The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1862-07-03
Traitors of the Free states.


The armed rebels of the Slave
States are respectable and honorable
compared with the scoundrels of the
North, who with formal professions of
loyalty, are sneakingly giving said and
comfort" to their "Southern brethren;"
as the highway robber and open-sea
pirate are respectable and honorable
compared with the skulking thief who
strips the clothes line under cover Of
night, and the oily tongued miscreant
who robs and ruins by false pretences.
The traitors who are openly fighting
the battles of the rebellion, renounce
their allegiance to the Government and
take their chances of death. upon the
field and scaffold.. The traitors of the
free States pretend to maintain allegi-
ance, and under cover of the pretence,
make themselves the allies of the
armed rebels and aid them as effectual-
ly as they could do if fighting shoulder
to shoulder with them under the rattle
snake banner of JEFF. Davis and Beau
regard. Aye, more effrctually by more
than ten fold, if there be truth in the
maxim that "one traitor in camp is
worse than ten in the field" And
these traitors of the free States, in act
ting upon the maxim, give significant
proof of their belief of its truth.
Almost the entire Locofoco press of
this State, is under the control of these
traitors at heart. They seek to dis
guise their treason under the veil of
professions of tender regard for the
Constitution and at the same time,
disclose it, by showing in their every
issue that their tender regard is only
for those provisions of the constitution
which can be wrested by fraudulent
construction, for the preservation of
the very slavery for which their "South-
ern brethren" are in arms, and for the
protection of the rebels themselves
from the full defeat for which all loyal
men are striving, and the punishment
in person and property, to which such
defeat will subject them.
In January 1861, after tho rebellion
was fully organized all through the
Slave States, after the rebels had seized
custom houses, post offices, land Offices,
revenue cutters, arsenals, arms, ammu-
milton, military stores of all sorts, forts,
including those of Charleston except
fort Sumter; when they were beleag-
uring that, and after they had fired
upon the Government Steam ship,
s'Star of the West" on its entrance in
to Charleston harbor with provisions
for the little garrison of Fort Sumter al
ready reduced to short allowance; af.
ter they had enrolled and drilled for
months tens Of thousands of volunteers
for the proclaimed purpose of rebellious
war; after all these acts, each of them,
a fragrant act of war, and when the
Legislature of this State had under
consideration proposition for organic
ing the States military power, the
Detroit Free Press sought to repress
the patriotic movement and gave "aid
and comfort" to the rebels, in editorial
articles of which the following is an
extract from one, and specimen of
the spirit of the whole:
off troops shall be raised IN the
North to march against the people of
the South, A FIRE IN THE REAR
WILL BE OPENED UPON SUCH
TROOPS, WHICH WILL EITHER
STOP THEIR MARCH ALTO
GETHER, OR WONDERFULLY
ACCELERATE 1T. In other words,
if in the present posture of the Republic
can party towards the National Difficult
ties, war shall be waged, that WAR
WILL BE FOUGHT IN THE
NORTH. WE WARN TT THAT
THE CONFLICT WHICH IT is
SECIPITATING WILL NOT BE
WITH THE SOUTH, BUT WITH
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEG
PIE IN THE NORTH. WHEN
CIVIL WAR SHALL COME, IT
WILL BE A WAR HERE IN MICH
IGAN AND HERE IN DETROIT,
AND IN EVERY NORTHERN
STATE"
The Free Press continued its openly
reasonable utterances for months and
until after its southern allies had eff
fected the conquest of Fort Sumter,
when the fully aroused and indignant
patriotism of the people of Detroit, ex-
pressed through leading Democrats as
wen as Republican, gave its condnc-
tors warning which it dared not disre-
gard.
The course of that sheet ever since,
has shown that the warning ought to
have come to it in the shape of dump
ing the whole concern, presses, types,
editors and proprietors, into the Detroit
river for it only had the effect of in
dncing its managers to substitute for
its open and direct, a covert. and be-
cause covert, still more effective trea-