Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1864-11-07

rights and their persons for, when bad men
combine, good men" said the great Edmund
Burke, "must associate Loud applause
And if they see iit to meet with doors locked,
to require FORMS and ceremonies, signs, grips
and passwords-though / look upon these as
unassental and absurd and sometimes o6ens
i've 10 good sense and good taste--if they
choose to demand lawful oath or obligation,
aud 10 enjoin secrecy, they have the right to
do it Renewed applause They are not
couspirators, but patriots,
Tho test of lawlulness or unlawful
ness does not depend upon ritual or obliga-
ton, secrecy, but upon thoir purpose IF
il be to overthrow the government, state or
| federal to resist judicial process; to resist the
laws Of the land or the constituted authorities
of the government in the exercise Of their law
fol powers and rights; it il be to seize arse
mails or other public property, to release rebel
prisoners ol war, or IN any other wav to give
laid and comfort to the enemies Of State
or Of the United States, within the conslitu-
tional meaning OF that term, then il is an uD-
lawful organization, "A conspiracy, whether 1t
be open or secret, aud as | announced on the
| day OF my return TO my home and native state,
in June last, at Hamilton, 'the oiiense is trea-
sou, and the penalty death " Loud applause
But we OF the democratic party have right
in times like these, TO unite in any sort Of or.
ganization for tho purpose Of advancing the
cause and interests OF our party, Of securing
political power and Office, by peaceable means
through the ballot-box Applause, More
than that, we have the right, under the con
slitution, and by law and by nature, TO defend
our liberties, to protect our persons, to vindi-
cate our rights, and secure that which cnnsli-
tuition and laws give us, but which arbitrary
L..
by the strong hand, attempt 10 take away
Great applause IL not, then better sur
render the form of government which our
fathers made for us, aud choose king st
once.
You hear much jnst now Of a secret organ
izhtioD, or order, called the Sons ol Lib
erty, which is said to exist Well, gentle
men, have read carefully all that the spies
detectives. and informers of this administra.
lion have revealed, and all that Sanderson,
Darlington, Holt aud Mary Ann Pittman
have made public and am here todny TO
say that neither in the ritual, nor the obi.
| CATION, nor the lessons or declaration of prin-
ciples, is there one word "treasonabla" in it's
character, or inconsistent with tho highest
aud most delicate allegiance which Amer.
| lcan citizen owes to his country and to its
| government, or the duty which an American
freeman owes toI himtef cloud cheers -
The ritual in it,elf, lis nothing; aud the obli-
CATION nothing and a. TO the principles an-
nounced, they Rre precisely those to which
every American, Of every party, heretofore
has subscribed They arc the doctrines OF
every democratic presidential convention for
the last thirty years Nay, part of them are,
word for word, the Virginia aud Kentucky re-
aoluions of 1898, penned by Madison and
Jefferson. Loud applause Aud yet six
| ty years later the doctrines OF the fathers Of
the republic, and founders Of that great dem
ocratic party which made the country, glorious
and great, are denounced as treason :" aud
they who dare hold to them las enemies to
their country aud nspirators against the gov
ernment
But, gentlemen how comes it that in all
these startling revelations, these conspiracies
aud plots, these secret societies, this clamor
about oaths and obligations and rituals, we
hear nothing OF the LOYAL Union League
and the Strong Band and other powerful
and dangerous secret oath bound societies
! friendly 10 the re election of Abraham lin.
coin but hostile to the peace and good order
OF every community Why is Rosecrans 81.
lent2 Why Carrington dumb Why has
Mary Ann Pitmau no revelations TO disclose
and why even does Judge Advocate Holt's
hatulent eloquence fail TO give forth solitary
rumble2 Aud yet such organizations exist
every where, military in their character and
drilled, diSciplied, and armed-yes, armed with
mnskels, the public property Of tho United
States or OF the State aud paid for out oftax
es wrung from your hard earnings Why, it
was but a ie" weeks ago that the grand conn
ell OF the Union League Of the State Of New
York, assembled at Syracuse, and sitting rs
an adjunct OF the Republican State Conven.
ton, unanimously adopted this resolution:
Resoiped, That we earneslly recommend
aud urge upon the subordinate connoilsl 10 ar