Raleigh (NC) Weekly Register, "When Will It Terminate?," September 3, 1862

     From the St. Mary's (Md) Beacon.

       WHEN WILL IT TERMINATE.

   This question, which to a reflecting mind would seem to be one of vital importance to the American people, is now seldom asked and never answered. It seems sufficient to be known that a war exists, and that it is being fiercely and vigorously prosecuted. The questions of time and cost, which were regarded as serious ones in the commencement of hostilities, are no longer subjects of alarm to either Mr. Lincoln or his supporters. The old periods of sixty and ninety days have passed away without the accomplishment of the promised results of Mr. Seward, and with them, it would seem, what little of reason and justice that might have once been possessed by the Northern people. Defeats which should have sobered, seem only to have maddened them, and the advancement of despotism seems their only object and aim. A war for the Union, upon the basis of the Constitution, is no longer the contest they are waging. Oppressed Unionists at the South they are no longer seeking to relieve. The maintenance of the laws, least of all do they battle for. On the contrary, they are striking at the very foundation of these officially promulgated and self imposed propositions. The emancipation of the negro is now the battle cry, and devastation and ruin mark the footprints of the invader. Fanaticism is the watchword, and health and robbery are its allies and its followers. Plunder and outrage are the order of the day, and a Federal General has even proclaimed a public license to his vandal cohorts. They are to subsist, as far as practicable, upon the people they have invaded, and are to detain all the negroes that may come into their camps. They are to seize horses and other property to an extent limited by their own judgements, and are forbidden to protect private property in future. No such order protected our march into Mexico, nor can its enforcement be justified among civilized people.

   In the border slave States still loyal to the Government, affairs may be said to be in no better condition. The appearance of a Federal uniform is generally the precursor to a negro stampede or a plundered hen roost. The war upon public opinion has broken out afresh and with renewed fierceness and vigor. A mere expression of opinion is a passport to the bastile, and the habeas corpus sleeps as soundly as ever. Neutrality of position is no longer to be tolerated, and the oath of allegiance or banishment are the alternatives to be presented. Mr. Redpath, we are told, is even now transporting negroes from Aquia Creek to Hayti, without even the institution of inquiry as to what locality they belong. Some of these negroes are no doubt from Maryland, and the property, mayhap, of "loyal" people; yet the Government says naught in condemnation or reproof. The confiscation of the property of Maryland "traitors" is a subject of ordinary discussion at the North, and we have no doubt, is seriously contemplated by the Washington Government. To what end this measure will lead, and what will be the result of this modern modus for restoring the Union, the future alone can develop. We respectfully submit, however, that the South will not be likely to yield with this fate hanging over her. If wrong in the beginning, despotism and misrule have placed her in a different position, and Northern malignity and fanaticism must at least share the responsibility for the evils that this war has wrought. 

   But, we proposed to inquire in the offset, when this war would terminate? We have, heretofore, predicted its end more than once, but we no acknowledge that we have not been a prophet.––We have relied much upon foreign intervention, but we have now but little faith in the promises of kings. It is now patent to us, that, without a reaction in the sentiment and temper of the North, we shall be at war for some time to come. A hatred more virulent then that of the Montagnes and Capulets has been engendered between the two sections, and it seems each day to increase in unnaturalness and ferocity. The South cannot now yield with safety, if the North can with honor. Under this condition of affairs, we cannot look forward to a speedy change in Northern temper, or hope for a speedy peace.