The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-07-20
FOR four mH years it has been vigorously

dlnned Into the ears OF tne peoPie tpae
the Administrator is the Governments,
aud that to oppose the Administration is
to oppose the Government. This doc
trine has been so industriously harped
= upon that great many people have been
induced to believe it, to get rid of the
noise and ferocity with which it was
urged upon them But, whatdo we now
see! Many of these same self.loyal high
fUpriesUs are rampant in their opposition
to the Administration!
We naturally recall the days when
these men insisted on imprisoning every
man who did not join them in supporting
ecery measure of the Administration. The
intolerance which was displayed by this
! q class OF men is now seen in clear light
Free speech only applied to those who.
believed as they believed. The gag, soli-
tary Imprisonment without sunshine,
was the fitting punishment for any one
who did not believe in their iSms
What a poor, miserable, dwelling set of
advisers these men are! A man who suf-
tered untold prosecutions in Richmond,
2 +. for his loyalty to the Government, pro-
nOunces the Presidents $4,000 clause
'heathenish," and is at once suppressed
and the act is applauded by these Phara
sees, while they plunge into fierce and
impudent opposition to the Presidents
reconstruction policy, and take glory to
themselves for so doing.
The evils wrought by these men in the
interest of despotism will not be recov-
cred from, in this country, in a century.
The very sense of freedom has been
blunted III the popular mind, and the ma
ton has forgotten what was once the
b.rthright Of an American citizen.
T. discussion, in which once rested our
liberties has been wrested from our peo-
pie 50 long by the overbcarng insolence
Of oilico-hoders and their supporters,
that it IS no longer priced as it once was
The New York Tribune says that Sec
r,tury STANTON seems incapable of com
pretending that our country has, or
Should have, any other law than his ar
Gtrary will"
No one doubts the truth OF his asscI-
ton; yet what effect does it produce on
the public mind!
There was Il day when the very fact
that such an assertion could be made at
all, with even the suspicion of its posi-
bic truth would have reused every city
. . s.. aud village in the land.
Public meetings would have been held
at every crossroads.
The indignant heart of America
wenld have sent the blood to the
checks of the very boys in the streets,
aud the voice ola free nation would have
been heard asserting to the world the
mower of its freedom.
No,c, you listen-you admit-and you
sit down quietly and wonder how long it
will last
You wonder whether some satrap won't
suppress the man who is so foolish as to
write thus eulogstic of the good old days
when America iras ''the home of the free"
aud some poor slavsh souls are so Who'll
~ lost to the old American pride that
they will say he ought to lie suppressed.
Whence comes this base, this disgrace
Jul change in the character of the people!
Wholly from the infamous doctrine
taught by these demagogues and tanat-
les, that the wW Of hc administration u
he lac Of the land and to oppose it is
treason And yet there are among these
men to-day those who deuonnce fresi-
dent JOHNSON a Il druukard and General
SIBERIAN as crazy traitor-who threat
en- to crush" the President or any other
man or party who opposes their policy OF
reconstruction.
Let all good men candidly ponder on
whittier we are drifting.