun-
try properly known as such, and to
speak as Mr.. Greeley does, as il it
! expressed a certain district, is to talk
nonsense. The theory is as true of
''the North, T" and of ''the East" and
"the West" and Northwest" and
''the Centre,n as of "the South"
Then the remark becomes adeclaratiOn
that if the people of any part Of the
country said they wanted disuniOn, he
would consent to it. Very well; a
/ State is part of the country. If the
/ doctrine is true of six States, it is true
of one. And it is therefore q plain
statement that if a majority Of the
voters for they only, in a political
! sense, are the peOple-in any state vote
/ for secession, Mr.. Horace Greeley Is
in favor oft; for at Pittsburg he did
not say that he had changed his Opin-
ion. And saying this, he fiOuts the
soldiers Of the Union, and prattles
about clasping hands over a bloody
chasm.
He proceeds to say that if there were
/ but two modes of saving the Union,
/ he should prefer to save it by a war.
Who wouldn't? Who ever did prefer
it? Did anybody prefer it in 1860 or
81? He expresses the opinion that if
a vote had been taken at that time in
the seeding States, they would not
have seeded. But if he is mistaken,
| how then? If a majority vote to Sc
cede, then what? Would Mr. Gree
ley take the result as D proof that the
/ vote was not "free," or would he let
the State go? Now mark the eva
sion, mark what certainly seems like
/ duplieity. He first says that if "the
peOple'-that is, the majOrity-said
they wanted disuniOn, ne would con.
sent to it. But he then adds, If there
were but two modes of saving the
Union, vote or a war, should pre-
/ fer vote. Yet if the vote were for
| secession, it would not, of course, be
a mode of saving the Union, and
/ therefore he would resort TO war. That
/ is TO say, having declared that if q
State voted to seeede lte would con-
I sent, ne IufJneT declares that Seces.
sion would not save the Union, when
/ be had ascertained that the people
| wished to secede, ne would make war
to force them to remain. How hearth
/ ~ the clear-heAded and consistent Sc
cessiOnists must despise their blunder-
ing apOlOgist!
If Mr.. Greeley's views in his Pitts
| burg speech are correct, there is no
| Union. The whole nation is at the
mercy of any handful of malcOntents.
II the vote of 'the people of the
South may dissolve the Union, so
may the vote Of any State, and of any
county in any State. This speech
was, of course, most carefully cOnsid-
cred. 1t was intended To show his
position upon an important question,
and there IS 10 doubt OF the signifi-
cance OF the words Mr.. Greeley used.
But at Cincinnati he recalled every
thing he had said. o. course his as
sertlUn that he did not think the
States would have seeded had they
had fair election was Of no import
ance, because he had conceded that
the secession of a State might be de-
termined by a vote. But the mo-
ment his speech was printed every
body saw what we now saying; and
therefore, an evening or two after
ward, he called the inevitable inter-
probation Of his remarks a misinter-
probation or perversiOn. He said:
ffThose remarks which I made last
evening have been misrepresented. 1
have been, think, perverted into an
expression Of a present belief, apres-
ent conviction, that any State has a
right to dissolve this Union at its own
good pleasure. FellOw-citizens, ut
terly Tepudiate and condemn that
| sentiment. l do noe believe that one
rstAss, or that ten States, or that even
q majority Of all the States, have
moral, legal or Constitutional right to
| dissolve our Union"
What, then, does Mr.. Greeley mean
by saying that if there were to-day
two modes Of saving the Union, war
or voting, lie would appeal to ''yOte
of the Southern people? IfOne State,
or ten States, or ''the South" or "the
Southern people" have not right to
dissolve the Union, why should we
have a vote upon it? If Mr.. Gree
Iey's speeches have helped him, we
very much mistake both the patriot
ism and the perception of the people
whom he addressed.
/