Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-04-21


How tae Rebellion is Allotted in
COngress---The Folly 0f the
Esouse In Curbing Freedom of
speech.
From the New York Times administration
organ) of April IL.
Gold at l15 and Congress- with tax bills,
tariff bills, bank bills, every financial meas
ure, liieess and shapclcss, engaged in put
ting down freedom Of debate in the Nation
al Capitol! In the name OF loya! people we
protest. 1t is Il disgrace, and an outrage;
We tell these men at Washington that
passion is making them mad 1t is an absoo-
lutte infatuation that has seized them. Their
words strike upon the ears of the people
like the gibbersh of bedlam. Where have
the senses of Congressman gone that they
. don realize the terrible burdens that rest
upon the people, and the fearful dangers
that confront the government? DO they
call themselves loyal men, and yet play these
fanatic tricks? By their default, the prices
of everything that sustainS lie are rapidly
+ mounting. The currency is gradually turn
ing into worthless rags. Inch by inch, foot
. By foot, the government moves on, straight
/ before the eyes of its guardians, toward the
bottomless pit of bankruptcy-,-yet distant,
r but unless they act, inevitable. Not an
& arm do they yet raise to save 1t. 1t they
e had but done the duty they were put to do,
q the credit OF the government would still DC
! resting on it's foundations. They have nci-
y thcr done il, nor made any rational effort
: to do it. Ii is not misfortune, but guilt,
q that rests upon them; not failure simply,
r. but iaithlcssncss
/ It is astonishing, it is astounding, that
= the House, after this long and flagrant neg
lect OF duty, should turn upon one OF Its
ct members in this fierce fashion for encour-
+. aging the enemy by words-by words which
d were made of air, and which if they had
n been let alone, would have straghtway van
i ishcd into air 1t is the wildnoss Of the fire.
/ man who stands motionless while the flames
y arc gathering headway, and falls foul OF the
ID man who declares that the fire will not be
to 8ubducd. 1t is the inaction OF these So
,e called loyal servants of the people that is
aiding the rebellion ten thousand times more
ID than the so-cled dsloyal speeches OF the
ic malcontcnts Of the House. Not words. but
At acts are to decide this war Unfaithfulness
in respect to the former shrinks into insig-
rs nifcancc: it il absolutely nothing, when
90 measured against that other unflithfulness
10 in act, Of which this House is every day
=. =. making itself guilty -
a Not content with the fatal tIaiS+ don Of
n nogectng indispensable actiShSt this body
RS must supcradd an equally fatal positive act
unsatisfcd with helping on the Southerr
he rebels by dcpriying our government Of the
rh sound credit which is its life, they must pu
:, into the hands Of the Northern Copper
heads Il weapon Of more deadly potenc!
than they have ever yet handled or hopec
for. How is it possible for true men 81
q to misunderstood the American people, a
to suppose they will submit quietly to thi.
destruction Of free debate in the counci
n halls of the nation? What hellcbore hav,
IN they been drinking in Washington that ha'
III drugged their old perceptions Are we t.
be told that American liberty is of the bas
T. =, tard type these men would make it la
ii it, indeed, 50 dcgencrated since it was trans
a ported from its native land Is our Ma
u tional Capitol so much below Parliamen
a. House, that men may only talk in 1t "by
10 the card, " and with hated breath? For tn,
il last hundred years who has heard Of Il par
n Iirmcntary expulsion in England for word,
4 roscntativcs cxpel Mr.. Long, as attempted
,e it will prove beyond all possibility Of qucs
, ton or cavil that the freedom of debate un
der our boastcd Rcpubllcanism, is not ever
lc what it was under the British monarchy
" agaiust the tyranny OF which we revolted. =
10 Every American school-boy knows that th
language used in Parliament against tn
in Government in favor of the American rel
in els, was II hundred times stronger than an
that has been used in Congress against ou
p n Government in favor of the Southern rel
re- els, and that it was used with perfect impu
an an nifty in the very face Of overwhelming Gov
m enment majorities. Said Lord Chatham
r,al- in the House of Commons, in l177: IF
m were an American, as am an Engshmar
while FOREIGN troop was landed in my cOul
X try, | never would lay down my arms--neN
,is er, never nevcr' Has anything like tht
been heard in Congress from Che sympath
zers with our rebellion? Said Fox, "Iher
90 is not an American but must reject and resi-
he the principle and the right, The wor!
mt that Mr.. Long said falls far short of that.
M M Nothing is gained By saying that the Amc
lean rebellion was right an the Southern r'
Ir. belion wrong-that Cathams argumen
were GOOD and Longs arguments bad. l
r. the strong maoritics in Parliament our T.
,ss beion was just rs hateful, and the necesSit
Of supporting Government, in ii war alreac
~. undertaken for the maintenance Of its Al
MT thority, Just rs impcritve as can be heI
trY even with our own Congressional majorlti
in respect our own rebellion. They did NJ
n curb the speech of the simpathizers wit
,k' our rebellion, simply and solely because the
lr' did not have the constitutional power to {
,ly it, Neither does our Contribution give al
IT, such power,
We use plain language, because the ers
csc demands it. 1t is no time for honeyt
vas speech, either toward men or parties, III
, cause of the country alone has claim. "
zen will not look pasSively on while that eau
'on is crippled, either by mistaken friends
G9r malignant foes. 1t is sure of triumph
IT. those who are specially deputed TO save i
the leaders in the field, the legislators an
-. administrators in civil life, and the condu,
~ tors of the public press through which pul
in lie opinion mainly speaks, do their dut
les faithfully and well But if there be III
les f,ithtumcss in any of these spheres of n,
he ton, untold calamity may come. We are
th sure as of the sun at noon-day that the pee
he pie are not satisfied with either the past il
les action or the present action Of their Repre-
he scntativcs in Congress; that among grca
numbers Of those most earnest in their 10y
atty, there is n discomfort verging closely NJ
al. on disgust. This discomfort we do not d,
@m,aa plore. 1t comes from the very highest an
SS1 hest qualities Of the American nature.
m -,o- Were it absent we should despair Of Il
,O' ~ cause. A people that could be unmindf
tx of such neg glcct in their public servants
to these Representatives have displayed durr
the four months they have been in sessio
at such a critical period for the government
tai. onl thot noull hn inSanSihla IN tho Violati,