Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1865-01-18
THE WAR IN CLEARFIELD."

ne edltor mas gone HIS oeo' 70 oiiSIa 49,
self and the leaders of the Copperhead fac
ton from the load of opprobrium which they
see is now gathering over their heads Tor
their agency in plunging the county INTO
trouble and bringing upon their poiitlcal
friends a distress tenfold greater than any
occasoned by the operations Of the draft
The men who are guilty of inv6 living their
fellow-citizens in afliiction and disgrace, by
bad counsel, in order to obtain selfish and
partisan ends. should try to escape from the
responsibility when the day of retributlon
comes, is not to be wondered at. This has
been the history of conspiracies the world
over That Jeff Davis and his co-adjutors
at Richmond will frame excuses to cover up
the criminality OF their treason after the re-
bellion is crushed, every body expects.
Why then should we be surprised, if the
! Copperhead leaders in this county-who
have been privately and publicly at work
| for the last six months. teaching doctrines,
| and encouraging measures, which have
| brought military force into our midst
| should now sink away from their homes or
impudently protest their innocence before an
outraged public? Much as these gentlemen
NAV desire to be regarded as loyal citizens,
and eagerly as they may creep behind legal
technicaities TO save themselves from mill
tary arrest, we do notintend that their false
| hoods shall be taken as facts through our 81
Ience, or that public opinion shall be divert
| ed from the real origina ors Of the War in
Clearfeld. There is place where the re-
| spons bility in this matter rests. And 1t Is
due to the public and to posterity that the
men who have been instrumental in produc-
ing civil war, and visiting with sorrow and
shame the homes Of Clearfeld should
not be forgotten. The edisor processes 20
review and defend the public acts OF the de
mocracy in the county, carefully ignoring
the secret oath bound association, dark
lantern gatherings. democratic castles,
&c, which have been meeting in barns,
cabins, spring houses and mili-lofts over the
county, and finally winds up with a trium
phant chuckie over the good luck Of Ger
tain distinguished leaders" in Clearfeld who
are out Of the scrape and whose record
none can ''tarnish." What qualification is
it to those men who are now in Fort Mifilin
and to their wives and children at home, to
know that these distinguished leaders
are strutting about their homes in security
their husbands and fathers are pining away
in prison? What a pleasure it must be to
the poor fellows who are hiding in the woods
! nplI h r. 14,. cl.4a last
a soldier may awake them aud hurry them
off to 'head-q quarters to be assured that
the distinguished leader" who preached
to them last August mot another man-nor
another dollar" are in no trouble at all and
feeling quite easy We trust they have all
| seen the Republican and read the comforta-
bic announcement
But let us glance briefly at the occurren-
ces in this county during the last six months
and see whether these 'distinc ncuished lead
ers'' are going to escape the clutches of
public opinion as readily as they imagine
they have military authority. Previous to
August last there was no special trouble oc-
casioned by the calls of the Government for
troops BY offering bounties, volunteers
were readily obtained for the former drafts.
The same could have been done in the pres
ent instance as proven by the fact that two
Republican ownships-Guelich and Burn
side-fllcd their quotas and had surplus
And in seven other districts where Republi-
can leaders moved in the matter, volunteers
were put in after the draft and the people
saved from arrest We do not claim that
former responses to the call for troops sprung
from any patriotic motives on the part of
the Copperhead leaders. They had been
laboring all the time to defame and belle the
Government, and to spread sympathy with
the rebellion throughout their political
ranks The Oeorfeld Repubticaa weekly
teemed with falsehood about our military
successes republished regularly the arti-
until It's honest readers, if they believed
it at all, were led to think that JEFF Davis
and his. government were far more desirable
than that of the United States. Under
these circumstances the less shlewd of the
arty would give unmiStakable evidence OF
their preferences by cheering Justify for JEFF
Davis on the streets. By this sort of man
agement the seeds of disafection were sown
all over the county, and the minds of the
people prepared for revolt against the pro-
per authorities when the right moment
came. La the estimation OF the ''distin-
guished leader" that moment arrived when
| the manifesto To whom it may concern