Urbana Union

"Conference of War Democrats at Chicago.
A Meeting of "War Democrats," so
called, has been held at Chicago on the
25th of November, 1863. At their first
meeting, which was private, all reporters
were excluded. There was a committee,
which had a long session, and finally reported,
through Mr. Wm. J. Flagg, of
Ohio, what is called a Declaration of
Principles. This report was adopted by
the Conference, and our readers will find
it in this number of the Urbana Union.
It consists of seventeen propositions,
more than half of which are so common
and trite, that they might be presented
to any political meeting, without the
chance of a dissent. Of the remainder,
at least two are weak attempts at concession
to extreme opinions. And on what
should have been the main points of action,
to-wit: an inflexible adherence to
Law, and the maintenance of the Union
and the States, there is ambiguity and
irresolution combined. For any thing
they have proposed to do as Democrats,
during the war, they might as well forbear
their separate organization and take
their chances among the party that indulges
in the name of Union. And for
anything they propose to do in the future,
they had better forborne, as their most
striking features are, a protest against
making the negro soldiers a part of our
peace establishment; a readiness to see
slavery destroyed by the war, and then a
sort of pledge to colonize the freed blacks,
and to go to war again for the sake of
Mexico. By the time all that is done,
Mr. Chase will not feel so much complimented
by the name of "old Greenbacks"
as he seemed to be in the reception at
Columbus, when he came home "to vote,"
and the ardent admirers of fiscality and
finance remained up till two "in the morning
early" to call out "Greenbacks."