nd South which, in my
judgment, can be successfully adopted.

Let me state the political situation. The radical principles of the
North are immovably fixed upon negro suffrage as a condition of
Southern State reconstruction. The proposed Constitutional Amendment
is not regarded as a finality. It satisfies nobody, not even its
authors. In the minds of the Northern people the negroes are now
associated with the idea of loyalty to the Union. They are considered
citizens. They are respected as "our allies." It is believed in the
North that a majority of the white people of the South are at heart
the enemies of the Union. The advocates of negro suffrage daily grow
stronger and more numerous.

On the other hand, a majority of the Southern white population are
inflexibly opposed to negro suffrage in any form, universal or
qualified, and are prepared to resist its introduction by every means
in their power. In alliance with the President and the Northern
Democracy, they protest against any and all terms of reconstruction,
demand unconditional readmission, and await in gloomy silence the
Republican initiative.

This absolute and growing antagonism can only end, if continued, in
one of two results, either in a renewal of civil war, or in a
concession by the South of political equality to the negro. But in
case of war, the South can not possibly succeed. The North is to-day
far stronger in men and money, in farms and factories, than she was in
1860. She is now trained to war, conscious of overwhelming strength,
flushed with victory, and respected, as never before, by the nations
of Europe. Moreover, she is much more united in political sentiment.
Do not again deceive yourselves. If you should resort to arms, the
North would be practically unanimous. The President would instantly be
impeached and a radical successor appointed. The South has lost social
unity with the loss of slavery. She can not fight better than before.
And the braver her action, the more terrible would be her fate.

Gentlemen, these are facts--not theories. Wise men try to see things
as they are, uncolored by opinion or preference. The interest of both
North and South, since they must live together, is peace, harmony, and
real fraternity. No adjustment can fully succeed unless it is
acceptable to both sections. Therefore the statesman and patriot must
find a common ground as a basis of permanent reconciliation.

Now the radicalism of the North is actual, or