Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1863-07-23

ana those men VINO are eYerlaStlnTly pratlnG
about the violation of this, or that provision
Of the constitution, by the administration, in
the prosecution of the war-who have grown
hoarse in their denunciations of this terrible
'war for the nigger"-who are ever howling
for compromise with treason and who are far
more contemplate, because more cowardly
than the traitor in arms, may yet see spectres
OF the cowboys of the revolution. They de-
ceive none but themselves and are none the
less ignoble, because covert, in their opposi-
ton to the war.
One of the frmest pillars of the government,
one of the safest bulwarks of our liberties, is
the right Of free speech. Without that right,
we would be slaves, or worse than slaves
Woful, indeed, is the condition of him, who,
endowed by his Creator with the blessing of
reason, that reason sustained by the silent
promptings of a soul immortal, and vet whose
lips Al sealed BY the edict of arbitrary pow
er. The song of liberty must be hushcd, when
tyrants, in whatever Rame, can dictate its
measure. Yet liberty is not always license.
There is no liberty worth preserving without
lawful restraint. We are at liberty to do
as we please; we are not at liberty to
please to do wrong. We have right to main
tain our freedom, no right to trample upon the
freedom of Others We have a right to criti-
else the policy of the government, to dissent
from its measures, and express that dissent,
bat we have no right to resist them, or the
government in their execution. If our coun-
try is at war, we may think the war is unnec-
essary, or unjust and express our opinion,
when the country will not suffer by it, but we
have no right to resist that government in its
prosecution, to aid or encourage its enemies
He who adheres to the enemies of the govern
ment, giving them aid and comfort, is guilty
of treason; he who induces others to do it.
should be punished according to the degree
OF his otlensc. lie who purposely discourages
our soldiers in the field and induces them to
desert, or who by his pursuasions dissuades
others from enlisting, aids and comforts the
enemies of his country, and should be placed
where he has no power to repeat the offence.
fhe has committed no overt act, no crime de-
fined by the law, for which he can be tried
and punished by the courts, if he is within the
limits Of military district and renders himself
amenable to military law, he should be seized
and punished in conformity Herewith. And
for the purpose of allowing this to be done,
the constitution expressly authorizes the sus-
pension of the writ of h0beas csrpus, when in
eases of rebellion or invasion, the public safe
ty may require it. Is the present such case?
Is the public safety endangered; and is this a
rebellion? When one third of the union is q
vast battle field, the nation struggling for life,
and the towns and cities Of the free States be-
seiged by the invading armies Of treason, hun
dreds of thousands of our countrymen periling
their lives for their homes and their govern
ment, are calling upon the authorities for aid,
and upon the people to remain steadfast for
the right, is 1t not about time that blatent
sympathy with treason was "dried up?n-
Should we not sustain the government in sus-
pending that writ, and compelling those of
position and influence, who express nothing
but censure for the government, contempt for
the soldier, and affection for rebels, to talk
those sentiments where they can do the gov
ernment no harm, until. the public danger IS
over, or not talk them at all. 1t is better far
that those whose loyalty is at best uuestiona-
bic, and who exert an influence adverse to
their country, should be deprived, temporari-
ly, of their power for harm, than that the lib
critics of the people should be lost forever
He who is true to his country need entertain
no fears for his personal safety-no man will
be molested whose loyalty is known This
government allows none Of its citizens to di-
vide their allegiance between it and its enc
mics. For seventy years it has thrown around
them the broad shield of its protection: in
return, when surrounded with danger it asks
their support He who is true 10 his obli-
CATIONS Will yield that support in language
susceptible Of no two interpretations he who
made the recipient of its warlaest embrace
This war must close, and most of Us will. in
all probability live to see the dav. | have all
confidence that that day is not far Distant
nave all confidence, too, that it will termi-
nate faVorably to the cause of the govern
ment-to the cause of humanity 1t has al
ready continued a much longer time than
most of us apprehcnded, when the first blow
was struck and it is waging vet. But the gov
ernment is determined, the great mass of the
people are determined, the army are determ-
med, that 1t shall continue to wage until the
prestige OF the union is restored, and its au-
thorlty IS enforced, until the last traitor shall
lay down his arms, and until the government,
cleansed and purified by the fires through
which 1T will have passed, will come forth
with increased strength, and with newness of
lite. Seven years were required in which to
light the battles Of the revolution. Better far
that 1t should have required seventy times
seven, than that the revolution had never
been. Nations and men do not engage in rev.
olutions for themselves alone, nor for the times
in which they live. Men live, and act, and
fight the battles of their country, under the
guidance of an overriding power, the instru-
ments of whose wise Providence tn ey arc
CHANGING back over the records Of the past we
behold the monuments of nations that are
ucau taHCielJ NOME, Win all ltS wisdom ana
it's glories, has passed away. Carthage, and
Sparta, and Pal nyra, and all the States that
made up the Grecian Confederacy, are known
only by the arts that survived them, and the
epitaphs which history has inscribed on the
tombstones those arts has preserved. Those
nations have fallen by their own hands,
Thirst for power, angry rivalry, unworthy am
bition-the bane Of nations that are prosper
ed-wrought the ruin we deplore Other na-
tions have fallen BY the same means, and it
is for us to determine, whether ours, too, shall
perish, or whether it shall survive. If we for
sake it now, it mast fall-and with it sink.
for generations at least, the aspirations of
the oppressed and the good. If We are faith
full and true to our trust, the threatning clouds
that to-day darken the political sky, will give
way to the sunshine of tomorrow ", and our own
great country will, under the blessing of good
government, remain in the future, as it has
been in the past, the pride of its people, and
the hope of the world.
CoSvENT1oSs.-We publish the call,
this week, for Republican Union
State Convention, to be held at Madi-
son on the 10th of August. It will be
seen that all unconditionally loyal men,
without reference to political antece-
dents, are invited to unite in selecting
delegates to this convention.
We learn that Senatorial Conven-
t,o,, +1,,- I.