The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1863-07-02

stand, was made for very different
reason, Mr.. .yallandigham avows his
hostility to the war ON the part Of the
] Union and his arrest was made be-
cause he was laboring, with some ef;
feet, TO prevent the raising Of troops
to encourage desertions from the army;
and to leave the rebellion without an
adequate military force 20 suppress it
He was not arrested because lie was
damaging the political prospects Of the
! Administration, or The personal inter
ests of the commanding General, but
| because he was damaging the army
upon the existence and vigof' Of which
the life Of the nation depends. He isl
warning upon the military, and this
i gave the military. constitutional juris-
diction to lay hands upon him. lfMr.
I Vallandigham was not damaging the
Z military power of the country, then his
arrest was made on mistake of fact,
which / would be glad to correct on rca-
sonably satisfactory evidence.
! I understand the meeting, whose
rcsolutionsI am considering, to be in
favor Of suppressing the rebellion by
military force-by armies. Long eX-
. Fpericnce las shown that armies cannot
be maintained unless deserton shall be
punished by the severe penalty Of
death. The case requires. and the law
and the Constitution sanctionthis pun
E shment. Must shoot asimplc mind
cd soldier boy who deserts, while I
must not touch hair OF a,wily agita-
tor who induces him to desert?' This
is none the less injurious when effected
4, by a father, or brother, or friend, into
a public meeting. and there working
upon his feelings till he is persuaded to
, write TO the solder boy that he is fight
,. ing in a bad cause, for d wicked Ad-
ininistration of a contemptiblc Govern
Iment, too weak TO arrest and punish
him if he shall desert. | think that in
!, such case, to, silence the agitation and
save the boy is not only constitutional.
butwithal great mercy.
/ - fl be wrong on this question of
constitutional power, my error lies in
believing that certain proceedings are
constitutional when, in cases of rebel
lion or invasion, the public safety re-
quires them, which would not be con-
stitutonal when, in absence ofrebel-
lion or INVASION, the public safety does
not require them ; in other words that
the Constitution is not, in its applica-
ton, in all respects the same in cases
I Of rebellion or invasion involving the
tpublic safety, as it is in times of pro-
g. found and public security, The Con-
stitution itself makes the distinction,
and ] can no more. be persuaded that
, the Government can constitutionallv
take no strong measure in time of re-
.,bellion. because il can be shown that
= the same could not be lawfully taken
in time of peace than | can be persua-
, ded that Il particular drug is not good
3 medicine for sick man, because it can
be shown not TO be good food for Il
! well one Nor am able to appreciate
Ethe danger apprehcnded by the meeting
! that the American people will, by
i, means of military arrests during the
rebellion. loso the ight of public dis
:. cussion, the liberty of speech. and the
press, the law OF evidence, trial by jury,
and habeas corpus, throughout the in
=, definite peaceful future, which trust
lies before them, any more than am
able to believe that Il man could con
tract so strong an appetite for emetics
during temporary Illness rs to persist
in feeding upon them during the re-
, maindcr of his healthfhl life. ,r
In giving the resolutions that earn
9 est consideration which you request of
me. | cannot overlook the fact that the
meeting speak as democrats" Nor
! can I with full respect for their known
intelligence, and the fairly presumed
deliberation with which they prepare
their resolutions, be permitted to sup
pose that this occurred by accident or
in any way other than that they pre-
ferred to designate themselves 'Demo-
Gratis" rather than "American citizens y
In this time of national peril would
have preferred to meet you upon a level
one step higher than any party plat
: form; because I am sure that, from such
more elevated position, we could do
better battle for the country we alllove
than we possibly cah from these lower
ones where from the force of habit, the
preiudiccs of the past, and selfish hopes
of the future, We are sure to eXpend
= much of our ingenuity in finding
fault with, and aiming blows at, each
other. But since You have denied me
: this, ! will yet be thankful, for my coun-
try's sake, that not all Democrats have
done so. lie on whose discretionary
Judgment Mr. Vallandigham was ar
rested and tried is Democrat, having
no old party affinity with me; and the
Judge who rejected the constitutional
view expressed in these resolutions, by
refusing to discharge Mr.. Vallandig-
ham on a writ of hdbeuS corpUS is a
Democrat of better days than these,
having received his judicial mantle at
tho hands Of President Jackson. And
still more, of all those Democrats who
are nobly exposing their lives and she'd
ding their blood on the battle field, l
have learned that many approve the
course taken with Mr.. Vallandigham,
while have not heard a single one
condemning it. / cannot assert that
there arenone such. And the name Of
President Jackson recalls an instance
y u -. ! l,;e+on,- aor fha hottla