, 1865-02-03
THE GOVERNMENT CoPPERHEAD.-This Amer

Walla Walla, w. t., Friday, Feb. 3, 1860.
THE GOVERNMENT A ACoPPERHEAD.-ThisA Amer
ican Government of ours is beginning to show
signs of being nothing more nor less than
Copperhead concern. The Lincoln authorities
are now going in for the "Union as it was, with
the Constitution as it is" This Copperhead
motto they hold out to induce the South to
turn to its former condition in the Union. Mr..
Lincoln, however, insists upon the abolition of
slavery; but then he only insists that slavery
may be ultimately abolished-within a reason
able time. We don't know how long "a reasonable
time" is but suppose it means anywhere along
from fifty to a thousand years or so. At any
rate it is a long distance from that immediate
emancipation proclamation. The President in
his last message talked as though no power on
earth could ever induce him to set aside that
proclamation. But then as it was issued un-
willingly, and under the pressure of an inexora-
bic "military necessity" it is possible that it
may be set aside by the same rigid master, and
that the time is now at hand, when old military
necessity must rise up, shake his CORY locks and
demand that the emancipation proclamation be
set at naught. 1t is an absurdity as we'll as
contradiction for Mr.. Lincoln or his peace COM
missioners to say that they are in favor of "the
Union as it was and the Constitution as it is,
and at the same time to insist the abolition
of slavery So we must infer that the abolition
part of the peace propositions don't mean any
thing-except it was attached as little bait to
keep the Abolitionists quiet or in order to let
the Lincolnites get over to the Copperhead plat
form more gradually; for to get over to the Cop
perheads at one jump would break the Union
party's abolition backbone. The matter stands
that way, or else the Lincoln authorities are
making no honest efforts to effect peace and
union with the Confederate government. The
Administration may be offering propositions of
the Union as it was with Abolition ,oasnt, to
the South, in order to get the loyal North up to
a grand fighting heat for next summers cam
paign In case the South refused to accept the
the proffered terms, of course Mr.. Lincoln Co,
would say, "We offered the South everything
fair, but the rebels would accept nothing so
now let us exterminate the miscreants, and ex-
tirpate slavery from the soil of the republic. p
We are perhaps a little hard on the Administra-
tion in placing it in this last unfavorable light;
but it has disappointed us so often in its polit-
ical actions and tergiversations that we have
learned to look upon it with suspicion. We are
not to be censured for our suspicious, for the
Administration itself creates or causes them
Besides we might as well accuse the Admins
-;4I, for
the edifcaton of the Abolitionists, as to make it
out "Union as it was and Constitution as it isl
Copperhead. 1t hates the name "Copperhead'
and though it may ''within reasonable length
of time" advocate all the measures of extreme
Copperheadism, it will be averse to adopting
the name. So that if the "government" turns
out to to be Copperhead it will much rather
still be called an Abolitionist.
The Olympia Standard is making great ado
about ''upholding the government currency"
With it, everybody is disloyal who thinks gold
is better currency than greenbacks. The anx-
iety of the Standard patriots about the matter
i, easily explained. They get all their support
from the government and from government Off
cials, and receive their pay in greenbacks; and
if greenbacks become worthless they also be-
come worthless in monetary point Of view,
as they are already worthless in other respects;
but by putting their shoulders to the greenbaek
incubus, and giving it boost in common with
all other ofice-holding greenback supporters,
they hope to be able to push the currency up
so that they will make speculation from the
operation. If they fail to raise the value of
greenbacks, they hope by uniting all the advo-
Gates of the currency in grand and constant
blowing demonstrations, to keep it worth half
as much as gold, as theirponly escape from f.
nancial prostration. AS a general rule, it may
be set down as a fact that the ofice-holders who
are receiving or expecting to receive the largest
sums in greenbacks from the government, are
the ones who make the most noise about Cup
holding the government currency" and the ones
who cry out the loudest against specific con-
tract laws. The Standard is the greenback gov
ernment organ of this Territory, and from its
loyal tone on the shinpiaster question we Judge
that it will soon receive abundant supplies Of
paper money.