Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1863-05-21
The coee Of vallerdiet,u

The Cese CT Waller digLem.
\ Clement l.. Vullandighain last week ask.
ed Judge L'avett OF the U. s. Court, for a
writ ofhabeos corpus. Gen Burnside was
notified Of this application, and in answer
submitted the following statement
HrADqrAHrsas DErIardESr or ris Quo ,
CINeIssart, 'Hf0. May n. Is0l I
10 he Honorable The Circmt Court ofHy
Gntted States nithta aadJor Me .Southey,,
District Of Ohio:
The undersigned, Commanding the De.
I Patttpent OF the 0hio. having Hceived no
tIce from the Clerk Of said Court that an
application tor the allowance Of u writ Of
hnteds corpus will be made this morning
before your Honors on behalf OF Clement L.
yaiiandigham, now prisoner in my cu,to
dy, asks leave to submit TO the Court the
following
STATEMENT.
1t we're to indulge in wholesale cri,i.
clsms OF the policy OF the Government, it
would demoralize the army under my com
mand, and every friend Of his country would
call PIE traitor. Ii the officers or soldiers
were to indulge IN such criticisms. it would
weaken the army 70 the extent Of their in.
nuence; AMI u this criticism were universal
~ the army, 1t would cause il to be broken
10 pieces, the Government to be divided
our homes to be invaded, aud anarchy to
reign. My duty TO my Government furbids
NE to indulge in such criticisms; officers and
soldiers are not allowed to 50 indulge, aud
this course will DC sustained by all honest
men.
Now, i will 90 further. We are in a state
cf hn =. II.
partment is at this moment invaded. AMI
three others have been threatened. com.
mand the Department, and it is my duty to
my country and to this army to keen il in
the best possible condition; to see that il is
ted, clad, armed, and, as tar as possible. to
see that It is encouraged. Iii is my duty
and the duty OF the troops to avoid Swing
anything that would weaken the army, by
preventing single recruit from joining the
ranks, 10y bringing the laws OF Congress into
disrepute, or by causing dissatisfaction in
the ranks, 1t Is equally the duty of every
citizen ~ the Department to avoid the same
evil. Hit Is my duty to prevent the prop
agaIlon OF this evil in the army, or in a Dor.
ton OF my Department, it il equally my
duty III all portions OF it, and it i. my duty
10 use all the force In my power to stop it,
III were to lind a man fro i the enemy's
country, distributing in my camps speeches
VI their public men that tended to denoral
lze the troops, or 10 destroy their conf dence
IN the constituted Authorities OF the Gov
ernmenf, l would have them tiled and hung
II found guilty, and all the rules of modern
warfare would sustain Inc. Why should
such speeches FROM our own public men be
allowed?
The press and public men in great emer
gency like the present, should avoid the use
OF party epithets and bitter invec,ives, and
discourage the organization of secret polit.
lcal societies, which are always undgniied
and disgraceful to free people, bur now
they are absolutely wrong aud injurious:
they create dissensions and discord, which
just now amount to treason. The simple
names Patriot" and Traitor" are com-
prehensive enough.
As before said, we are in state of civil
war, aud an emergency is upon us which re.
quires the operations Of some power that
moves more quickly than the civil.
There never was war garfield on success.
fully without the exercise of that power
1t is said that the speeches which are con-
demued, have been in the presence of large
bodies OF citizens, who, it they thought
them wrong, would have then and there
condemned them. That is no argument.
These citizens do not realize the effect upon
the army OF our country, who are its de
Tenders. They have never been in the field; |
never faced the enemies of their country; |
never undergone the privations of our sol |
diers in the field; and besides they have
been in the habit of hearing their public
men speak, and as general thing of ap
proving Of what they say; therefore, the