The mountain Democrat., 1864-07-30
Mr.. ValIandIgham'S Speech at HAM
fltOn, Ohio.

y,>SOS ToAS&Ss SNd upon the soil at ivy native
State. Today | am once more within the
district which, for ten years, extended to
me the highest confidence and t! rec times
honOred me as iIs representative in the
Congress nf the United States. ! was &C
cKed Of no crime against the C0nstitu-
tinn or laws, and was guilty Of none. But
whenever and wherever thus charged, up,
Oh due process Of law, ! am now here
ready to answer before anv civil court uf
competent jurisdiction, to a jury "f my
country nen. and meantime to give bail in
any sum which anv judge or court, state
"r federal, NAV atiix and you, the hum
dref and eighty six thousand Democrats
Of Ohio, offer as NY suretieS. Never
iol one hour have remained in exile be-
cau>v recognized any obligation Of obe-
. iicnce to the unconstitutional and arbi
trary cdict. Neither did personal fear re-
strain me; and to day return "f my own
act aud pleasure, because it Is my conSti-
tutionll and legal right to return. Only
hy an cXrition of military power itself,
against Constitution aud law and c0nsum-
mated by military force, was abducted
from my home and forced into baniSh-
~ nj. he assertion of the President that
| was arrested "brcause labnring with
some t!f. Ct to prevent the raising of troops
and tN encourage de>ertion from the ar
N.Y." and was responsible fbr numerous
other acts Of resistance to the draft and
t. the arrest OF de>rrtrrs, causing "asSas-
rsiuati 1t, manning and murder, or that at
any time, IN any way, hal d;Sobryrd or
failed to counsel obedience to Law ful au
thuIitv, nr even to the srmhlance of law,
is absolutely false. appeal for the proof
to every speech ever made upon those
questions, and to the very record of the
mock military commission by the trial
and sentence of which I.was outraged. -
No, the sole offenSp then laid to my charge
was words of criticism Of the public poll
! cv If the administration. addressed to an
orcn and public political meeting Of my
fellow citizens Of Onio, peaceahy and
lawfully assembled. And to-day my only
climu' is that IN til. way which they
call II, aSnn worship the Constitution of
my fathers. But for now more than one
year, no public man has been arrested,
and II" newspaper suppressed within the
states adherng still to the Union, for the
expression ot political opinion; while hun
d'rd>, IN public assembly and through
the press, have iIh a li'euSe and violence
in which | ncv,r INDUCED, criticised and
! ruuuc,nurd the acts aud pulirie> Of the
admli l,tIatiun, and denounced the war,
maintain z even the pr0prirty and neces
>liN "i the recognition If southern indie
, i4cAs!ci.ce. lndnr>rd -Ly nearly t~o hui.
diri thousand freemcn Of the Democratic
party h my native State at the late cleo
uu", aui sill with the sympathy and sup
put vt millions more, do not mear any
,'nGcr 10 he the only man Of that party
who J. 10 he the victim ot al bitrary power.
If Abraham Lincoln seeks my life, let him
80 de"lart; but he shall not again deprive
me Of my personal liberty, except upon
due "pr"c IS Of law" The unc0nstitn
tlnnal aud monStrouS "Order 49," under
+ which alone was arrested over thirteen
months ago, was deliel and spit upon at
yorr SAT" convention of 1863 by the gal
iaut gentleman who bore the standard as
yoHr CluiiIate for lieutenant governor,
and by every Democratic press and public
speaker ever since. 1t j. dead. From
tli" first II was against the Constitution
and iaAS and without validity, and the
lrncpeAjug~ under 1t were and are utterly
mill and void and uf no Effect. The in
di4uant voice OF condemnation long since
went turtn from the vast majority Of the
people and press Of America, and from
a, free couutlirs in Europe, with entire
u"aLiinity; aai more recently, too, the
p,a form OF "A earnest. unanlinuuS, and
most rnldnLle convention Of the sincere
/ r pnhlcnn>.
I Stiii lurthrr, the cmrhatic letter OF &C.
ccLtance bN tn" candidate uf the cOnvra.
ton, General john {. Fremont, the first
can.irlnte also of the Republican party for
tnc pr, >iicncy eight years ago, upon the
ra.iyiug cry ol fr,c speech ani a free press
-'vc rene cd hope that at least the reign
1t arbitrary pGNcr is about ~ be brought
to an end in the United States. 1t is
neither just nor tit. therefore, that the
wrongs inflicted under "Order Thirty
/ eight" and the after rdictS and acts of such
power, should any longer he endured
certainly not by me alone But every or
'ilna4y m,an, Of rrdtcSN has first been ex
hru>ted y I either by the direct agency
at the administration aud its >uhordinateS
or rhtough It's II tlurncr or intimidatiunS
Ia tn C!Nl' courts, to meet % case which
n American ever in former times con-
rciv"d To h~ possible he'e, all have failed.
counsel applied in nv behalf to an unjust
Judge for the wit Of hn5clS corpus. Ii
+ Wa pruicd, and now the pri,iIese of that
, wit is suspend Il by act o Congress and
executive order, in every State. The
! Democratic CpnytNtlon OF OHIO, one year
ago, by 4 resolution formally presented
through cujl.tnitt"e e Your best and
ahlr>t men IN person, At Washington, de
/ mandrd of the President, in behalf of a
! s.ry targe minority If the people. a revo-
/ cation of the edict of punishment. Pre-
/ fencing that the public safety then re.
/ Qnirrd II, he refused, saying at the same
time, that it would afford him pleasure to
! comply, as soon As he could, by any
means, he made to believe that the public
safety would not suffer by it.
One year has elapsed, and yet this ho'.
low prctehse is still tacltly asserted and
/ to day am here to prove it un(ounded in
fact | appealed to the Sunreine Court ni
the United States, AMI, because Cong ess
had never conferred Jurisdiction in behalf
of ciIzcn tried by a tribunal unknown
for such purpose, to the laws, and cx
preSsly forbidden by the Constitution, il
was powerltSS 10 redress these wrongs. -
The time has, therefore, arrived, when it
! becomes me as a citizen of Ohio and the
United States, to demand and by my own
act't vIndicate the rights, liberties and
| privileges which never forfeited, hut Of
which, for So many months. | have been
deprived. Wherefore. men Of Ohio, "a
| 4 J,, I a