The Portland daily press., 1876-02-22
The Trun Issue.


looks above and beyond party success that
the centennial year shall bring with itself the
establishment of harmony between the two
sections of the country; and with great rea-
son it is anticipated that the quickening of
the glorious memories of common hardships
and triumphs incurred and won in the
achievement of common independence,
which the anniversaries call forth, will meas
1rably tend to this result. 1t is neither an
ticipated nor wished by those who give the
subject thought that there should be res
toration of the miscalled ''friendly feeling"
which existed before the war; Those of us
with any memory know that for years before
Sumter there was bad blood between North
and South; that the two sections entertained
grave and honest differences of opinion not
only in regard to human bondage but also in
respect to the nature and scope of the ma
tional authority; and that. if we search for
an epoch of good will we must 60 back to
the days before these differences had arisen.
Contemplating the situation from the stand
point of reason we are forced TO the conclu-
sion that friendly feeling cannot be restored,
however much we may wish it, until the
causes of dissension are finally removed by
the entire and frank submission of one of
| the parties to the controversy.
We of the North have held that the resort
to arms was in the nature of judicial COM
bat, that its results should be looked upon as
finalty, and that no call should be made
for reversal of the verdict. At first the
attempt was made to settle the question at
| issue by legislation. That failed, and, as in
the history of the world it always has been
and perhaps always will be, we had recourse
to the arbtrament of the sword If that
| arbitrament be regarded as final then the
vexed questions are taken forever out of the
arena OF political discussion. But if the con-
test IS to be renewed at the ballot box and in
the Legislature it is greatly to be feared that
the old alienation cannot pass away. 1t GER
tainly cannot until the vexed differences get
themselves settled somehow, by the decisive
triumph of one party or the other. We do
not ask the South to say that they were
wrong, to condemn as false the principles for
which they fought; but we do ask that they
should abide by the decision of the tribunal
to which they themselves appealed. They
called upon the God of Battles; now let
them loyalty accept His decree. If they re-
fuse and carry the question into the purely
political arena, we must, as a measure of
self-rrotection, see to it that they do not get
control of the national government, and so
triumph.
We hold that in this year 1876 we cannot,
as the sentimentalists ask, ''rub off the slate
and start anew;" for there are problems on
that slate which have not yet been worked
out. The war settled something else than
the mere erpediency of secession. Other
points OF constitutional Interpretation were
under process of settlement in the years from
1860 to 1866. The social and political con-
dition of the South underwent a complete
revolution. At the end of the war an en-
tirey new state of affairs obtained there.
The enfranchisement of the black introduced
novel condition ct things, and Southern So
ciety is not yet firmly settled, beyond chance
OF overthrow, upon its new basis. When
the South heartily accepts the new condi-
ton, or when we have secured beyond all
doubt the fruits of victory, we can rest at our
ease,-and not till then. We agree with the
sentimentalists that good feeling is only to be
restored by Punishment of the causes of
difference from the field of discussion; but
we maintain that they should be banished
only when finally settled, that nothing is 10
be gained by thrusting them out of sight
until our msrry-making is over, and then
have them return to plague us again. The
only way to lasting reconciliation between
North and South. is to have these questions
swept out of politics forever, so that here
after they shall concern us no more than the
stamp act does.
There are but two ways to do this. The
one is AN entire abandonment of the uues-
tions at issue by the South; the other by the
North. The last solution of the difficulty is
in effect the one put forth by the Democratic
party and the success of that party means
the adoption of this plan. Because of su-
perstitious observance of days the North
are asked to throw away all that they have
gained by much toll and sacrifice and vast
expenditure of blood and treasure. They are
not required, il is true, to acknowledge the
independence of the South. They are only
asked to put the question under the control
of the South, condition far better than
independence for that section. Let it be ad-
mitted that Southerners are honest in their
acceptance of the Union, but let it be remem-
bered that the Union they accept is the one
which they shall govern, and that they have
come back with the avowed determination to
wrest the government from the hands of the
Radicals" THAT is, from the hands of the
men who saved it) and to administer it in the
old spirit and according to the old methods.
The other solution is the entire submission
OF the South. AT present they are disincined
to submit, and the only safe course for us is to
hold fast to power until change comes over
them or until we have secured, beyond all
chance ofjeopardy, the results of our victory.
That power shall be exercised in no harsh
spirit. Let the Sonth send their representa-
tive men to Washington, Confederate colonels
and Confederate cabinet officers if they wish,
to plead their wants, to represent their neces-
slties, to announce and defend their policy; but
take good care that these men do not capture
the administration until the points gained at
Appomattox are secure beyond any possibil-
ity of reversal. This is the question at issue,