Smyrna times., 1863-05-21
Tho Valiandigh4m Court Martial.
THE CASE FAIRLY PUT.

y through his life acting with the Democratic party
we give space to this statement to tho exclusion OF
other matter which we desired to get in, because we
Consider il as clear, conbise and pointed an argu.
inent as has appeared since the commencement Of
the war, OF what constitutes government man and
what his Opposite.
| HEADoUARrERs DEPARTMENT OF THE ONO,
| CINCINNATI, Ohio. May Ii, 1853.
10 tho Honorable the Circuit Court of the United
States within and for the Southern District OF Ohio
! The undersigned, commanding the Department OF
tho Ono, having received notice from the clerk of
said Court that an application for The allowance of
! Il writ o; heabas corpus will be made tins morning
| before your honors on behalf OF Clement J.. Vallan
d'glIam, now prisoner in my custody, asks l.av.
TO submit to the court the foll1 win: staiement:
| Ii were to indulge in wholesale criticisms of th.
policy OF the government, it would demorlzc the
army under my command, and every friend of his
country would call me a traitor. Ii the officers or
soldiers were to indulge in such critcisns it wout
weaNcn the army To the extent of their influence; and
II thId citcisn were unIrcts ia the army, it would
cause 20 be broken 70 pieces, the government to b.
DIVIDED, oar homes to be inv ldcd, and anaicliy t.
iciS. Ny duty to my government fOrbdo me To
III huge IN snch criticisms; officers and soldiers are
not Howe to s. indulge, and TINS course will Lc
s4St@ancd by all honest men.
Now, wIi 90 f"Ttncr, We arc in state Of evil
war O1e 0I tnc StltNs oi tins department is at this
m Inent invaded, and three others have been threat.
encd command tho Department. and it is .Iy duty
to my co inry and to this army to keep il in the best
possible conditIun 10 that 1t fed, clad armed
and, as Tar as possible, to that it Is encour lgcd
II IL Is my duty and the duty OF the troops to avoid
saying anything that would weaken the army; by
pr venilng u single recruit hom Joining the ranks,
oy bringing the laws OF Congress into dIsrcpulr o.
Oy causinI dissatisfaction IN the ranks It is e0uaIIy
the duty "t every citizen in the department 20 avoid
the same evil Ii is my duty Ia prevent the pro,
pRgdtion OF tins cvII IN the army, ii portion OF
my deptrtucn:, It ~ equally duty IN all portions
OF IT. aud is my duty TO use all the ofce in my pow.
or t. stop it,
If were to find man from the cnemy's country
distributing in my camps speeches of their public
men, that tended to dcmoralzc the trooBs or TO de-
siroy tn r con idcncc IN the Constituted authorities OF
the g'ycrnmcn, L would have them tried, and hung
1t found guilty, and all the rules of modern warfare
would sustain me. Why should such speeches from
our IVA public men be allowed?
The press, amC public men, in great emergency
like the present, should avoid the sf party epl.
thets and bitter nyeciives and discourage the or.
gan zajInn OF crct Political societies, which are
always un Ignlicd and d>gracelul to Il free people:
bGt now they absolutely wrong and inlurInu,;
they create dlssenSions and dscord, which, Just nnw
amount to treason. The simple names ''Patri t"
and "IraItOr are comprehensive enough.
As before said, in a state of civil war
and an emergency is upon winch requires the
operations 0: some power that moves more qu ok.
y than the civil.
There never was carried on successfully
without the ex, rcse OF that power.
1t Is sild TINT the speeches winch are condemned
have been made IN the presence of large bocies of
citizens, who, if they thought them wrong, vyonld
have then and there condemned them. Tnt is no
argument. These citizens do not realize the effect
upon the army of our COUNTRY who are lis Tenders
lhey have never been ~ ilie heidi never fac d the
enemies OF their Country; never underwent the pri-
vatIons OF our soldiers the field; and besides they
have been IN the habit of hearing their punic n.n
Sp"ak and as general thing, of approving of what
they say, therefore tho greater rtspons b ty rests
upon the public men anc upon the pnhc press and
t behoovcS them to be careful to what they say.
They must not use license and plead that they are
exercising liberty. In TINS department il cannot be
Done shall use all the power have TO break down
su IN ccn>e, and sure | will he sust .incd IN
thls course by all honest men, At all events, will
have the consciousness hcfnrc God of havinp done
my duty to my country; and when | am swery,d
from the Performance OF that duty by any pressure,
public Or private, bv any PREJUDICE Will no onr-
Cr be man or 4 patrio..
again tTt, t!at every power ossess on earth
or that Is given me from above, WIN . lSei in de-.
i'hcc OF my government, all ons at all
tunes and IN all places within this ID, D. rtment.-
ih'rc is u" Party-n" communIty NO stat govern
ment-no 81 lie legislative bIdy-nO corporatlnli or
/ 4
war policy th las the validity of law and powcr
but III constituted author ties of tnc United States;
and am determined to snppnrt their policy. If the
people do not approve that lIcy, they en- Chanr.
the constitutional authorities OF that governments at
the proper time and The proper method. Let them
ecly s'lSs the policy IN per tone; hu' my
dnty rtquns me 10 stop license, and lnlcm.rae dis.
clSslor, which tends weaken the authority Of the
government and army while the latter Is in the pre-
sehcc o Tie enemy, II Is cOwardy To wrahrn II.
lhIs license could not be used IN our camps-thc
man would be torn in pieces Whp would All. npt II.
There Is no fear of the people losing tier Uertl $
we ali know that 10 be Tn" cry of dcnagoguc<, and;
none but the ignorant will listen To ii; all int, igcn
n'n Know that our people to fr Gdranc d IN tlr
scale e6f regI", cvliiZ Ition education and freedom
TO allow any power earth to int, rfcrc with the
liberties; but this same adv ,nccmcn in these great
CHAR cterlscs of our people, each them To make
all the necessary sacrifices fr their country when
an emergency requires. They will support the con.
sttuted authorities of the governments whether tncy
agree with then or not. Indeud the army itself is
part of the people, and is SO thoroughly educated in
the love of civil liberty, which is the best guarantee
Tor The peTmancnce of republican institutions
that 1t would II, elf be the first TO uppo any attep
to continue the exercise of military authority after
the establishment OF peace by the orerterow of the
rebellion. No man earth lead our CITIZEN
s0l'Iery to the establishment Of military lrSpoliSn
and no man living will have the folly to attempt it,
TO do SO would be to seal his own doom. On this
point there can be ground for apprehension on
the part of the people.
1t is said that we can have peace if we lay down
our arms. All sensible men know this To be untrue
Were 1t so, "ught we 10 be cnwsrdly as tolly them
down until the authority Of the government is ac
knowcdged?
beg to call upon the fathers, mothers, brothers,
sisters, ms, daughters, relatives, friends and neigh
hos of the soldiers in the field 10 aid me ir stopping
this license and intcmPcrate discussion, whchis dis
couragelng our armies, weakening the hands of the
government and thereby strengthening the enemy
If VIC use our honest efforts God will bless us with
a glorious peace aud united country. Men of eve
ry shade of opinion have the same vital interest in
the suppression Of this rebellion; for, should we fail
in the task, the dreadful horrors of ruined aud dis
tracted nation will fall alike on ALL whether patriots
or traitors.
These are substantially my reasons for issuing
"General Order No. 3s," my reasons for the deter
mination to enforce it, and also my reason for the
arrest of the Hon. Z. l., Valcndg ham, for suppo.
ed violation Of that order, for which he has been
tried. The result of that trial is now in my hands