Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-11-04
"A FREE ELECTION OR A FREE
- FIGHT"

This is favOrlte piece Oh gay Ooth
among the orator. and editors OF the Cop
nerbesd crew. Dave Buel, their candi-
date for Governor of this State, is reported
hv the Esmeralua Union to have made big
,hrea,s about wha. he would do if any
body tried to stop him from voting. The
big humbug! As if he dreamed for a
moment that there was the least likelihood
of his being interfered with. He kne,c he
was talking the vilest kind of trash and
buster; and if he had had the decency of
Hottentot he would have been ashamed
of himself. The N. Y. Times has very
nice little article on this subject, and
quotes very pertinent order of General
McClellan's, which will, perhaps, astonish
some Copperheads and irritate good
many of the free election or free fight "
| crowd. This military interference"
about which so much has been SAID,
| amounted to just this: that sufficient
force has been, in some cases, sent to GER
| tain localities to prevent disunionists from
intimidat!ng loyal voters, or taking pos
session of the polls. 1t has never been
even charged that more than this was
done; and in doing that much, the Ad-
ministration only followed precedent
first set BY General Nc Clellan, as the order
quoted by the Times will show:
| HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
| WASHINGTON, Oct. %, le6l
! General: There is an apprehension among
| Union citizens in many parts OF Maryland, ui
an attempt at interference with their rights
| of suffrage by disunion citizens, on the occa-
sion of the election to take place on the 9TH
. Of November next.
In order to prevent this, the Major General
! Commanding directs that you send detach'
ments of i sufficient number OF men to the
different points in your vicinity where the
elections are TO be held, TO protect the Union
voters. and to see that no diSunionists are
allowed to intimidate them, or in any way to
interfere with their rights.
| He also desires you TO arrest and hold IN
! confinement, till after the election, all dis
unionists who are known to have returned
! from Virginia recently, and who show them
selves at the polls, and to guard efectually
/ against any invasion of the peace and order
I Of the election. For the purpose of carrying
. out these instructions, you are authorized to
suspend the writ of hdbeds corpus. General
Stone has received similar instructions TO
these. You will please confer with him as to
the particular points that each shall take the
| control OF.
! lam, sir, very respectfully, your obediens
servant, r. B. MARCY, Chief Of Staff.
! Major General n. P. Banks, Commanding
Division, Muddy Branch, Md.
In this order, General Mcclellan directs
his military subordlnates to station troops
at the polls; but he goes much further
than this, for he orders the peremptory
and ndiscriminate arrest, without d war
rant or other legal proceeding, of large
number of persons, and that without in
curing whether they intended wrong or
not; and in order 10 prevent any inter-
ference for the protection of the rights OF
these persons, he authorized his subordi-
mates to suspend the writ of ha6eGS cor
pus" at their discretion Some Of Ger.
McClellan's organs threaten revolution if
the Administration should Offer to furnish
troops to protect loyal voters, and keep
safe the polls in parts of Maryland or
Kentucky. We can assure these 6re-eaters
that the Administration will do nothing
which is not necessary for the safety of
Union-loving citizens, of whatever politi-
cal party and in any case, they will not
90 beyond the order Of Gen. Mcclellan.
printed above, with which, Of course, the
McClellanites can have no fault to find.