Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-10-27

the fitting 6 cornerstone" for the government
of rebellion, every fibre Of whose body and
every throb ofsHhose soul is born of the
traitorous ambition and slave-pen inspira-
tons of the South.
To these detestable tenets is added that
other pernicious political theory of state SOW
ereignty, with its necessary fruit, the mon
strous doctrine Of secession-a doctrine which,
in asserting that in our fsderative system a
part is greater than the whole, would compel
the general government, like a Japanese
slave, to commit hari-kari whenever a faith
less or insolentAs. state should command it to,
do SD.
Thus, the ritual, after recitfng that the
states Of the Union are e" free, independent
and sovereign proceeds as follows:
Sc The government designated The United States
of America has no souersionty, because that is an
attribute with which the people. in their several
and distinct political organization sre endowed
and is inalienable 1t constituted by the
terms OF the compact, by all the states through
the express will OF the people thereof respectively
"a common agent, to use and exercise certain
named, specified, defined and limited powers which
are inherent of the sovereignties within those
states 1t is permitted, far regards its status
and relations, as common agent in the exercise of
the powers carefully and jealousy delegated to it.
to call itself supreme, but not 6 S0rereiga. In
founded the AnaeTicantheory, government can sx-
ercise only delegated power hence, T,these who
shall have been chosen to administer the govern
ment shall assume to exercise powers not deleeat-
ed they should be regarded and treated as atSatr-
pers. The reference to inherent power war
power or military necessity, the part of the
else of power by him, We will not accept in pala-
ton or excuse ..# ...T.I. r." B..
To this is added, as corr ollary: .-.
90 It is incompatible with the history and nature
of our system of government that Federal author
ity should coerce by arms sovereign state
The declaration of principles, however,
does not stop here, but proceeds one step
further, as follows:
Whenever the chosen officers or delegates shall
fail or refuse to administer the government in
strict accordance with the letter of the accepted
constitution, it is the inherent right and the solemn
and imperative duty of the people to resist the
functionaries, and if need be- to erpel them By force
Of arms Such resistance is not revolution but is
solely the assertion of rght--the exercise of all
the noble attributes which impart honor and dig
nifty to manhood
To the same effect, though in mider tone,
is the platform of the order in Indiana put
put forth by the Grand Council at their meet
ing in February last, which declares that,
The right to alter or abolish their government.
whenever it fails to secure the blessings of liberty
is of the inalienable rights of the people that
can new er be surrendered" se.4
Such then are the principles which the new
member swears TO observe and abide by in
his obligation, set forth in the ritual, where
he says:
IS I do solemnly promise that will ever cherish
in my heart of hearts the sublime creeds of the E.
excellent Knights, and will, SO far as in me
lies, illustrate the same in my intercourse with
men, and will defend the principles thereof if need
be with my life, whatsoever assaiIed in nv own
country first of all. do further solemnly declare
that VIII never take up arms in behalf of any
government which does not knowledge the sole
authority of power to be the will of the governed %
In the same connection may be quoted the
following extracts from the ritual, as illustra-
ting the principle Of the right of revolution
and resistance to constituted authority insist
ed upon by the order:
50 Our swords shall be unsheathed whenever the
great principles which we aim to inculcate and
have sworn to maintain and defend are assailed ~
Again: -
al do solemny promise, that whatsoever the
principles which our Order inculcates shall be as
sailed in my own State or country, [ will defend
the principles with my sword and my life in
whatsoever capacity may be assigned me by the
comp etent authority OF our Order"
And further: r
"I do promise that will, at all times, if needs
in my own country first of al-against any power
or governme nt usurped, which may be found in
arms and waging war against people peoples
who are endeaVoring to establish, or have inaugu
rated, government for themselves of their own
free CHOICE
Moreover, it is to be noted that all the ad.
dresses and speeches Of its leaders breathe
the same principle, of the right of forcible
resistance to the government, as one of the
tenets of the order.
Thus P. G. Wright, Supreme Commander,
in his general address of December, 1868, af-
ter urging that the spirit of the fathers may
animate the free minds, the brave hearts,
and still unshackled limbs of the true dnaoc-
Tacy" (meaning the members of the order,)
adds as follows: G To be prepared for the
crisis now approaching, we must catch from
afar the earliest and faintest breathings of the
storm; to be successful when the storm
comes, we must be watchful, patient, brave,
confident, organized, armed"
Thus, too, Dodd, Grand Commander of the
order in Indiana, quoting, in his address of
February last, the views of his chief, vallan-
digham, and adopting them as his own, says:
"He (Vallandigham) judges that the Wash
ington power will not yield up its power, I'M
til it is taken from them by an indignant
people, By force Of arms" -.-. .-.r
Such, then, are the written principles of
the order in which the neophyte is instructed,
and which he is sworn to cherish and observe
as his rule of action, when, with the arms
placed in his hands, he is called upon to en-
gage in the overthrow of his government.
This declaration-frst, of the absolute right
of slavery; second, Of state sovereignty and
the right of secession; third, of armed resis-
lance to constituted authority on the part of
the disatfected and the disloyal, whenever
their ambition may prompt them to revolu-
tion-is but an assertion Of that abominable
theory which, from it's first enunciation, serv-
ed rs pretext for conspiracy after conspira-
cy against the government on the part of
southern traitors, until their detestable plot
ting eliminated in open rebellion and bloody
civil war. What more appropriate name,
therefore, to be communicated as a password
to the new member upon his first admission
to the secrets of the order could have been
conceived than that which was actually
adopted-that of Calhoun pa man who,
baffied in his lust for power, with crashing
teeth turned upon the government that had
lifted him to its highest honors, and upon the
country that had borne him, and down to the
close of his fevered life labored necessarily to
scatter far ard wide the seeds of that poison
of death now upon our lips. The thorns
which now pierce and tear US are of the tree
he planted.
Judge HOLT then sets forth the specific
purposes and operations of the order under
the following heads, giving summary of ev-
idence under each: - .--ss
l. Encouraging and aiding soldiers to de-