Litchfield enquirer., 1865-06-15
WING s sHUMwAy, Propr1eters.
Iitohaeld. Conn, Thursday, 7une.1s, 1aes

t-9 . SO Litohfield. Conn, Thursday 7una1s 1865.
 INNOCENT TR.AIT0Rs.
 MT. Gerritt Smith addressed. an audience of rebel sympathizers, in Cooper Institute last week. On Inc questioa of saaipersal pardon to the South. The osly two, other persons of any lame connected with the meeting, were Horace dreeley and Geo. Francis Train, both of whom endorsed Ar. Smiths speech at it's close. The speecA, was loudly applauded by the audience fos the most of whom it was probably plea tor pardon. His parallel of Davis and Lee with Washington and Franklin, excited special appreciation.
 Ills first argument was, that i've should nol punish her, because we have agreed not to pun
 ish her. We have agreed to conduct the wa, according to the laws of war. therefore we should not punish them as traitors" How otherwise than according to the laws of war
 can nation defe,,d itself with honor? Ger
 tainly our recogn iziug them as belligerents and | engaging with them in regular warfare, did no,
 acknowiedge their cause as righteous one
 We have always, by our proclamatons, ou,
 military orders and hy the popular sen,imen, of our people. charged them with treason and sedition. Either they have been right. and we had no 'Susiness to oppose them or they were wrong and therefore rebellious subjects.
 I'Ie speaker continued: ours was war be- tween two nations. When nation breaks
 Into two parts, the belligerents on each side be- come too numerous to be treated as rebels ?
 This is quite discovery that Mr. Smith made
 of the National character of the C.S. A. Even
 to the last day that the rebels held their capi-
 tai, no ruler in any cline, and no right minded
 person, had been able to distinguish the slight
 est feature of Nationality in their pretentious burlesqus of government. | Again {" our position would not be relieved by saying that the victor need not punish all but punish the few and pardon the many'
 Yet, it is the few" for whom you are pleading The pardon of the many has already been pre- scribed. Your voice is raised to protect ;he , guilty leaders and not the deluded followers 3 But the speaker proposes to prove that they
 arc all innocent. He does not plead pardon 3 for them, but acquittal. "Such thing would be a blot on all mankind, and am entirely . unwilling that it should go down to all future , ages that millions of my countrymen were for
 given for treason" He wants it to go upor . the record that the rebel cause was right, that Z its leaders were not traitors but patriots anG , do not deserve punishment nor require pardon 9 In this he agrees with traitors and their sym pathizers and with them only.
 "Another reason why the war should be car ried on according to the laws of war is, that where large masses of men take momentous steps, it is just to conclude that they had 6 conscientious belief in the righteousness of such
 steps," But you must not forget, MT. Smith
 that the class of men for whom you are plead : ing is not the large masses" of misguided 2 ones but the few enlightened and guilty mer | who have no such conscientious belief" ane who just no are quaking before the prospect of speedy justice.
 A bad memory is bad fault in public ? speaker. It is apt to bring him into confusion t and apparent inconsistency. In less than 6 2 half hour after we are informed that the Nortl ' had agreed with the South to conduct an hon. orable warfare, the speaker is pleased to say that we compelled the South to this course, and . that the people of the North were to civiliz t ed to go into a war under black flag, whilt 2 2 tho South would more willingly have entered into such contest and emerged from the or | deal triumphantly.' So it seems, from the
 logic of this conciliatory statesman, that the g South was opposed to allowing as the rights o belligerents, and accepted an honorable system r of warfare only upon compulsion. They, from choice, were rebels of the blackest huebut blythe fact of our not being willing to stoop to irreg- {, ular and beastly warfare, are made most noble T and stainless patriots. They must not ecen b, Q tosyiren because they are not guilty of treason
 and they are not guilty because we did mol o raise the black flag. Rotten reasoning.
 "Another reason why we should not punist ]. our enemies, is that there has been enough O . suffering by the defeated party. without addi n tioual punishment" There has been burder of suffering upon the people of the waywart e South. Their punishment has been greate Q than many have deserved. It has amounted tt the most abject destitution, and even, in som,
 cases, to the borders of starvation Nearly al g of these think differently from Mir. Smith. The, !, know they have committed crime. They ar, d repenting and returning to their allegiance Bu }. the demoniacal leaders. whose fate is so dea z to Mr. Smith and his co-sympaihizers. raised ' this war, and have prosecuted it. for their owl n apcrandizement And their hatred to tn, s Union is as bitter and defiant az ever.
 Another argument against the punishmen of a single one of these men, is the preceden !. it would give to tyrants every where to pun ss ish subjects who rebel against oppression !, How would you like to have had Washington ! and Franklin punished if they had been van
 quished in the revolution. It is likely that of al k