The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1864-04-22

. Vi tuC 4AUNS6I
Gold at l75, and Congress, with tax bills.
tariff bills bank bills, every financial measure,
liieess and shapeess, engaged in putting down
freedom OF debate in the National Capitol! La
the name of loyal people we protest. 1t is a
disgrace and an outrage.
We tell these men at Washington that pas.
sion IS making them mad. 1t is an absolute in.
fatuation that has seized them. Their words
strike upon the ears of the people like the oib-
beilsh OF Bedam. Where have the senses of
Congressman gone that they don't realize the
terrible burdens that rest upon the people. and
the fearful dangers that confront the Govern
ment! Do they call themselves loyal men. and
yet play these fantastic tricks! by their default
the prices of everything that sustains life are
/ rapidly mounting. The currency is gradually
turning INTO worthless rags Inch by inch foot
! by foot, the Government moves on straight be-
tore the eyes OF its guardians, toward the bot
| toniless PIT OF bankruptcy-yet distant but un-
I-sS they act, inevitable. Not an arm do they
I yet raise to save it. III they had but done The
duty they were put to do the credit of the Gov
crnment would still be resting on It's old foun-
datIons They have neither done it nor made
any rational effort to DO it. 1t is not misfor-
tune, but guilt, that rests upon them! not fail
ure, simply, but faithessness.
1t Is astonishing, i is astounding that the
House, alter this long and fragrant neglect of
duty should turn upon one OF its members in
TINS herte fashion, for encouraging the enemy
| by words-by words which were made of air
and which II they had been lei alone, would
! have straightway vanished into air Ii is the
"lldness OF the fireman who stands molioaicss
whie the flames are gathering headway, and
iaIlS foul OF the man who declares that the fire
Will not be subdUed. 1t is the inaction of these
| so-called loyal servants Of the peopte that is
aiding the rebellion ten thousand times more
than the so-caed disloyal speeches of the NAL
| contents OF the House Not words, but acts.
are to decide this war. Unf;iithfuIness in re-
spect to the former shTinks into insigniicance:
It Is absolutely nothing, when measured against
that other untaithfulness in act, of which this
| House Is every day making Itself guilty
Not content with the fatal dereliction of necs
lectlng indispensable action, this body must su-
| Peradd an equally fatal positive act. Unsatis-
! privlhg 6dle eGEciTlrheau uSIf hgn gebnI1 y eIas
which is its life, they must put inlo the hands
of the Northern Copperheads weapon of more
deadly potency than they have ever yet handled
or hoped for How is it possible tor true men
So to misunderstood the American people, as to
suppose they will submit quietly 10 this detruc-
| ton OF free debate IN the council halls of the
nation! What hellebore have they been drink
ing IN W Washington that has drugged their old
| perceptions? AGc we to be told that american
liberty Is OF the bastard type these men would
make il Has it indeed, 50 degererated since 1t
| was transported from Its native land Is our
| national Capitol 50 much below Parliament
! House, that men may only talk in it ''by the
card" and with hated breath For the last
| hundred years who has heard of II parliament
tary expulsion in England for words spoken in
i debate! If the House of Representatives expel
! Mr, Long as attempted, it viii prove beyond
all possibility OF question or cayil that the free
dom OF debate undel our boasted republicanlsm
IS not even what II was under lhe 'EriiIsh mon
archy against the tyranny Of which we reyol'
| ted. Every American school-boy knows that
| the language used in Parliament against the
! Government in favor Of the American rebels,
| WAS hundred times stronger than any that
| has been used in Crongress against oar Govern
mcnt in favor OF the Southern rebels, and that
it was used with perfect mpunily in the very
| face of overwhelming Government majorities.
! SAID Lord Chatham in the House OF Commons,
| in l7l7, 'If / were an American, as | am an
Engilshman, while foreign troop was landed
III my country, / never would lay down my
lAtNCi; MY u HAS al liill lIkC
| that been heard in Congress from the sympa-
thizers with our rebellion? Said Fox, ''There
IS not an American but must reject and resist
the principle aud the right" The worst that
Mr.. Long said falls far short of that Moth
ing IS gained by saying that the American re-
bellion was right, and the Southern rebellion
wrong-that Chathams arguments were good
and Longs arguments bad. To the strong ma
Jorities in Parliament our rebellion was just as
hateful, and the necessity of supporting Gov
ernment, in war already undertaken for the
maintenance OF its authority, just as imperative
! as can be here even with our own Congression-
al maJorities in respect to our own rebellion
They did not curb the speech OF the sympathizers
with our rebellion, simply and solely because
they did not have the right, nor did the Consti-
tuition give any such power.
We use plain language, because the crisis
demands it. 1t is no time for honeyed speech,
either towards men or parties. The cause of
the country alone has claim. We will not look
passvely on while that cause is crippled, either
by mistaken friends or malignant foes. 1t is
sure OF triumph if those who are specially de-
puted TO save it, the leaders IN the feld the leg
isators and administrators in civil life, and the
conductors OF the public press through which
/ public opinion mainly speaks, do their duty
faithfully and well But if there be unlaithful-
ness in any of these spheres of action, untold
calamity may come We are as sure as of the
sun at midday that the people are not satisfied
with either the past inaotion or the present ac-
tion--of their Representatives in Congress
that among great numbers of those most earn
est in their loyalty, there is a discomfort verg-
ing closely upon disgust This discomfort we
do not deplore IT comes from the very high