The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1865-06-30

iioh bo'O ~ CilmGj ~ 10
that they should be held for trial, particu-
larly in prison but, if they have commit
ted any crime, it is equally unjust that
they should 60 unpublished"
Very well, Mr.. Smith: "the lead
ers' hare committed treason, and SO have
the followers; yet you favor the non.pun-
ishment of the latter, in clear violation Of
your own principle that "if they have
committed any crime, it is unjust that
they should 60 unpublished" Justify
your oaon exemption of the immense ma.
jJrity from punishment, and you will
have justified our position as to the resi-
due:
Let us hear Mr.. Smith once more
ga fewdays ago the Nation was shocked
by the murder Of our noble President
but, very soon afterward, the people re-
joiced to know that the assassin had been
killed, and now look hopefully for the
vindication of justice in the case of those
connected with him. And yet, will any
one say they are more deserving of death
than those who have been the cause of
numbering hundreds of thousands of the
noblest and bravest men in the land ?"
Yes, Mr.. Smith you say that very
thing You demand the execution of all
the assassins without discrimination, while
you want only "the leaders" of the rebel
lion punished. You therein proclaim
your o,on clear conception of radical
moral difference between Rebellion and
Murder. Having thus refuted your own
doctrine, you have saved US the trouble.
The civilized world has long since de-
termined and agreed that, while to kill
men in order to overcome rebellion is
perfectly justifable, to execute them as
rebels after their revolt has been utterly
suppressed, is of very dubious policy and
questionable humanity. Austria killed
many thousands of Hungarians in putting
down the uprising under Kossuth, and no
one demurred; she hung thirteen only of
the military leaders surrendered uncond.
tionally by Gorgey at Villages, and all
Christendom cried shame upon her.
Suppose these had been surrendered un-
der capitulation like that of Lee, or John
ston, or Dick Taylor, or Kirby Smith, and
she had proceeded thereafter to try, con-
Vict, sentence and hang them, she would
have been execrated as perjured and infa-
nous to the end Of time. To this effect,
the verdict of history is emphatic and
overwhelming. (See what it says of the
execution of Marshal Ney under the
Rourbons in 1916. Vet h. r. oeisoiy
such foresworn traitor as Robert e.
Lee, and not half so we'll shielded by
terms Of capitulation.)
Ii we could see how the hanging of
score or so of those rebel chiefs who are
not protected by Military capitalization
would benefit either the Blacks or the
Poor Whites of the South, we might be
reconciled to it; for we regard the en-.
reimbursement and elevation of race as
of more consequence than any dozen lives.
But it seems to us hanging men in cold
blood, for no other crime than defeated,
broken-down rebellion, is calculated to
enshrine them in the memory of their
followers, to embitter the late rebels
against the Union, its supporters, and its
sway, and to prompt them to wreak their
hate and vengeance on that class of Union
lists who are still exposed to their wrath
that is, the just emancipated Blacks.
In our judgment, the hanging of six reb.
els, merely as rebels, will cause the death
by privation, famine or violence, of many
thousands of freemen, and interpose
formidable barrier to the elevation of
their class to citizenship and a voice in
the government of their respective States
hence (and for other reasons) We are in
fexibly opposed to it.
TO put our idea more completely within
the mental grasp of Mr.. Smith, we will
express it thus: There are still great So
cial and political deliberations to be effect
ed at the Standardization which we
deem essential to the highest well-being
of our country and of all our people. We
see not how to effect these changes with
out powerful Southern help; and, where
labor of love is to be performed, we con-
slider one live man worth more than two
dead ones. You can't hang men (even
by proxy and reasonably calculate on
their further cooperation and support
and want the hearty good will and active
help of as many Southern whites as pos
sible in placing the Southern blacks in
that position which seems vital to the
well.being of all classes and of every sec.
ton. Hence (among other reasons) our
hostility to hanging in the promises, and
to any equivalent.-N Y. Tribune.
TAKING UP INDIFFERENT HUSBANDS.