Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-06-23
$ = E r G II.
HON. c. /. VALLANDlGHAM
At THE
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Ar
Hamilton. chfO,
on THE
Fifteenth Of June. 1864.
Fifteenth OF June, 1864.

Gbtteeutb OF june. lSGl.
MEN or ONO To-day ] am again in .
your midst, and upon the soil Of my native .
state. To-day am once more within the |
district which for ten years extended 10 me 1
the highest confidence, and three times
honored me az its Representative in the /
Congress Of the United States was ac-
cused Of no crime against the Constitution
or laws, and guilty of none. But whenever
and wherever thus charged upon me by pro-
cess OF law, am now here ready to answer
before any civil court Of competent juris-
dictlon, to jury Of my country1ncn; and
IN the meantime, to give bail i'll any sum
which any judge or court, State or Federal,
may allix and you, the hundred and eighty
six thousand Democrats of Ohio, ! offer
as my surctcs. Never for one hour have
remained in exile because ! recognized any
obligation Of obedience to the unconstitu-
tiona and arbitrary edict. Neither did per-
sonal fear ever restrain me- And to-day /
return Of my own act and pleasure, because
it is my constitutional and legal right to
return. Only by an excrtion of arbitrary
power, itself against the Constitution and
law, and consummated by military force,
! was abducted from my home and forced
into Punishment The assertion or insinu-
alton of the President that | was arrested
because laboring with some effect to pre-
vent the raising Of troops and to encourage
descrtiOns from the army, and was rcspon-
sible for numerous acts of resistance to the
draft and to the arrest of dcscrters, causing
assassination, manning and murder" or
that at any time, or at any place, or in
1 any way, | had -disobeyed or failed to coun-
sci obedience to the lawful authority. or
even to the scmblance of law. is absolutely
false. | appeal for the proof to every
spccch'l ever made upon those questions,
and TO the very record of the Mock Military
| Commission, by the trial and sentence by
which was outraged. No; the sole ofIensc
then laid to my charge was words Of criti-
cisn Of the public policy Of the Adminis-
tration, addressed to open and public po
ltical meetings of my felowctizens of Ohio,
lawfully and peaceably assembled. And
to-day, my only '''crime" is, that in the
way which they call treason worship | the
Constitution of my fathers. But for more
than one year, no public man has been ar
rested, and no newspaper suppressed with
in the States adhering still to the Union,
for the; expression Of political opinion
; while hundreds, in public assmbly and
violence in which | never INDUCED, criti
: lNiSSt bilt NpiINtCiihNb thS dtto anu lbIlNits
of the Administration, and denounced the
war, maintaining even the propriety ant
necessity Of the recognition of Southern
Independence. Endorsed by nearly two
numbered thousand frcemcn of the Demo
cratic party Of my native State, at the late
election, and still with the sympathy anC
support OF millions more, | do not NEAR
ony longer to be the only man of that par
ty who is to be the victim of arbitrary power
IF Abraham Lincoln seeks my life, let hin
so declare; but he shall not again restrain
! me Of my personal liberty, except upon
"due process Of law" " The unconsttution.
al and monstrous Order No. Thirty-cight
under which alone | was arrested thirtecr
, months ago, was defied and spit upon al
= your State Convention Of 1868, by the gal
S liant gentleman who bore the standard a.
0 your candidate for Lieut.. Gov, and bycver,
Democratic press and public speaker eve
It since. 1t is dead. From the first it wa
Il against the Constitution and laws, an,
c without validity; and all proceedings unde
Il no effect. The indignant voice OF conden
s nation long since went forth from the vas
majority of the people and dpresses of Amer
: ica and from all free countries in Europ
# with entire unanimity. Aud recently, toe
Is the platform Of an earnest, numerou
~ and most formidable convention of the sin
v cere Republicans, and still further tn
emphatic letter OF acceptance by the candi
{ date of that Convention, General John G
= Fremont the first candidate also of the re
u publican party for the Presidency cigh
: years ago, upon the rallying cry of Ere,
u Speech and a Free Press, give renewed
hope that the last reign of arbitrary power
/ is about to be brought to an end in tn,
e United States. It's neither Just nor fit
: therefore, that the wrongs inflicted undcl
. Order Thirty eight, and the other cdict
and acts of such power, should any longel
c he ensured-certainly not by me alone. Bu
every ordinary means of redress has frs
: been exhausted; yet either by direct agcnc,
d of the Administration and its subordinates
c or through its influence or intimidation, O
/ because Of want Of jurisdiction in the civi
y courts to meet case which no America,
ever in former times conceived to be posi-
i bic here, all have failed Counsel apple
n in my behalf to an Just judge for tn
70 writ Of habeas corpus. 1t was denied; an
" now the privilege Of that writ is suspendc
= by act Of Congress and Executive order i
% every State. The Democratic Conventio
~ Of Ohio, one year ago, by resolution fol
: mally presented through a committee
your best and ablest men, in person
Washington, demanded of the Presiden
: in behalf Of very large minority of I'll
people, a revocation Of the cdict of banisl
n ment. Pretending that the public salet
l. then required it, he refused; saying at tn
y same time that ''it would afford him plea.
e urc to comply as soon as he could by an
n means be made to believe that the publ
IT safety would not suffer by it," One yea
ii has elapsed, yet this hollow prctcnse is sti
:, tacitly asserted; and to-day / am here t
IS prove it unfounded in fact / appealed t
:, the Supreme Court of the United States
and because Congress had never contcrre,
y jurisdiction in behalf Of citizen tried by
&c tribunal unknown for such purpose, to tn
Io, laws, and expressly forbidden by the Con
Of stitution, it was powcrless to redress tn
Dl wrong.
OF The time has therefore, arrived, when
/, becomes me as a citizen Of Ohio and of tn
ID United States, to demand, and, by my ow
~ act to vindicate the rights, liberties an
privileges which | never forfeited, but {
,. which, for so many months have been d,
privcd. Wherefore, men Of Ohio, | al
again in your midst to-day. owe dutiC
te to the State, and am here to discharge then
N | have rights as citizen, and am here t
rs to assert them: wife and child at home
a and would enjoy all the pleasures implie
I'd in those cherished words. But am her
er for Deace not turbulence, for quiet nc