Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1863-04-10
Gen. h. #. Butler.

Whom the traitors North and South are
pleased to call "Brute Butler" is soldier
and citizen after our own heart He has de.
monstrated that he is a true friend Of his
country, for when the South was true to their
obligations and allegiance, he insisted upon
the maintenance of all their rights, and was
their most devoted friend and ally But when
they became false to those obligations and
that allegiance, and rose up in arms against
that Government, then the second hero of
New Orleans-the real hero of this war
stood firm and immovable in his adherence to
the Union, and cast from him the wicked enc
mics Of his Government. He saw the great
issue, and his master mind grasped all its re-
alities. He who for years had endured the
denunciations of his fellow citizens of the
North, for his devotion to the rights of the
South, like pure patriot rose above the low
feelings of the partisan and stood upon the
higher plane Of political life, that they who
cast from them and renounce the Constitution
of our country can claim none of its protec-
tons. In his own language at the Academy
of Music:
"What were my rights and what were
theirs? At that hour they repudiated the
Constitution of the United States BY solemn
vote in solemn convention and not only that,
but they took arms in their hands and under.
took by force to rend from the Government
what seemed to them the finest portion of the
hor, oh cck1,n hcl -
as rich legacy to my children. When they
did that, they abrogated, abnegated and for
feited every constitutional obligation, and
when was called upon to say what should
be my action with regard to slavery, was left
to the natural instincts of my heart, as
prompted by christian education in New
England, and dealt with it accordingly, as
was no longer bound. Then undertook
earnestly and respectfully to maintain, with
the same sense of duty to my constitutional OBJ
legations, and to State rights so long as they
remained under the Constitution that requir-
ed ME to support the system of slavery-and
| the same sense of duly and right, after they
had gone out from under the Constitution,
caused me to follow the dictates of my own
conscience untrammeled.''
| No soldier, no civilian, has shown the con-
summate skill and administrative ability in
| the conduct of this war equal to Ben. Butler.
At the outset, when other distinguished Off
GERS were studying system of strategy by
which to seize and hold the city of Baltimore,
Botler promptly led a handful of men and oc-
cupied the city, and secured uninterrupted
communication between the Nations Capital
and the loyal States. While other men were
puzzling their brains over the negro question,
Butler determined the future policy of the
Government on that question, by declaring
the slaves of rebels contraband of war
Reaching the great southern metropolis, he it
was who first melted out the punishment Of
treason by hanging. Surrounded by dis
loyal populace, who in numbers were suff-
Gent to have destroyed Buffers army, he
maintained his rightful authority-made
traitors loyal men, and compelled recogni-
ton Of the authority of the General Govern
ment He supported the poor of the city by
By bis wise administration he supported his
army and fed the poor, and yet placed hun
dreds Of thousands of dollars in the Federal
Treasury; and he who says that Ben. Butler
so administered the affairs of the Department
of the Gulf as to line his own pockets with
millions or with thousands, utters that which
he knows to be lie. No officer, no citizen,
has ever made the charge in such q manner
that it could be investigated None but trait
ors and tories have ever repeated the mslig-
nant lie. gf
This is not the trouble with them. They
hate every soldier who does not believe
slavery to be the s,smmum 6onum of the Amer
lean Union. They hate every man who deals
with rebels as traitors. They hate Ben But
Ter because he displayed force and energy
because he grappled with the rebellion as it
is because he punished traitors because he
regarded female traitor and spy IS wicked
and mischievous as q male rebel. He has
hurt rebels, and this is why such men as
Thayer are hurt.
! Notwithstanding the malignant shafts Of
copperheaded traitors, Ben Butler to-day oc-
cupies the uppermost seat in the hearts Of
the people. They pray for more like him
they invoke more of his spirit upon our ru-
lers, and they ask in all sincerity that Ben.
Butler be assigned to such duty as is most
fitting to his zeal, his energy, his talents and
his soldierly qualities. The people are pre-
l b
pared to welcome him to any position. H.
At Indianapolis, John Brown, who was
found guilty Of treason, and has been under
sentence Of death for some time past, for in
PRODUCING the Knights Of the Golden Circle
into the camps near that city, has been par
doned by the President. He was the mere