Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-02-04
The Sentiment OF the North.

The people of the North are earnestly
desirous OF sincere and complete national
reconciliation. They have insisted upon
equal and exact Justice, but not humilia-
tiOns. They have demanded adequate
and permanent security, but not degreda-
tiOns. The first great duty after the war
was 10 establish the foundations of the
restored Union upon sure and lasting
basis, and to guarantee full protection to
the wards of the nation. Every step they
have taken in dealing with the South has
had this object in view. All have aimed at
security-not single one at punishment
With this spirit Republican Govern
ment and q Republican Congress have
arraigned no man for treason. They have
pursued the greatest crime in the history
of free governments with no bloody retri-
buttons. They have treated no subju-
gated territory as conquered province.
I hey have dealt with no rebel as an enemy.
To the great body of the Southern people,
they promptly restored full citizenship.
To every leader who asked for amnesty,
they freely gave 1t. When 1t came TO the
stupendous problem of dealing with the
two clases of slaves and masters, they
lifted the one up and did not drag the
other down. They opened the ballOt-box
and the very doors of the Capitol itself to
the men who had been in arms against the
Union. Through their magnanimity
more than eighty of the rebel leaders now
sit as lawmakers for the nation they at
tempted to destroy. All they sought was
security for the future, and having pro-
vid1d for that, SO far as the law can pro-
vide for it, they wanted TO let the differ
ences of the war pass away and enter in
good faith upon new era of fraternity
and harmony.
But in this desire and readiness for
reconciliation, they expected to be met at
least half way by the element to whom
they had shown such generosity. They
did not expect that the men who we're in
debted to the leniency Of the nation for
the very seats they occupied, would avail
themselves of that clemency to glority Sc
cession and to denOunce the representa-
tives of the Union, They did not sup.
pose that their moderation would be fol-
lowed by such a reassertion of the rebel
lion. The people of the North are will
ing ID let by-gones be by-gones. They
would gladly celebrate this centennial
year with national outpouring Of irater-
nifty and fellowship. But they do not pro-
pose to falsify history or let il be falsitied I;
they do not mean to acknowledge that
they were wrong and the rebels right;
| they DO not 1eel disposed 10 remain silent
while Jefferson Davis is exalted on the
floor of Congress above Abraham Lincoln,
and while the conduct Of the war on our
side is pronounced more atrocious than
on the other; in word, they do not ac-
cept reconciliation as signifying generosi-
| ty on the one part, and the declaration Of
the old spirit on the other.
None will 60 farther than the men 81
the North in clasping hands across the
bloody chasm. But forbearance and recon-
ciliation must not be all on one side.
| There must be an honest acceptance of the
situation. There must be just recog-
milton of the authority of the ma
ton. There must not be one tone for
/ Northern ears and another for Southern
mot a pledge of devotion to the Union
on the floor of Congress and a threat OF
hostility on the soil of Georgia. When
the North gave ITS hand to theSouth, under
the shadow of Bunker Hill, il was earnest
and honest. But If il is to cherish that
| feeling il must understand that the hand
it receives is equally warm, ard that back
OF II there is not the spirit Of Davis and
Andersonville. e.-ALbGny IN. ~ Journal.