The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-12-19

French journals conceal this, so far as pos
sible, from their readers; yet the truth
gradually makes itself known and respect
ed. But when the loyal North. through
the President, profers amnesty and resto-
ration On the single condition Of acquies-
cence in Universal Freedom until Con-
gress or the Supreme Court shall decide
that this is condition which the President
had no right to impose, why should any
stand out?
] And how can Liberal Europe withhold
her ardent active sympathy from the cause
that they let the oppressed 60 free? The
Times will misrepresent and The Saturday
Reuiew defame us as usual; the aristocracy
may still frown or sneer; but the masses of
Europe, already instinctively our friends,
will be inpelled by this proffer to a more
general and hearty enthusiasm in behalf of
that Union which now represents, even
more emphatically than hitherto, the aspi-
rations of bowed and struggling Labor
throughout the civilized world. Thanks,
then. to our President, for the wise human
ity and generous impulses which prompted
the issue of his Proclamation of amnesty
1t must be that in this sign we shall con-
Guer.-N. Y. Tribune.
AN INDICATION OF EARNEsTNEss.-The
hearts of loyal men everywhere were
cheered, almost beyond expression, by the
recent action of the Government in rela-
ton to Smithson, the Washington banker,
and Stetler the Philadelphia contractor
The former was convicted OF holding trea-
sonable correspondence with the rebels, the
latter of defrauding the Government in
coffee contracts for the army, and each Of
the offenders is to have five years resi-
dence in the Penitentiary at Albany, New
York. Their conviction and punishment is
particularly agreeable because that in adj
dition to their own shortcomings they
stand as representative men of two classes,
large and troublesome, who have been Of
incalculable injury to the cause of loyalty
since the war commenced. Mr.. Smithson
was one of those men who, while they gave
their hearts and their sympathies to the
rebellion, lacked the courage and the man
illness to follow their sympathies in person,
Their the shock Of battle nor Davis con-
scription could reach them. Taking ad-
vantage of the social and business posi-
tons they occupied they have had rare IA
cilities for serving their Southern friends,
and all these opportunities have been faith
fully improved: 1t is no wonder that the
plans, laid as it was supposed in security
and matursd with care and silence at
our national capital, should reach the re-
bells even before they were sent to the
army commanders, when we remember
that Smithson and many more traitors Of
the same stamp have been open-eared to
| gather all such intelligence and open
this same traitorous banker or some
one OF his confreres, year ago,
| would have been a warming voice
to these secret agents, and would
have saved US many dollar and many
precious life. But for reasons, prudential
I l.
en- until now. But it has fallen neverthe-
less, and it is not yet too late to expect
wholesome and healthy influence to result
from the example. Men may as well be-
gin TO learn that the government that has
ever nourished and supported them can
not always be plotted against with impu-
nifty. 1t has been long suffering and patient
until patience and forbearance have ceased
| to be desirable, and the hour of earnest &C
ton has come at last. Tardily but surely
| the majesty Of law and the power of gov
eminent are to be exemplitied and vindi-
| Gated.
The case of Mr.. Stetler is none the less
instructive. Protesting loyalty and bust
ness integrity, he was entrusted with con-
tracts tor the army. A staple article Of
every day consumption was to be furnish
ed at abundant and remunerative prices.
But the legitimate gains Of business did not
satisfy Mr.. Stetler's avarice, and he sought
to enrich himself still more by deception
and fraud. He sacrificed the remains of a
blunted conscience and gave up every lin
| Serlng feeling of self-respect, hoping thus
to increase his wealth. Good name, honor
and all were staked against the almighty
dollar, but even the almighty dollar did
not shield him from merited punishment.
He too has had his reward and the salu-
tary effects Of the governments action in
| his case have already been seen in the re-
mittances OF ill-gotten gains from con
science smitten contractors. The men
who are soulless enough to coin money
from the sufferings of our brave soldiers
and who are strangers to every feeling of
honor and every sense of shame, can Still
be moved by measures of severity, And
now thai the government has found the
lever that can move traitors and thieves
We trust the lever will be faithfully used
until traitors and thieves shall find that
loyalty and honesty are polite as well as
jpst.-Sprinafeld Repub
r"MuT1LAT1Ne OUR DEAD.-The Chatta-
nooga correspondent Of the Cincinnati
Commercial says:
The stories SO often published of the mu-
ulation OF our dead by the rebels have US
ually been looked upon as gross exaggera-
tons, invented by correspondents for the
purpose of keeping up the hatred of the
patriotic people of the North against
our common enemy, and inspiring them
with determination of DISCRIMINATING
them. confess that was loath to believe
the tales of horror. But 1 am no longer
skeptical; when have the testimony of
the rebel journals confirming the stories
my faith is strengthened. A few weeks |
ago, the Chattanooga Marietta Rebel refer i!
ring to the field of Chickamauga, admitted |
that some of the heads of our soldiers lay |
grinning on stumps, severed from their |
bodies, and to-day, officers, whose word |
will be taken anywhere in this depart
ment, bring the news that, on visiting the
field on Saturday, number of heads were
displayed on stumps and poles, while the
mutilated bodies lay on the ground, par
tally devoured by birds of prey, hogs and
dogs! A large proportion Of our dead left
on the field, were found unburied, and |
their bones bleaching in the sun and rain.
Gen. Gross brigade, of the 4th Army
Corps, were yesterday engaged in giving