The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1862-10-21
The Voice Of the People as indicated by the
Recent Elections.


There is certainly one very favorable indics-
ton OF popular sentiment in the recent elections,
and that 49, that parties have We'd with each
other in professions Of loyalty, attachment to
the cause OF the government, and devotion to
the Union. However dishonest the leaders NAV
have been or may now be in these professions,
'he fact that they have deemed it necessary to
make them, Is the highest evidence of their CON
V'ctions that the masses OF the people would
listen to no t!hce- seeker who did not openly
avow himself hostile to treason and in favor Of
the most unsparng prosecution Of the war
with al the available resources of the Federal
power. Although We have not been SO familiar
with the course of the canvass 10 the Western
States, We have yet no doubt that there, as in
Pennsylvania, the Dem 3crats have claimed to
ne the especial protectors and guardians of the
Lnlon, the peculiar enemies Of secession and
d!sunlon, and the most ardent cham pons Of the
cause OF the government and it is undeniabIe
that 50 Tar as the 70 te is concerned. the recant
Democratic triumphs are not to be received as
The opinions of the majority that the war must
stop. But these political battles have been de-
termlned by other issues, some Of which the
Republicans, and many formerly Democrats
have deemed vital to the success of our cause.
while others are merely incidental to the main
work of crushing treason
One OF these incidental questions has undoubt
edly been the financial one. la manv nlaces
tAere has been an unspaling warfare on the
Secretary OF the Treasury for the issue of legal
tender notes, that scheme having been charged
upon him and the Republican members of Con-
Sress. All the evils Of deprecated currency,
and the financial troubles growing out of it, are
thus made 50 many allies of the opposition to
the party in power, 1.-The party which will always
be held responsible for the unfortunate results
OF any policy inaugurated by it. And men will
not stop to inquire whether these evils are not
outweigbed by the benefits in this case, or
whether they are greater than would have &C.
Cured IT such policy had not been adopted |
II is enough, to determine the votes of many .
men, to know that specie is scarce and shin |
p!asters plenty now, while under Democratic
rule 1t was not SO and they receive with an
easy cEedence the assurance that it is not the
war, bat the Republican party that has ca used
this mischief
The suspension Of the writ Of haJcas corpus
has also been used TO damage the R3pub licans
and help the Democrats in the elections. The
Constitution, the bill of rights, the traditions of
our Own Struggle for liberty, the instincts of !
the people, all teaching individual liberty and
] lights Subordinate only to law, have risen up
against this Frerogatve of the government and |
u has not in every instance been easy to Justify |
its use. Those who have opposed this exercise
Of power by the government, and have used it
effectively for clectioneerlng purposes, have not
cared TO discriminate between its rghtf- and
wrongful use, or to dwell much on the necessity
Tor SUMMARY action when traitors, striking at
the heart OF the nation, were aided by the open
~ expressed sympathy of Northern men. lfl
they have found single instance where 1T has
seemed to Cypress an innocent man, they have
made that stand as the Iule by which to Judge
Its working, and have thus had some show Of
reason Tor the unmeasnred terms in which thew
have denounced the Administration for resortipp
TO 1t and it has furnished in many localitie.
most excellent capital for candidates who wlshe