Year: 1862

Thursday eyeninglast At the Cooper Institute


New York, Carl Schurz made speech of which


We publish the material portions, and which oul


readers will find worthy Of an attentive perusal:


Our Government may indeed suppress a rebel


Hon BY force, but In order to restore the work.


ing Of the original agencies upon which it rests,


Il is obliged to restore the individual TO his orig


inal scope Of self action. If It 10 attempted,


after having suppressed i rebellion, to maintain
it's authority permanently by the same means BY


which it re.established it; that is to say, BY q
constant and energetic pressure Of force, it


would not restore the old order Of things, but


completely subvert its original basis; for the


means by which il was obliged to suppress the


rebellion are in direct contradiction to the fun.
damental principles of our Government In Or


der to restore these principles to life, the Gov
ernment is obliged to trust its authority to the


loyal action OF the people. There is the EN-.


barrassment which rebellion in a democratic


republic will necessarily produce. What does it


mean, the restoration Of the Union? It means


the restoration Of individual liberty in all it's
parts, and of that ramidcation of political pow


er in which selfgovernment consists. If it


meant anything else, if it meant the permanent


holding in subsection Of conquered provinces, if
1t meant the rule of force, if it meant the sub.


version of those principles of individual liberty
which are the breath of our political life, would
| 1t then not be best to let the rebels 20? Would


It not be preferable to be content with the mod
est proportions to which the development of
| things has reduced rs, to foster the principles


and institutions which have made this people


great and happy for 80 long time with consci-
entous care, and to trust to the expansive pow


OF liberty to restore this Republic in some more
| or less remote future to it's former measure Of
| greatness. And yet looking at things as they
are, how can we expect to restore the Union but


by the rule Of force-that is to say, bya militia
| ry occupation of the Rebel States? But you
| will tell me that this will not last long. Well,
! and what will determine this period? The dis
appearance of the rebellious epirit the return
OF sincere loyalty. But when and how will the
rebellious spirit cease and loyalty return? True,
if this rebellion we're nothing but mere mo-
mentary whim of the popular mind, Il its cause


could be sbliterated by one of those sudden


changes in popular opinions, which, in matters


OF minor Importance, occur go frequently with
our iDpressible people, then short military oc-
cupatiOn might answer, and pass over without
any serious effect upon our future development.


But is it thisg Look the fact square in the face.


This rebellion is not a mere momentary whim,


and although but few men seem to have prepar-


ed it's outbreak, it is not the mere upshot of q


limited conspiracy. 1t is thing of long pre-.
paration; nay, more than that; it is thing of


logical development. This rebellion did not
commence on the day that the secession flag


was hoisted at Charleston; it commenced on the
day when the Slave Power for the first time
| threatened to break up this Union. [Applause.
Slavery had produced an organization Of socie-
ty strongly in contradistinction with the princ.
pies underlying our system of Government-the
absolute rule of superior class, based upon the
absolute subjection OF the laboring population


This institution, continually struggling against
L the vital idoaa Of rSn,r
patible with free expression of public opinion,
| found itself placed in the alternative Of abso-
! lutely ruling or perishing. Hence our long
struggles, so often allayed by temporary expe-
dients, but always renewed with increased acri-
| mony. And as soon as the slave interest per-


ceived that it could no longer rule inside of the
Union, it attempted to cut loose and to exercise
its undsputed sway outside of it.


This was logical; and as long as the relation


of interests and necessities remains the same,
| its logical consequences will remain the same


also. This is not a matter of doctrine or party


creed, but of history. Nobody can shut his


eyes against SO plain and palpable fact
How is it possible to mistake the origin of this


struggle? ask you in all sincerity, would the


Rebellion have broken out, if Slavery had not


existed? ["No, no, no."] Did the rebellion


raise its head at any place where Slavery did


not exist? Did it not find sympathy and sup


port wherever Slavery did exist? [''Yes, yes,


yes Is anybody in arms against the Union


who desires to perpetuate Slavery? What else


is this rebellion but new but logical form of
| the old struggle of the slave interests against


the fundamental principles of our political sys-
| tenn? Do you not indulge in the delusion that
you can put an end to this struggle by mere


victory in the field. By it you may quench the
physical power of the slave interest, put you
cannot stife its aspirations. The slave inter-
| erst was disloyal as long as it threatened the
dissolution of the Union; it will be disloyal as
long it will desire it. Cheers. And when will it
| cause to desire it? 1t may for time sullenly


submit to the power Of the Union, but it will not


enter into the harmonious cooperation with
| you, as long as it has aspirations of its own


But to give up its aspirations would be to give
| up its existence; it will therefore not cease to
aspire until it ceases to live. GApplause. l.
Your President has said it once and there is


far-seeing wisdom in the expressions: This
country will have no rest until Slavery is put


upon the course of ultimate extinction IGreat
| and continued applause. But if the slave in
terest, as such cannot return with cordial sin
| cerity to its allegiance, where will the sup
preston Of this rebellion lead us? Mark my
words: Not only in the South in state of re.
bellion, but the whole Union is in state of
| revolution. This revolution will produce one
of three things: either complete submission of
| the whole people to the despotic demands of the
| Slave interest, or radical change in our Fed


eral institutions, that is to say, the establish


ment of strong, consolidated, central Govern
| ment or such a reform of Southern society as
will make loyalty to the Union its natural tenn.
per and disposition. [Cheers."1 The old
| Union, as we have known it, is already gone;
you can restore it geographically but
| politically and morally, never Applause. l.
And if Jefferson Davis would come Tomorrow


and give up his sword to President Lincoln, and
| all the Rebel armies were captured in one day,


and forced to do penance in sackcloth and


ashes at the foot of Capitol Hill, the old Union
| would not be restored. [Cheers. That circle
| of ideas in which the political transactions of
the old Union moved is forever broken fsensa-
tion1; it cannot be restored. The mutual con-


fdence on which the political transactions of
the old Union rested has been discovered to be


illusory; it is irretrieyably gone. [Applause.


repeat, either you will submit to the South,


or you will rule the South by the force of
| strong, central Government, or Southern soci.


ETY. must be SO reformed that the Union can


safely trust itself to its loyalty. Submit to the


rebellious South /! Submit after victory =
! T"No, no, no."] You will tell me that this is
impossible. Is it indeedf There are those in


the South who have fought and will fight the
\ OulOu 10 loHk oStAo Tcuclliou HAS u cu8uCe OF


success, who will apparently come over to our


side as soon as our victory is decided, and


who will then claim the right to control our


policy. .sThat's it. And there are those in


the North, who either actusted by party spirit


or misled by shortsightedness, stand ready to


cooperate with the former. [Sensation.1 The


attempt will be made-whether it will succeed


who knows? But if it does succeed, it will


lead to new struggles John Brown"1 more


acrimonious, dangerous and destructive in their


nature, but also more radical and permanent in


their result. [Cheers, "That's it'll


The second possibility indicated is the es-
| tablshment Of q strong, consolidated, central


Government Look at the course you have tn.


ken since the outbreak OF the rebellion. It was


natural that when the necessity of vigorous &C.
tion pressed upon us, the Government was cloth
ed with extraordinary powers As its duties
and responsibilities increased its hands had to


be strengthened. But il might indeed have been


expected that the people as well as the Govern.


ment would treat with scrupulous respect those
| r.. II oc