Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1874-10-27
Spirit Of gttfersolr.
TUESDAY MORg1NG, OCTOBER 81, 1874.
The Magnanimity of the War Terms
for the South.

Radical journals of the ''magnanimity" with
which the South was treated by the North
after being conquered. The best way to
ascertain it is by comparison, and the best
comparison may be found in the following
article from the N Y. Herald:
We consider emancipation now because it
is question more directly concerned with
the troubles in the South, and because 1t is
more completely an illustration of our argu>
ment in favor of this proposed convention.
We imposed emancipation as a fine upon the
South-a fine that may be rudely estimated
in money value at from two to four thousand
millions of dollars or from two to four times
as much as that imposed upon France by Ger
many. This was only one of the fines thus
imposed. fragment of what the South was
compelled to pay. There was the loss of
thousands of lives, the destruction of trade for
four years, the suspension of the cotton crop,
involving loss of hundreds of millions, and
of rice and sugar aud tobacco, involving other
millions; the extinction of the Confederate
debt, of the local war debts, of the whole
volume of Confederate currency, of the obli>
gatious given by the Richmond government
for supplies, the paralysis and virtual destruc
ton of the Southern railway system, the
devastation of the Carolinas, Virginia, Geor-
gia, Tennessee and Mississippi-aIl these were
so many phases of the indemnity imposed by
us upon the South. When to them we add
the emancipation of the slaves and the annihi>
lation of the enormous wealth they represent.
ed, the result is that we not only conquered
the Confederacy, but entaiIed virtual ruin
upon its citizens. Our theory seemed to be
that SO long as we did not execute the rebels
in arms they could not complain As an act
of craftsmanship we now see that it would
have been better to have satisfied the spirit
of vengeance by hanging every leading man
in the Coufederacy. if We could also have
shown magnauimity and generosity to its
people
The world stood aghast at the indemnity
imposed upon France BY Germany. That
indemnity was one thousand millions of dol
lars But suppose that the Germans had
blockaded French ports and suspended all
trade for four years; had confscated or des>
troyed the wine crop for the same time and
not wine alone. but all other crops had vir-
tually uprooted the whole railway systotu !;
had ravaged the country from Lille to Mar
SELLS; and Bayonue; had compelled the re-
pudiaton of all of the loans raised by the
Tours government; and not simply this, but
all other loans, and the vast volume Of The
, Bank of France currency, what would the
world have said When. in addition to this,
was added an actual fine of from two to four
thousand millions of dollars we can readily
imagine the horror stricken protests of Russia
and England; nay, even of the Germans
themselves. Yet this is practically what we
have imposed upon the South. and we wonder
that, with such burden, there should not be
prompt and, prosperous reconstruction. We
emancipated the slaves an act of justice but
the justice is only in the punishment of the
rebels. We forget the fact that slavery was
as much our institution as the south's; that
we recognized, cherished and pro6ted by it !;
that its sin is ours, and if we take glory in
abolition we should take some in the respon>
sihility of the commission. Our centennial
orators will s:y with pride that free America
abolished slavery. But they will only speak
the truth when they also say that we abolish
ed it at the expense of the conquered COM
monweaths of the South that so long as it
was an advantage to us we cherished it; when
it became simply an advantage to the South
we destroyed it 1t was not then an act of
humanity and Justice, but measure of cruel
war.