Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-07-25
The County Convention.

The County Convention.
This convocation Of loyal men, held
last Saturday at the Court House, was a
cheering indication that the Union men
OF Vandcrburgh county are fully alive
to the work which demands the efforts Of
the whole Union strength Of the nation
The attendance was larger, especially
from the country, than il has been at
any similar Convention that we have
attended in this county. There we're
enough persons present to fill all the
seats in the house Had the farmers not
been so busy with their harvesting, the
house would have been crowded almost
to sufocatien The audience was com
posed, for the greater part, Of the solid
men Of the city and country, and alto
geiher it was orderly and respectable,
and seemed impressed with the impor-
lance Of the business which it assembled
to transact
The official proceedings will be found
elsewhere in to-day's issue of this paper
The vote on the resolutions was very
enthusiastic, and the last resolution par.
ticularly, called forth an enthusiastic en-
dorsement
Col Richard Owen, late of the Goth
Regiment Of Indiana Volunteers, was pres
ent by special invitation, and addressed
the Convention. De spoke IA a War
Democrat, and gave his old party friends,
with whom he had always acted until
the Rebellion broke out, some fatherly
advice on their duty toward the Govern
meat in this great emergency. He drew
striking allegory in relation to the
foundation Of the Union, the attempt by
traitors to tear down the structure, and
the course to be pursued in the rebuild
ing. The Union he lkeued to beauti-
full temple supported by columns repre-
sented by the States, and resting on a
foundation composed of enduring granite
with here and there peculiar soft, black
rock, liable to crumble. The builders,
he remarked, probably thought that the
hardness of the granite would compen-
safe for the weakness of the black rock;
but time had proved that the black rock
was not durable, and he thought that as
the temple had been shattered by trait
ors, aud it was necessary to re-
construct it, the American poo
pie would conclude to iedre out
the defectire material in the foundation
and put in a more durable substance for
the renewed edi6ee The speakers fig
ure, and his idea of Reconstruction,
were greeted with much applause. Col
Owen touched on several other points
with good effect His candid and philo-
sophieal treatment of his subject, and
his reputation as a man of science and
deep thinker, gave his words great
weight He. incidently brought up the
subject of the proposed grant of land by
Congress to the States for educational
purposes, and urged voters to bear
the subject in mind in the election of
representatives to the next legislature,
by which the grant would have to be act
ed upon
Col. A. J. Fletcher, late of East Ten
nessee, was then called on for a speech,
and responded. To say that he made
the wool fly from rebels, North and
South, would give an inadequate idea of
the force of his speech. He has been
prosecuted by the rebels at his home,
and was driven away from wife aad chill
dren for his Unionism.
He has an excellent reason, therefore,
for being caustic, and for regarding all
who favor the rebellion, directly or in.
directly, as traitors differing only in de
gree. His words few straight to Their
mark Ike steelpointed shot from riflet
cannon, propelled by the force of his viii
and the power of his loyalty, and guided
by his exact logic aud his polished rhet
oric. Every shot told, and if there wer,
any retelS in the house, they were hi
where the missiles hurt He said tina
ne had seen the venomoas rebels of Eas
> Tennessee, under Confederate rule, an,
also the half subjugsted rebels of Middl,
: Tennessee, the hypocritical rebels o
Kentucky, and the eOwardly COpperhea,
rebels of the Free States, and if Their,
was any difference in tLem he couldn'
see it. He had read the rebel papers O
: Dixie and be had read the EvansviIl
Times, and they preached one and tn
same doctrine. He was for "eallin
things by their right names, and Cor
: perhead was rebel and nothing else
If there was any difference, the rebel
in arms were the more honorable of tn
two, because he had the courage to bac