The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1863-07-04
The Conduct of the War.
A Curious and Sarcastic Letter.

EMERSON EraEaIpcE, the writer of tt
following letter, was one of those Tenne
: sec Union meu who, like Andrew Jol,
: son, being q member of Congress at til
. outbreaking of the rebellion, was not a
. lowed TO return 10 his home. The sue
ceeding republican Heuse of Represents
tives elected him Clerk, over John "
Forney, position he still holds Hi
heart and soul were enlisted in efforts t
encourage and strengthen the hands 9
the Union men of Tennessee and tn
South, and weakening those of the rebe!
lion. The policy Of the administration, O,
the contrary, having been to crush ou
Unienism in the South, instead of narsin,
and sustaining it, and thus to strengthe,
the rebellion, Mr. Etheridge is unable lon
ger to conceal his chagrin and disgust, anc
gives vent to his feelings in the following
scathing review
WASHINGTON. D. c.. May Is, 1868.
GFyrLENES-I have just received you,
letter Of the 1th inst, inviting me on be,
half Of the Washington Union Club o;
Memphis, to JOIN in a public celebration
Of the anniversary of the surrender of that
city to the Federal arms You also spea
kindly Of my past efforts to induce the
people Of West Tennessee to consen,
cheerfully to the the restoration Of national
authority throughout the South
If believed that, by meeting you on the
occasion referred to, ] could be OF service
to a single honest, law abiding citizen or
truly repentant rebel, or that could con-
| tribute to the least extent in endin: the
war and restoring the blessings of peace
| under the constitution, | would certainly V
attend; but have no such faith in my
| self, and therefore / shall not 90
lnyour letter you express the opinion
that, by direct personal appeal" |
might encourage the loyal or reclaim the
disloyal" ] confess my astonishment at
such a statement; and l can attribute
this opinion of yours TO nothing but a
failure on your part to comprehend the
mastery policy of our great and good
President, aud the wise statesmen who aid
him in shaping and directing the civil
policy Of the government. When YOU
have fully studied and understood the
grand purposes of our most God-fearinc
L
more familiar with the profound military
strategy which as "Commander-in-C Chief
OF the Army aud Navy of the United
States, he is now displaying; and when
you further remember the astonishing
success we have had in retaining our
misguided coun,rymen' and in conquer
ing our waywaTd sisters" l shall be
amazed II you continue to believe it neces-
sary to" encourage the loyal or = reclaim
the disloyal' Why encourage the loyal
Is it possible they need encouragement in
Memphis, hen fer nearly year you have
been inside the Federal lines: when every
night tattoo is substituted for " Hush my
baby; don't you cry, and at revelle, Hail
Columbia arOuses the people TO q con
scionsness OF the great security which is
afforded to the property of the loyal peo-
pie of Memphis and all the country
round that (politicaD Jordan 2 How can
you or l " encourage the loyal" when our
matchless President, the late ConsrN--, his
sage counseil6rs. and his peerless military
suhordinates have already done and prom
ised ali which wisdom can suggest, which
our sacred constitution authorizes, and
which the Christian religion tolerates or
approves? There remains nothing for Us
to do. unless it be to obey our incompav-
L
conquer q glorious peace. True, We have
among US croakers and copperheads-
silly, brainless men-wbo are so uBwise
and unpatriotic as to question the wisdom
of our indefatisable President If you
have any such in Memphis you should at
once denounce them as liz sympathy with
the rebels you should send them to their
friends down South" or to the Dry Tort
ugas, which is understood by many 10 be
a place where everybody is tortured with
a thirst for rifle whisky, aad not a drop
can be obtained. No good Union man
will complain Of the conduct Of the wise
men who direct our public affairs. They
should be taught to remember that scan
dalum n,agnatun was formerly high crime
it is a most heinous offence now-and
nothing saves such copper colored wretch-
es but the Christian charity of our most
pious President
At the proposed meeting you should so
arrange matters as to secure list of all
who fail to attend or omit to render \
suitable apology, and you should adopt
resolutions of the most loyal kind. al
low me to suggest that the committee on
resolutions be selected from contractors
and office holders. particularly suggest
one Cooper, who has recently been ap-
pointed Assessor for the large, rich, and
Lopulous district Of West Tennessee. He
was originally from New York True, he
was never in West Tennessee until seat
from this city on his official errand but
he no doubt knows by intuition the true
value of the goods and chattels lands and
tenements, dc, fc OF people he never
knew, and a country in which he never
lived. But he is SO loyal-so much so
that doubt not he Is better fitted for the
, Office than any one of the native born
sons, brothers and fathers OF the thou
sands of soldiers who, before tine 22d Of
last September, West Tennessee had fur
nished to the Federal army Let the
committee initiate the Loyal Leagues of
Baltimore, and resolve that you not only
approve all the present wise and patriotic
| administration has done, but that you
will sustain and uphold it in everything it
NAV hereafter do. Let the committee
make an elaborate report. accompanied
with resolutions denouncing all who find
For instance: The last Congress Gn July
1862 passed a law to confiscate the pro-
perty Of certain rebels That Congress,
as much aggregated wisdom as our great
and good President In proof of this We
need but refer to the fact that the Con-
gress aforesaid provided that, under this
law, trial should precede conviction and
forfeiture, and that guilt should be proven
not presumed. Worse still it offered an
amnesty to repentant rebels; 1t merciful
| ly gave them sixty days in which to ac'
cept it; and provided, further, that ou'
most noble President might suspend for a
period the operation of this law as our ar
mics advanced southwark, SO as to afford
all an opportunity to accept pardon
Worse still, this law actually applied to nc
| one but the rebels And 1t is astonishing
that it applied to them everywhere. North
as well as South-ln Springfield, Illinois