Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1862-05-08

tion. and death? Did you levy heavy
taxes upon us and our property to pay the
expenses OF a war into which we were un-
willingly forced, and allow the men who
are the guilty and reckless authors of it
to GO comparatively free? Did you leave
the slaves of these rebels to plant and sow
and reap, to till their farms, and thus sup
port their masters and the armies of trea
son. while they, thus strengthened, met
us in the field? Did you require the pat
riots Of the loyal States to give up busi-
ness. property, home, health, life, and all
for their country, and yet hesitate about
using the law making power of the Repub-
lie to subject traitors to the penalties as
to property and possessions which their
crimes deserve? would feel as il or
/ thy Of the severest condemnation for life,
if did not mete out to those who are the
cause of all this woe and anguish and
death. by the side of which all the vas,
expenses Of the war dwindled into insig-
niieance, the sternest penalties of the law.
while they still remain in arms in their
paricidal endeavor to blot this country
from the map of the world
Why do we hesitate? These men have
drawn he sword and thrown away the
scabbard They do not hesitate in pun
ishing Union men within their power
They confscate their property. and have
for year past. without any of the com
Functions that trouble us here They i'm
/ imprisoned John Bolts for silently retain
ing lingering love for the Union in his
desolase home. They hang Union men in
East Tennessee for bridge burning, refus-
ing them even the sympathy Of chap
lain to console their dying hours. They
persecute Brownlow because, faithful a.
mong the fa;thless, he refused, almost
alone. in his outspoken heroism, to bow
the knee to the Baal Of their worship. Let
us follow his counsel by stripping the
leaders Of this conspiracy of their posses
sions and outlawing them hereafter from
the high places Of honor and of trust they
have heretofore enjoyed.
In no other way can we more effectually
be felt throughout all the region where
treason rears its blackened crest. The
loyal Union men Of all those regions will
sec in this legislation. and in the concar-
rent advance of our armies toward the Gulf
that we have put our hands to the plow,
determined not to look back that we have
resolved that every man who raises hi.
hand against the Union shall be punished
that those who remain true to the nation
shall be protected; and that the retributior
which shall follow the leaders Of this re-
bellion for life. shall be so thorough and
severe that no reptile flag Of disunion viii
ever again be reared on the soil of this Re-
public. And they will at last all realize
that the indutement to sympa;mze will
secession ESQ to save their property
from rebel confiscation. and to claim at
1.-THE same time Union protection no longe,
exists; and the time for this misplaced
lenity has expired; that the property oil
rebels is to be confscated, and the armies
ofthe Republic sustained thereon in the re
gions which treason requires them to oc
cnpy.
Mercy to traitors. it has been well said
is cruelty to loyal men. / would not i'm
itate their crimes or their barbarity. but
would initiate their resolution. The gen
ileman from Kentucky. nearest me [ NIr
GRiDEn] told us a month or two ago, tha
the rebel army had run Off $500, coo wortl
of slaves OF Union men from counties neal
his residence. and they have confscated
and taken slaves as sweepingly as anything
else cia lined or held by these men. Thei
own slaves work on their Notifications
from cannon behind which our soldiers ar,
mercilcssly slain; they perform their camp
drudgery, thus increasing the power o.
their army; they raise the produce tha
feeds their troops. AMI the crops on the
faith Of which their scrip is rendered cur
rent If we wish to break the power oil
the rebellion, let US strike it wherever We
can weaken it, and strike it boldly and
fearlessly, as the justice Of our cause mos
fully warrants. And let us If there are
but fifty or five hundred loyal men in q
State, resolve that they shall be protected
by the whole power of the Government
and clothed with all the advantage hereaf
ter that their unf,.itering allegiance during
those dark hours so richly merits.
| None of the con6scation bills ebfore u,
are er post facto in their operation. They
operate only against those who having
been engaged in this rebellion. continue
inarms after this long legislative fc:bear-
ance. can vote for nearly any one o.
them. variant as their provisions are.-
Any one of them is preferable to none
The Clerk of the House, Mr.. ETHEnibeE.
recently seturned from Tennessee, tells us
that. in an extensive inquiry, he heard oI
but single Shareholder Of that State who
was private in the rebel army. This i,
striking and significant fact. With thai
single exception, the Shareholders were
either in office. civil or military. or al
home. have no doubt that four tif,hs OF
all the slaves held by rebels belong to the
officers. civil or military : under the rebel
government. And we cannot longer doubt
that there are thousands upon thousands
Of men who prefer the Union who have
been absolutely forced by threats. by ter
ror, by delusions. or conscription into the
armies Of the rebellion.
am willing. therefore. to go for the
bill known as Senator Sherman's. which
con6scates the property and discharges the
slaves Of all the leaders Of the rebel gov
ernment; of all who have ever taken an
oath to support the Constitution and had
violated il. which would include all post
masters. mail contractors. Congressman,
Governors. members of the State Legisla-
ture, Judges. &c. Of all who have taken