Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-10-13
4 Mcclellan Traitor RAMPANT.

mcclellan 1Tait0f Rampant.
Lsta' of Mayor Gunher, of Neao York
Wiz lie 1oon't rejoice eUeT Union victories.
Mayor GUNTHER, of New York, is ram
pant MCCLELLAN man, and presided at the Nc
CLELLAN ratification meeting in New York on
the 22d, and is one Of the acknowledged and
favorite leaders of the party By reading
his letter published below, refusing to permit
the public buildings of New York to be illu-
minated in honor of Union victories in the
field, the public will be able to judge Of the
character of a party which has such leaders.
As the New York Tribune well remarks,
"this man chosen to be be Mayor, year ago,
by the same votes that will, next month, be
given to the Chicago candidates, speaks with
authority. He fo1bids that the taking of the
rebel stronghold in Georgia, that the eccupa-
ton of Mobile Bay, that the rapid clearing
out of the Shenandoah Valley, and the dis
persion of the Rebel hordes, that threatened
again to spread destruction anO dismay and
ruin through Maryland and Pennsylvania,
shall be signalized by one token Of rejoicing
as a single flag or the glimmer of single
farthing- candle. Our brave men who fight
the battles of the Union by sea and land may
turn their longing eyes to their wished-for
homes, and, so far as the influence Of the
chief-magistrate of the chief Of Northern
cities, so far as the power of this acknowl-
edged leader of the Democratic party 60,
darkness shall brood over those homes by
night, and no gay banners float upon the air
by day, when the news comes that they have
again imperied their lives, have again, in
desperate fight scattered our enemies, and
are about, from the fields made rich with the
best blood of our sons and brothers, to reap
the rich harvest Of Peace and Liberty"
The following is the precious document:
MAYORS OFFICE,
New YORK, September 30, 1664.S
To the Honorable the Common Council:
GENTLEMEN-Your resolution of the Goth
instant, appointing a COMMITTEE of five from
each Board for the purpose of making the
necessary arrangements to cause the various
public buildings to be Illuminated III honor of
the recent victories on land and sea-" is re-
turned unapproved.
might acquiesce in your response to an
appeal of your fellow citizens, who might de-
sire to give an expression of their feelings
respecting these victories, but | must decline
to comply with your request to issue proc
lamation to the citizens generally, to join in
such an illumination, for various reasons,
which | will briefly state.
LIST. If | should issue such a proclamation,
there are many citizens who would be de-
nounced as disloyal if through want of oppor-
tunity, of inclination, or of means, they fail
| ed to comply with the recommendation
| I'd. By those in authority they are not
! claimed as Union victories, but as the result
of the Emancipation Proclamation and latest
! war measures of President Lincoln, as an
nounced i'll his "To whom it may concern "
manifesto.
| Sd. 1t is asserted that the new policy of
the Administration will give us a success on
of victories. If this be the case, your hon
orable body will be called upon to illuminate
| every fortnight, and if the papers i'll the
| employ of the Administration, which daily pa
rade " the defeat Of the Rebels" are to be
| believed, three times week.
| yield to no man in my attachment to
| Union as it was and the Constitution as it
is" but as the President demands of the
Southern people to abandon the rights which
! the Constitution coners, | do not see how
those, who have always held that the Federal
| Government has nothing to do with the do
nestle institutions of the States can be ex-
| pected to rejoice over victories which, what.
ever they may be, surely are not Union vic
| tories.
| If these victories were to Unite the States
and were sure harbinger Of peace, I would
| be pleased if | could issue such a proclama-
| ton as would induce the poorest citizen to
| part with his last mite for the purchase of a
| single tallow candle to celebrate the event
| Fourth: 1t has been the immemorial Gus,
tom of mankind, in all ages and climes, to
abstain from rejoicings over victories gained
in civil wars, and such has been the practice
thus far during the present strife, which has
| distracted our once happy Union. The only
| effect of departing from this usage, sanction
ed alike by humanity and sound policy, will
| be to acknowledge, by such exhibitions, that
| these are victories over aliens and enemies,
and that there is no hope OF securing peace
on the basis of the Federal Union. This
hope, in common with large number of our
tellow-citizens, I am not prepared to abandon.
You are aware that here is the essential
difference between the two parties now con-
| tending for political mastery in the Northern
States. One Of these declares that no terms
can be offered except such as may be based
| upon an unconditional surrender" of the rights
OF the States, and the other maintains that
peace may be restored on the basis of the
Federal Union"
Taking into consideration that canvass is
now in progress OF the most exciting charac-
ter, I am forced to regard the proposed dem
onstration as one of political nature, and,
according to the rule which 1 laid down for
my guidance on entering upon the duties of
Mayor, I cannot give it my official endorse
ment.
c. GODFREY GUNTHER, Mayor
IF MCCLELLAN Is ELECTED, WHAT THEN p
The Charleston CoN'ia" tells US, as follows:
Il LII LII oa.l.- oaraa and r,-az-a.. c.-41.