Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1916-12-22
A. CIVIL WAR PARALLEL.
New York Times.O


ii is 4 Hampton Roads conference
that Germany has proposed. The pro-
poSal then, as now, was that the hos
tile parties should get together around
Il table and talk Of terms. Like the
Allies today, President Lincoln was
;Ivc:Sc to the idea, and hut for Gen
rral Grants persuasion he would have
called off tn conference at the last
moment. In his message to Congress
ne mad said that no good could come
OF Il conference with President Davis:
He does not attempt to deceive
us. Between him and us
the issue is distinct, simple
and inilexib'e. 1t is an issue
which can only be tried by war
and decided by victory. go
What is true, however, of him
who heads the insurgcnt cause
is not necessarily true of those
who follow Although he cannot
reaccept the Union, they can.
Some of them, we know, already
desire peace and reunion.
Lincoln's idea was exactly that of
the Allies today; that the war should
be continued until the people Of the
other side awokc to the impossibility
OF victory, and put themselves in q
position to be treated with, regardless
of the applicability of any Davis or
llohcnZollern. He finally yielded to
Grant persuasion and met the Con-
fedcratc ePacc Commissioners There
at Hampton Roads he refused to ac-
ccpt any pronosal except unconditional
surrender. He promised "clemency,"
but refused to define it, except to say
that he Individually favored compen-
sation Tor slave owners, and that he
would execute the contiscatiOn and
other penal acts with the utmost lib
crafty. lie made it plain throughout
chat he was fighting with an idea and
promise until that idea was trium-
plant. We are aware, of course, of
the long exploded myth telling how
he offered Stephens sheet of paper
with "Union" written on it, and told
the Confederate statesman to fill up
the rest of the paper to suit himself.
Tile offered us nothing but uncondi-
tional submission" said Stephens
on his return, and called the confer
ence, therefore, "fruitless and made
qiiate." If the Allies should follow
Lincoin's example and give up, as he
did, for appearance sake their aver
sion to conference, they probably
may be expected to follow the exam
pie further and refuse to make any
compromise with their ideal-the
Guaranteed peace of Europe and the
protection of small nations. If the
llohenzollern representatives refuse
TO hear of such terms, the Allies vii:
say in acts if not in words. WIN;
| incoln said, "What is true, however
Of him who "heads the cause is not
necessarily "true of those who fol-
low"
The Confederate President, in sen
ding his peace Commissioners, actec
not of his own desire but in respon,,
to internal pressure. Peace sonti
mcnt was growing II the South, and
Georgia was on he point of rebellion
Like the German Government TODAY
he made his peace offer to meet that
sentiment. But the conference, mce.
ing not to discuss an asccrtainef
LASTS of peace terms. but to form
ulatc peace terms for an exchange
of opinion on he spot was rruitless.
Thvc could be no compromise; it was
then IAN tissue which could only be
tried by "war and decided by vic
tory" But as the Confederate Com
misSloncrs arose afr rejecting these
hard terms, which nevertheless were
the only right terms, terms which
The peace and prosperity of half
century have justified, Lincoln said
To their leader:
stephens, you are making a great
mistake. Your government is fail
urc, and when the crash comes as il
soon must come, there will be chaos.
and disaster which we cannot now
foresee must come to your people"
These prophetic words might be
addressed today, without the change
of word, by the representatives of
the Allies to the representatives of
William H., if the Hampton Roads