Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-03-05
.ORNING LEADER.
- Hlekory Id the Butternnt.
From the Cincinnati Commercial


Notification is given by many Of the
newspapers that represent the peace oeiu-
sionists and call themselves organs OF lne
Democracy of the day, that the butter
nut is now the accepted emblem OF the De-
mocIatic party. They call 1t the . tree OF
Jove," and discover strong symbols in the
INIT. The Cincinnati Enquirer says OF the
name Hbutternuts which it claims for
the Democrats: I'VE thank the Adolf
tiouists for -bestowing the name upon u.s.
'Old Hickory was not more potent as ap-
piled to General Jackson, than VIII IN the
future, the term butternuts, as applied TO
the Democratic party" Papers conducted
sftsr the manner Of the Enquirer, contain
similar expressions The glorie5 Of the
tree are celebrated, and persons Of the
peace persuasion are wearing butternuts
upon their watch. guards.
We commend the justice, if We can not
the taste or Judgment Of those Peace
Democrats who have adopted the butter
nut as typical Of their party. They have
not only abandoned the principles Of Jack
son, but with them have discarded the
hickory as the party standard and adopted
the butternut. They have abandoned the
noblest and adopted the nastiest Of Ameri-
can trees. The hickory is splendid tree,
beautiful in youth and grand in old age.
Il towers above the rest Of the forest and
the storms OF centuries rush through its
rugged and lofty crest, making music in
its soaring branches.
The butternut is a short, crooked, stunt
ed tree, an overzrown weed, almost inva-
risbly rotten at the heart and dead at the
top. Its internal decay is prolific Of YER
min, and the tree sWarms with vast
variety Of loathsOme worms. Where by
accident It is rooted in the same soil with
the hickory, it seems to squat under its
superb and stalWart neighbor, like mean,
malignant dwarf, hollow but for rotten
ness, infested with creeping things and be-
deviled with an imbecile purpose Of assas-
Sination, just the thing 10 represent sym
psthy with & guerrilla murderer. As its
age increases, the woodpeckers, after the
worms, work it full Of hollows, and it be-
comes the resort Of owls, bats, 'possums,
and other creatures that shun the light.
And as it is low, and frequehts low ground,
where offal accumulates, it suits the buzz
gard for q perch, whereon he may deze
away the hours while he digests his gorge
Of earrion, and the pilfering crow is fond
Of its dead top, as q lookout for chances to
suck eggs in the fenee-eorners.
But the hickory loves and adorns the
hill-tops, and lifting its proud arms into
the atmosphere Of eagles, cradles the
young birds Of our country in the noun
tain winds.
We shoald like to see the Peace Dem
oeracy" getting up butternut pole. They
could hardly ind one long and stron g
enough to keep e secesh flag economically
made from dragging the ground, and we
suppose they would hardly have the ef-
fFontery to attach the cold flag" to the
rotten sticks they tie to. The wood is soft
and brittle, and does not bear splicing. 1t
presents no possibility Of an axe handle,
or even Of q serviceable club, aud is unfit
70 burn except on brush heaps, like other
trsfh that cumbers the ground It takes
hickory pole to hold up the stars and
stripes, to wave and glitter in the breeze
and sunlight and shine afar.
If the virtue that the "Peace Dem
ecracy" find in the butternut is in the
color that decoction Of the bark yields,
Il may be remarked that it is esteemed as
a good eoI0r to hide dirt and that it is SO
nearly that Of the sacred soil, " that gar
ments dyed with 1t are extremely Rdvau-
Eageous to the rebel bushwhackers and
guerriIlas, who wear them, in enabling
them to hide in the bushes 10 assassinate
the "blue jackets" Therefore, it is a
color becoming dirty murlerers, and those
who sympathise with them. It hides dirt
and promotes the assassination Of thOS1
vho serve their country,
It is well that Democrats who look to
Aaron Burr, John C. Calhoun, and John
c. Breekinridge, as their exemplars, have
ceased to affect regard for the hickory,
and conceded the superior and, indeed,
indispensable claims Of the butterlut as
their representative. Let the Jackson tree
be the standard tree, as the jackson motto
Is the Watchword, OF those who hate trait
srs as Old Hickory hated them; and we
shall see whether the long pole that knocks
the persimmons in this war IS of hickory
or buttn--ut, and in which timber the
toughest fibre is to be found.