St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-05-26
ST. CLOUD. MINNESOTA 2aEHURsJAY, MAY Is 1864

is the coilsc;cnce of the Thug makes him
an assassin; AMI these men Conscientious
ly commit perjury. But even if such per
jury be violation If conscience. will chat
!'An shrink from violating conscience who
has set his all, wealth, family, and life
itself, upon the. hazard Of the die? Is per-
jury greater Tia n treason and murder :?
Ver'iy' this IS attempting to bind Samson
with burnt withes.
Can any sane man doubt that if YOU
give the powers Of State governments into
the hands Of any part Of these people you
will not only. have to protect them from
the population but you will have to prot ect
yourselves from them 2 1t was but the 9th :
er DAY, as we are informed. that the wise
cQunsels of one man were all that sprevent-
ed the Union Governor of Kentucky from
plunging the State into rebellion and civil
war. And this was Kentucky-not South
Carolina! ~;
All other considerations aside, the safe
ty Of the. nation REQUIRES that we should
never permit this assassin, slavery, to rise
t. his feet, though he should fill. heaven
with his oaths and promises. =,
ls there any man who desires to see this
war fought. over again: If so, lie, him
stand forth and raise his protecting hands
over slavery. Is there any man who de.
sires the nation to recommence where it
commenced in the dark and awful days of
1861? 1t so. Yet him step forth and protec
slavery. For one. prefer the honesty and
The candor Of banners and long lines and
glittering steel and believing cannon,
rather than the bitterness Of battle hidden
under the honey Of peace, rather than the
stiletto ct some ELOQUENT traitor driven
home into the heart of an unsuspecting
and unguatded people in the hours conse-
! Grated tc peace and rejoicing.
Then, Mr. Speaker, am for the bill in
trrdGeed by the gentleman from Maryland,
Mr.. Davis and if any measure of great
er security can be devised am for that.
am tor an amendment Of the Constitution
to prohibit slavery as soon as that is at
taiaable. am fcr any and every measure
which will add, in this respect, to the Sc
curity of The people.
l am aware, Mr.. Speaker, of the great
claims which President Llncol Eds upon
the people Of the United States. Irecog-
nize that popularity which accompanies
him, and which, considering the ordeal
through which he has passed, is little less
than miraculous. | recognize that unqucs-
tioning faith in his honesty and ability
which peryades all glasses, and that sincere
affection with which almost the entire pop
ulation regard hun. We must not under,
rate him even in our praises He is a
great man. Great not after the old models
Of the world, but :with.a hoIaeFy and orig
inal greathess. He will stand out to future
ages IN the. history Of these crowded and
confused times with wonderful distinctness.
!le. has carried vast and d;scordan. pop
sulation' safely and peacefully through the
gGfEatsSa ef geitcsl revolutions with such
he led he appeared to fellow; while 6iihe he She
novatea beyond all precedent be has been
denounced as ,ardy while he struck. the
shackles from the limbs cf three million
slaves he has been hailed as i conservative
II to adapt. pcrsis:ensiy and continuously,
just and righteous principles to all tie per-
picked wihd:ngs and changes of human
events, and TO secure in the end the ceTa-
plete triumph Of those principles, be states
manship, then Abraham Lincoln is the first
Of statesman: $500 80 -..
In SO far as his amnesty proclamation
springs from the tenderness and kindness
of MS heart, it is worthy of him, and
worthy of the merciftil, christianized, and
civilized American people, who, while de-
mar9ing all things necessary to their own
safety, will ask nothing for revenge.
II the end of the war is to be a restdra-
ton of the appearances of the old Govern
ment a patching together Of the broken
shreds and fragments; rag a propping up Of
the fabric in such style that ,e next Ad-
Mitistration may possibly get out from un-
der it before it falls, then that proclama-
ton may be found all sufficient: But for
all other purposes it will be utterly unavail-
ing. 1t does not reach the heart of the
distemper.
Ut will but skin and film the ulcerppz part,
1nfects unseen.'
We owe more than this to ourselves; we
owe more than this to the South. We must
regenerate tn, South. We must plant u
free press firmly upon its soil we must
guaranty freedom of speech throughout its
entire length and breadth; we must en-.
force education upon its .'eople. black and
white; The day Of ignominious martyr
don! for .oPinions sake is past forever with
in the limits Of the United States Never
again shall the reading of certain news
paper or the holding of certain political
doctrines be an indictable offense Rest
ing as our Government does upon the en-
lightened judgment of the people, We can
not permit crops of ignorance to ripen into
harvests Of rebellion. Thought must range
uniettered over the whole~ extent of tho
South, and education be everywh IRE Is free,
as pure. and as abundant as the air We
breathe.
1t is said TINT we propose to oppress the
people Of the: South. 1t would be well if
such oppression could cover the whole sur
face of the known world! Ours is all op-
preston which makes free ours a despot-
ism which builds the school l-house and the
printing office ours tyranny which sets
the plow moving in the furrow and covers
the lakes and rivers with the white wings
Of commerce. God give tn, world abund-
ance Of such oppression! -. ... .~.. F., -..
But there is behind all this further con-
sidcration, There is vast population of
human beings in the South hitherto held AZ
slaves. They are new freemen Many Of
them have fought Under our banners and
suffered wounds in our cause. Can we
permit their freedom to hang upon a haz-
ard? Can We leaye them, helpless and ig-
norant, to the mercy Of their late masters?
Can We give them the name and the SEM
blance of freedom and yet leave them to all
the horrors of renewed slavery! Is it the