Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1865-07-27
Loyalty.

tation in saying to the gentlemen of the
party, that when the IOhole
history through which this country has
passed for the last four years, shall be inn
partially written, we have no fears that
our loyalty will suffer when contrasted with
theirs. They have advocated war. We
have opposed war upon unconstitutiona'
principles. We dare say that they thought
a war upon sovereign States was the best
mode of restoring the Union. We thought
otherwise. We dare say they thought the
war constitutional. We thought otherwise.
We thought conciliation and compromise
the best and surest mode Of reconstructing
the Union of these States. We thought
with the lamented Douglas that war was
eternal dissolution. And we believe it is
now demonstrated fact, that our mode
would have ended the war, and restored
the Union, long before that of the Repub-
licans, and thus saved many-very many
valuable lives upon both sides.
But there are some other matters, to
which we desire to invite the attention
of the members of the Republican party.
These gentlemen stood by during the late
war, and saw those in authority at Wash
ington overthrow the Constitution in every
vital point. They saw them assuming the
t0dr po,per, adding men to the army and
navy without the least shadow of law.
They saw them arrest private citizens from
distant States in violation of the constitu-
tions and laws of the States and of the
United States, which latter constitution
they solemnly swore to support, protect
and maintain, and incarcerate them in
filthy bastiles, many Of them for eighteen
months, and then release them uncondi-
tionally, without trial or the preferment
of even charges.
They have seen those in power overthrow
the freedom of the press, all over the land.
They have seen them put down the free
dom of speech at the point of the 6ayonet.
They have seen them strike down the fun
damental rights of the States composing
the Union. They have seen the Executive
suspend the privilege of the writ of Habeas
Corpus, and proclaim martial laU through
out the length and breadth of land, Gi-
recting that citizens in neither the land or
naval forces of the Government, should
be tried by drum-head court martial, for
offences unknown to and unauthorized by
the civil laws, when the laws say they
shall be tried by the courts and juries of
the country.
All these usurpationS and violations of
the fundamental laws of the land, the Re-
publicans have seen and approved. The
leading men and presses of the Republican
party have never, never objected to one of
these usurpations. The Democratic press
have all the time objected to and denounced
them. We are perfectly willing to leave
it to the impartial historian who may come
after us, to say whether the Republicans
are or ,Uere more loyal to the Government
of our fathers, to constitutional liberty,
than the Democratic party-they who
stood quietly by and saw the written con-
stitution and laws of their country trampled
down, the rights of the people overthrown
and they deprived of their inestimable IL
berties, and sustained and approved the
power that did it, and uttered not one
word of complaint against it; or the De-
mocratic party which protested against it
and opposed it with all the power they
could command, and at the imminent risk
of being immured in some filthy bastile.
The gentlemen of the Republican party
may say that we were disloyal because we
opposed war, and advocated Cancellation
and compromise. We will not say that
others were disloyal to the Government
of the fathers, the constitution and law of
the land, because they quietly and tamely
submitted to these monstrous usurpations
of those whom they raised to power but
tVs do say they were not faithful or true
friends of civil liberty. We of the Demo-
cratic party are willing to let our country
men of the present day, and those who are
to come after us, form their judgment upon
that snhiect