Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1863-07-28
Address of the Hon. C. L. VaIIandigham to the
People Of Ohio.
NIAGARA FALLS
1912

!: Arrested and confined for three weeks IN the
United States, prisoner Of State; banished thence
the Confederate States, and there held as an alien
,'nemy and prisoner of war, though on parole;
.airly and honorably dealt with and given leave to
.epart an act possible only by running the block
de at the hazard of being fred upon by ships ny;
:ag the. flag of my own country, found myself
-lrst freeman when on British soil. And To-Day,
e:nder protection of the British flag, | am mere 70
ynjoy and in part to exercise the privileges and
.ghts, which usurpers insolently deny me at home
'!be shallow contriVance of the weak despots at
Washington and their advisers, has been defeated.
Iay, it has been turned against them and l, who
or two years maligned as in secret league with
ne ConfederateS, having. refused when IN tner
,lidst under circumstances the most favorable,
ther to identify myself with their cause or even SO
1uch as to remain, preferring rather exile IN for
Ign land, return now with allegiance to ny own
tate and government, unbroken in word, thought
deed and with every declaration and pledge TO
.ou while at home, and. before was stolen away,
aade good in spirit to the very letter.
SIX weeks ago, when just going into ba1ishment,
'>sa-ose An audaooas bat cowardly despotisnn
Gaused i, addressed you . fellow citizen To:
aut after wearisoDe and most perilous journeyings
FOR more than four thousand miles by land and upon
the sea, still in exile though almost in sight Of my
native State, l greet you as your representative.
Grateful certainly am for the confidence in my in
nomination as candidate for Governor of Ohio,
which you gave me while | was yet in the COnfed-
crate States. 1t was not misplaced; it shall never
. be abused BUT this is the last of all considera:
tions in times like these. l ask no personal sym
pathy for the personal wrong. No; it is the cause
Of constitutional liberty and private right, cruelty
outraged beyond example in free country, BY the
President and his servants which gives public sig
nihcancy to the action Of your conventionS Yours
was indeed, an act of justice to citizen who, for
his devotion to the rights Of the States and the lib
critics of the people, had been marked for destruc-
ton by the hand of arbitrary power. But it was
much more. 1t was an example Of courage worthy
of the heroic ages of the world; and it was spec
tace and rebuke to the usurping tyrantS who,
having broken up the Union, would now strike
down the Constitution, subvert your present Gov
.:rnment and establish afOrmal and proclaimed des-
ootlsm in its stead You are the restorers and the
defenders of constitutional liberty, and by that
proud title history Sill salute you.
congratulate you upon your nominations They
whom you have placed upon the ticket with Inc are
gentlemen Of character, ability integrity and tried
fidelity to the Constitution, the Union and to Lib
erty. Their moral and political courage-a quality
always rare and now the most valuable of public
virtues-is beyond question. Every way, all these
were nominations fit to be made. And even jeal-
ousy, am sure, will now be hushed, if | especially
rejoice with you in the nomination OF Mr.. Pugh as
your candidate for Lieutenant Governor and Presi
dent of the Senate. A scholar and gentleman,
soldier in foreign war, and always patriot; emi,
nent as lawyer and distinguished as an orator and
statesman, hail his acceptance as an omen OF the
return of the better and more vrtuous days of the
republic
/ endorse your noble platform-elegant in style,
admirable in sentiment You preseut the true is
sue and commit yourself to the great mission just
now of the Democratic party-to restore and make
sure the rights and liberties declared by your
constitutions 1t is vain to invite the States and
people of the South to return to Union without
constitution, and dishonored and polluted by re-
peated and most aggravated exactlOns of tyrannic
power 1t is base in yourselves and reasonable to
your posterity, to surrender these liberties and
rights to the creature whom your own breath Gre
ated and can destroy.
Shall there be free speech, free press, peacea5le
sssemblages of the pleople, and free ballot any
longer in Ohio? Shall the people hereafter, as
hitherto have the right to discuss and condemn the
principles and policy of the party; the ministry ;
the men who, for the time conduct the government;
to demand of their public servants reckoning Of
their stewardship, and place other men ana anoth
er party in power at their supreme will and pleas
ure? Shall Order 3S or the Constitution be the
supreme law of the land? And shall the citizen
any more be arrested by an armed soldiery at mid
night, dragged from wife and child and home to
military prison; thence 70 a mock military trial
thence condemned and then baniShed as ielOn for
the exercise of his rights2 TINS is the issue, and
nobly you have met it. 1t is the very question OF
free popular government ITSELF 1t is The whole
question; upon the one side liberty, on the other
despotsm. The President as the recognized head
of mis- party accepts the ISSUE Whatever he wills,
that is law. Constitution, State and Federal, are
nothing acts Of legislation nothing; the Judiciary
less than nothing In time of war there Is but one
will supreme-his will; but one law-nllltary ne
ceSSity, and he sole judge. Military orders super
cede the Constitution, and military COMMISSIONS
usurp the place of the ordinary courts of justice In
the land Nor are these mere idle claims. For
two years and more, by arms, they have been en-
forced. 1t was the mission of the weak but pre-
sumptuous Burnside name infamous forever In
the of all lovers OF constitutional liberty try
the experiment in Ohio-aided by judge whom L
name not because he has brought foul dishOnor up
on the judiciary of my country. In your hands
now, men of Oho is the final issue of the expert
ment The party of administration have accepted
it By pledging support to the President, they
have justified his outrages upon liberty and the Con-
stitution and whoever gives his vote to the candl-
dates of that party, commits himself to every act OF
violence and wrong on part of the Administration
which he upholds; and thus by the law OF retalia-
tion which is the law of might, would forfeit his
own right to liberty, personal and political, when
soeVer other men and another party'shall hold the
power Much more do the candidate themselves
Suffer them not L entreat you, to evade the issue;
and by the judgment OF the people we Will aolde
And now, finally let me ask, what is the pretext
for all the monstrous acts and claims of abitrary
power which you have so nobly denouncedp mil
itary necessity" But if, indeed, all these be de-
manded by military necessity, then believe me,
your liberties gone and tyranny is perpetual.
For if this civil is to terminate only by the SUBJ
iugation or submission Of the South to force and
arms, the infant of to-day will not the end Of it.
No; in another way only can 1t be brought to
close. Travelling thousand miles and more, through
nearly one-haf of the Confederate States, and So
journng for time at widely different points, met
not one man, woman or child who were not resolved
to perish rather than yield to the pressure of arms
even in the most desperate extremity. And what
ever may and must be the varying fortune of war,
in all which 1 recognize the hand of Providence
pointing vsibly to the ultimate issue of this great
trial of the States and people of America, they