The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-08-08

paragraph from the New 10TH III
Dune, which was as much as to say
that they had nothing to apprehend
from the North if they decided to 90
out of the Union because here was
one of the leaders of the Republican
Party of the North announcing to
them that if they desired to go out
they could do so, and had az much
right to do so rs our fOrefathers had
to separate themselves from the
mother country.
Mr.. HOward-May I ask the Sena-
tor from Missouri whether, in his
opinion, the paragraph in the New
York Tribune to which he refers was
Justification, in whole or part, for
the treason of Mr.. Stephens?
Mr.. Blair-I will reply that do not
consider that anything justifies trea-
son, and I do not think the conduct
of the SecessiOnists of the South, jus
titled that traitOrOus expression Of
opinion on the part of the Tribune,
/ for / regard it as traitOrOus. say, Sir,
/ that it did as much to discourage the
efforts of the Union men in the South
as anything that occurred at that Pc
riOd. 1t was simply a declaration
! nlllCu LllD-E L olyBOoEF anu
were glad to accept, who wished to rid
themselves of the Union, that they
might 20 out in peace, that they
would not follow their step; and this
did a great deal to prevent resistance
on the part of the Union men at the
South at the time of the establish
ment of the dc fdctO Government TO
which they were subjected.-[C Con-
gressiOndL Globe, Part 2, Sd Session
4Ist Congress; PIP. l, ,344, 1345.
These statements, made by General
Blair, created some sensation. The
Tribune tried to break their force, and
on the 30th of February, 1871, GeneT-
al Blair returned to the charge pre-
pared with proof Here is what he
said
"When speaking on this subject the
other day, 1 gave from memory GER
tain deductions of the New York
Tribune, then as now the most infiu-
ential organ of pnbiie opinion in the
Republican party in this country, and
spoke of the unhappy influence of this
paper at that time, in giving encOur-
agement to the SecessiOnists and in
discouraging the efforts of the Union
men in the South.
Inow quote the extracts from thai
paper to which l referred, and the
: Senate and the country can judge
whether my statement or that of the
Senator is the correct one. On the 9th
of November, 1850, the New YOrB
Tribune said:
| 1Here he read some of the articles
already quoted, and resumed:
Mr.. Stephens, of Georgia, and ma
nv others who have since been dis.
franchised. breasted the storm with
heroic courage. Regardless of pOpu.
larity, and thinking only of the peace
/. and happiness of the country, they
struggled against secession and warn
ed the people of the disaster they
, would encounter. On the other hand
Mr.. Greeley assured them that these
dangers were all imaginary, and in
sisted that ''they should go in peace, u
that they had clear "mOral right tc
Words were never uttered more ia.
tai than these to the peace of the
country. Mr.. Stephens was defeated
in his effort to prevent secession In
Georgia by a few votes only, anC
nothing is more certain than that
these were obtained by Mr.. Greeley:
declaration that secession was right.
full and peaceable. / have been in.
formed that these declarations were
read in the Georgia Convention as 9
. full reply to the warnings OF Mr.
Stephens. The refusal of GeOrgis
! would undoubtedly have arrested the
movement. Who, then, is more di'
rectIy responsible than Mr.. Gree
. lev, and those VINO acted vim at the
North, for the blood which has
drenched this land; and who is more
directly responsible than Mr.. Greeley
for the vindictive spirit which ami
mates the dominant party in the pro
scriptOn which has pursued AMI II
still pursuing the whole people OF the
T South?
Nor was Mr.. Greeley's reiterated
, advice the result of an honest error
No man understood better than h'
did the use that would be made of hi!
declarations, and how effective they
, would be in promoting disunion.
1t will thus be seen that, at thu
critical moment he gave his voice, ,anC
lent his influence in favor of division
He upheld the free right of seces
sion and denied the right Of coercion
HIS INCONSISTENCY.
Listen next to his "On to Rich
mOnd" demand under dates of july
l, . and 3, 1861.
: "The Nations War-Cry! FORWARD
to Richmond Forward to Richmond
The Rebel Congress must not be al
lowed to meet there on the Goth o
July By that date the place must b
held by the national army"
After our Bull Run defeat he at
tempts to lay the blame of defeat up
on the administration, and called OF
them resign, July 19, 1861.
ave have fought and been beaten
God forgive our rulers that this ii
true, and cannot be disguised. ThC
Cabinet, recently expressing in rhet
Oric better adapted to q love letter, s
fear of being drowned in its own hon
ey, is now nearly drowned in gore
! while our honor on the high seas ha'
only been saved by one daring anC
desperate negro, belonging to the
merchant marine. The ''sacred sOil'
of Virginia is crimson and wet will
the blood OfsthOusands of Northern
men, needlessly shed. The great anC
universal question pervading th'
public mind is: "Shall this condition
of things continue?"
'frhe decimated and indignant peO
pie will demand the immediate retire
ment of the present Cabinet from the
high places of power, which, for one
reason or another, they have shown
themselves incompetent to fill. Give
us for the President, capable advisers
who comprehend the requirements o
the crisis, and are equal to them ant
for the army, leaders worthy the ranE
and file, and our banner now drOOp
} ing, will soon float once more in tri
umph over the whole land. With the
right men to lead, our people viii
show themselves unconquerahle."
Next he c6nfesses his own errors
July 9th, 1861.
1--WE have confessed our own terrible
mistake in the premises, aud are try
ing to amend it, Gen. Scott has beer
equally ingenious and candid. "I
was a amiscalculatiOn of forces, he sayi
of the recent disaster. That is the rea
truth. None of US had any idea o
the immense numbers and tremend
Gus enginery of the war that the
rebels had silently collected around
their position at Manassas Junction
Whoever ordered or planned the az
tack on that position was utterly un
aware of their strength"
See again, how, eighteen months
later, he sought in another way Il
lay the ghost of Bull Run:
,: About eighteen months afterwards
Feb. ID, 1863, hear him defending his
''0n to Richmond" war-cry.:
Ibid not urge that the great Union
army, rotting in idleness and de,
bauchery about Washington, should
advance upon the rebellion it wa:
called out TO put down. 1t ought tC
have done so a month earlier than Il
did-not part of it, but the whole
and it might have been triumphantly
in Richmond, and the rebellion hal
suppressed before the day of Bul
Run. How needless, how wantOn
was that disaster-how disgraeeful tC
those who might and should have
prevented it, history will establish. y
Tribune 2, 1869.
In consequence Of his Inconsistency
and continuous meddling, the mar
tyred Lincoln was led to exclaim
"What will quiet Horace Greeley; he
gives me more distress and causes
more harm than jeff Davis.n
H.G.ASA "A PEACE MAKER-
!. Next we find him undertaking Il