North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1865-09-20
Pa, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 20, 1866.

divided where they should have been consol
iGated, and that overtures of peace from the
enemy were rejected. The doctrine was
openly proclaimed that the "last man and the
last dollar" should be used in order to liber.
ate the negroes. soldiers, can you
affiliate with such men? You and | have
lost beloved comrades. nay suffered ourselves;
yet we must be insulted with assurances
that these friends died, or we suffered, not
for the Union, not in defense OF the Constitu.
ton, but 10 make the negro our equal
That this was unduly prolonged can prove
by the highest Republican testimony-Hur-
ace GrceIey-who, in speaking of the Niagara
Peace Conference said, "Had the wise and
brave course been taken when Alex II.
Stephens fist publicly solicited permission
to visit Washington. I believe it would
have saved a quarter of million of lives, an
awful amount Vt devastation and misery, and
left our national debt full. billion less than
1t is To dav." The President, in refusing
overtures of peace, also forgot that portion
of bis annual message Of 1862, which says ::
Suppose you 60 to war, you cannot fight
always and when after much loss on both
sides, and no gain on either. you cease fight
ing, the identical old questions, as to terms
OF intercourse, are again upon you.
Another result of giving freedom to the ne
gross aid placing them in our army was the
death of thousands of our brethren in Southern
prisons. Our government refused to carry.
out the cartel of exchange unless some negroes
then held by the enemy were liberated
what was the consequence ? In one year
seventeen hundred Pennsylvania soldiers died
at Andersouville prison. know that Geu-
erai Butler now charges that Secretary Stan
ton ordered him to complicate tie exchange
IN order that the rebel forces should not BE-
strengthened. But what of that Instead
OF trying Captain Wrze, the keeper of the
Andersonville prison, l would indict Ben
Butler and Ed. Stanton. ....
The war being over, the question occurs
bow shall We secure the objects for which We
fought In the first place, we shoold return
TO trial by jury. The time for courts mar.
t'ai and military commissions, l apprchend
ia over. or at least should be. Those Of Us
who have been in the service know some
Thing about their constitution and powers
While in the army 7 was several times o
member of a court martial, and once a Judge
advocate, and l knoao that, as Senator Hale
declared, they are organized to convict.
Woe te to the civilian who comes before
ihefn. They are allowed no counsel. save a,
the discretion Of the court, in general are 10
norant OF the charges against them. and hav.
no means OF procuring witnesses. The ac-
cuser also selects the judges o: tho crime. and
then has the approval of the sentence. There
must oe return to civil law, not only because
10 Constitution prohibrts any other NEAR.
OF trial than by jury, but even military wri-
ters agree that civilians are not subject 10 mil
'fsry rule We have assumed the garb of cit
lzens, AND lot US maintain their rights. LIE,
Us emulate the example of Washington tb..
hrst commander-in chief of our armies. who
though possessed of boundless power. was
the first to curb military power and make !,
subordinate to the civil. | would also have
you emulate that beau ideal of Democracy
Andrew Jackson. Look at them az New Or
lea MS, when he had achieved that memoro bls
victory over veteran English army. Mil
lions were rejoicing, and he was the hero of
the day. ln this hour oetriumpb, he was ar
rested by civil process for alleged violations
Of the municipal law. He appeared. A crowd q,
c. tizens and soldiers gathered around. and
when Judge Hall announced that the pener-
al had broken the laws, murmur of ind;o
nation passed through the crowd. The iudes
hes'tated to pronounce the sentence. "F.ar
not" said the General, "the same arm which
repelled the enemy will protect the deliber
ati"ns of this court" He paid his fine, and
would not permit the citizens to reimburse
him. Would that some of our shoulder
strapped gentry would show the same respecr
to the laws of the land.
We would also demand the restoration of
the writ of hdbeas corpus, so that men can
he no longer sent to bastiles without due pro
cess law. In that indictment against En-
glish tyranny, known as the Declaration of
Independence, appear the following counts
HE has erected multitude of new officers
and sent hither swarms of officers to harass
our people, and eat out their substance"
"iie has Kept among us in times of peace
standing armies without the consent of our
"He has affected to render the military in
dependent of, and superior to, the civil pow
err" "t .#
"For imposing taxes on Us without our
consent )" and For depriving us in many
caaes of the benefits of trial by jury"
In addition to the above we could bring
other equally strong charges against the par