The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1863-03-20
Judge smiths Address TO the
Morgan Comfy Traitors.

and conepiring with each other. and with
/ divers other persons, u resist with force and
8 arms the authority Of the Government oi
the United States; and with attempting, in
execution of such conspiracy, by force ard
n violence. to rescue certain prisoners in the
o custody Of the military authorities of the
|. United States, who had been arrested as
deserters.
Upon this Indictment you have been found
guilty. by jury, after full and patient
ir examination OF all the facts which have been
- offered in evidence. 1t only remains for the
Court to pronounce the judgment which the
Il law requires.
The act of Congress upon which the in
E dictment is predicated is of recent origin,
: and has been passed as a means of aiding
j to suppress the rebellion against the Govern
+ ment of the United States. which has been
D prosecuted during the last two years.
( The people of the whole country, and es-
9 pecially the citizens of those States which
, have been spared the horrors of civil war.
are interested in preserving the power of
the Government and the integrity of the
r Union. Their own welfare can only be
preserved so long as the Government shall
! retain the power to suppress rebellion. pun
|; ish treason, and protect loyal citizens. Com
binations and conspiraces to thwart the
Government. resist its lawful authority. and
prevent the execution of its laws, cannot be
tolerated while the Government possesses
the power to prevent them. When it shall
cease to possess that power the reign Of an.
archy will commence. aud force and violence
will usurp the place of law and order.
The offence Of which you have been con.
victed is one which strikes at the power Of
the Government at vital point. 1t is only
through its military power that the Govern
ment can suppress the rebellion which now
threatens its destruction Every effort which
is made to weaken that power is An effort to
aid the cause Of the rebels, and to postpone
the return OF peace and prosperity Moth
ing tends in greater degree to demoralzs
the army OF the United States than the de.
sertion of its soldiers; and those who en-
courage dssertions, or aid in preventing the
arrest Of deserters. are guilty of high pub
lie crime. which may cause disaster and ruin
| to the country.
| The men whom You have forcibly at
] tempted TO rescue from the custody Of the
military authorities of the United States.
have no claim upon your sympathy or pro-
lection. They have voluntarily entered in
to the military service of the government;
they have received its bounty, and bound
themselves by voluntary agreement aud by
SOlefnn Dhf rs I'd idltAiully serve Itr tue peri
cd Of their enlistment. Dssertion, under
such circumstances. is crime of the highest
ma gnitude. AMI, un Ter the articles Of war.
subjects the otfenders To the penaltyof death.
Tne arrest OF the deserlers was but prop
er aud lawful exercise OF the authority of
the government, and it was the duty of ev-
erv citizen to aid 10 such arrests rather than
to detract and hinder them
1t has been shown by the testimony in
your trial that there IS in the neighborhood
in which you reside, a secret association, The
object of which is to prevent what the men,
bers of the association designate as illegal
arrests. 1t has been proved that the mem.
bers Of this association are bound to secrecy
and to mutual support and protection in the
unlawful objects they have in view, by sol.
emn oa,hs. 1t has also been proved that
the most, if not all of you, attended the
meetings Of this secret society, and the pre-.
sumption is that you took the oath prescri-
bed for its members.
A secret organization of this character,
formed for political purposes, and con,roll-
ed by self-imposed oaths, is dangerous to
the peace and well-being of society, and
should be discountenanced and condemned
by every law.abiding citizen. Such a mode
Of preventing what may be claimed TO be
ilcS0l oIIcslS 10 iioIc anu Udu.
gerous to society than any arrests they may
there are legal means by which the evil may
be remedied; but under no circumstances
can the citizen be justified in attempting to
remedy by lawless violence what they may
deem 10 be illegal or unjust The existence
of secret organizations, of political char
acter, designed to control or obstruct the
execution of the laws. indicates a condition
Of Society highly detrimental to the public
welfare. Such organizations are incompat-
ible with free government; they are calcu-
lated to excite spirit Of resistance to laws
and insubordination to the governments
Some of the bitter fruits which they pro- ;
duce are exhibited in your own conduct. I!
aud in the prosecution and punishment to {
which that conduct has subjected you !
Such organizations should be discountenan- t
ced BY every loyal citizen. They canno, be !
tolerated and if the attempt to control the !
operations of the government, through such /
instrumenlalities. shall be persisted in. the I
trial Of strength must be betW cen them and /
the government.
At time like the present, when the ma /
ton is excited by an insurrec ion. which has
involved number of States iE civil war, the
safety of the people of those States which
are not engaged in the insurection can only
be secured by respect for the laws and q
Ready obedience TO their commands. No,h.
ing but the power of the Government can
protect the people of our own State from
bloodshed and anarchy. Ii the people of
the State should voluntarily conspire to
weaken the authority of the Government.
and defeat the execution of the laws. they
will destroy the only power which can pro-
tect them from lawless violence. You need L
that protection for yourselves and families.
and self interest and your own safety DO.
mand that YOU shall sustain the Govern. |,
% ut. and give full effect to the laws. II
rights are violated. you ca q with eo,-
6dence appeal to the Courts for redress. and
yen will fnd IN them protection hich can
oever be Afforded BY secret societies. or ille- 4
gal organizations ,