The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1863-04-22


visions of the Conscription act il
round set terms, which elected the no
tice of Senator Wilson, of Massachu
fetts, chairman of the Military Com
mittee of the United States Senate
He accordingly wrote letter to Fer
ll nando Wood upon the subject, towhicl
o Wood publishes the following replyi
Mr.. woods Reply 10 Senator
...,. Wilson.
NEW York, April 2, 1863.
.51s Hon. HENRY WILsoN:--I reply tt
your letter of the 30th ult., out of
respect to your position as one of the
representatives in the United States
Senate of q sovereign State, and not
because its manner or matter entitle il
to either notice or consideration.
Dog Tam honored in your recognition Of
me as "the brain, the heart, the SOU
the philosopher and guide of Mo
zart Hail." To hold such command
ing position in an organization of such
power and patriotism would, if it were
true, not only add to my self-esteem,
but would also increase the desire /
have, in common with three-fourths of
the people of this State, to rescue our
unfortunate country from the rule of
men of your principles.
1 regret that you do not concur
with Mozart Halls estimate of the
Conscription act. You appear to be
surprised that we should have misun-
dcrstood, and consequently misrepre-
sented law Gf law intended for
our special advantage, and for the ad-
vantage Of other poor men who have
not $500 to pay for exemption from
the Abolition crusade down South, as
you understand the objects of the war.
1t may be that intellects of plain men
like ourselves are not sufficiently bril-
liant to comprehend the '.justice and
philanthropy of this ''humane act,
but inasmuch as common sense is the
only guide we use in the construction
of laws, you should overlook the error
which you SO warmly denounced. In
the proceedings of Mozart Hall, to
which you take exception, we
Resolved, That the Conscription
bill recently passed through Congress,
and which is claimed by the Federal
Government to be law, is in our
judgment grossly and palpably uncon-
stitutional in its provisions; that it is
in express violation of those express
conditions and reservations as to the
control of the militia, under which
the sovereign State of New York en-
tered into the Union; that it is subver-
sive of the rights of State governments
and designed to make them mere de-
Tendencies and provinces, to be ruled
by military satraps, under great,
consolidated, usurping, central despot-
ism; that the people everywhere should
be awakened to the Infamous distinc-
ton which it makes between rich and
poor, whereby the former is allowed to
buy his freedom for the sum of three
hundred dollars, while the latter, una
Bile to command that sum, is to be torn
away from his employment, his home,
and his family, and forced, at the point
of the bayonet, into the ranks of the
army; that we call on the authorities of
this State, in view of the intolerable
outrages of this Conscription law, to
advise the Executive of the United
States against the enforcement of this
act here, until its constitutionality has
been determined, with it's provisions
so repugnant to the sentiments of our
citizens, and so insulting to their man
hood and dignity as fieemen.
10 which, in the elegant and ele-
waited language of your class, you re-
ply:
"Sir, this accusation is false, wick
edly, wantonly and infamously false
foul, shameless and damnable libel
upon the law and it's trainers. The
oft-repeated avowals of rcd-handed
traitors, whose souls are stained with
the blood Of our murdered country
men, that this accursed rebellion, now
upon us, was forced upon them by the
aggressions of the liberty loving, law
abiding, God-fearing people of the
loyal States, are notmore shamelessly,
wantonly and wickedly false than is
this declaration of Mozart Hall that
the Conscription act makes distinc-
ton in favor of the rich and against
the poor"
OF course, reasoning so cogent is
unanswerable! To whom you refer as
"the red-handed traitors, whose souls
are stained with the blood of our mur>
dered eountrymen, cannot say. In |
New York, where men are in the habit
of tracing effects to causes, and of
thus placing the responsibility of guilt |
upon the man who perpetrates it, ei-
ther directly or indirectly, common
public sentiment would point to Henry |!
Wilson, of Massachusetts,, as one Of
the primary leaders in this band of
"red-handed traitors. y
In reply to the allegation that the
Conscription bill make distinction be-
tween the rich and the poor, you say
that it does not, because the Secretary
of War may, in his discretion, regu-
late the tariff of prices for example
son the sliding SCALE (truly a Yankee
device \ and NAV consaouantlv fy Il