East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1866-09-06
PHII.ADELPH1A CONVENTION
Letter From Major-Gen. G.. A. Gus
~ ter to j. w. Forney, Esq.
wAsnIseres, Aug. 20, 1866.

Senate. ~ tf Pr
Departing from what / have ever
considered a judicious custom, / deem
it not only appropriate but incumbent
upon me to correct the false impres.
sion regarding my past and present
\ position which at this time are being
so assiduously disseminated through
out the country by a subsidized, un-
scrupulous and fanatical press. 1t is
to be expected, in times like the pres
ent, when o new political era is being
inaugurated-an era which is destin-
ed to. remodel and develop the charac-
ter of our political structure - that the
views and sentiments entertained by
men, themselves the victims of passion
\ and prejudice. will .enibrace wide
and unlimited scope, and that, blind
ed by resentment, their judgment be-
clouded, and impelled by malignant,
unworthy and most wicked ambition,
none who endeavor to interpose an
obstacle in their path, or who differ
from them in opinion, can hope to es-
cape their villifcation and misrepre-
sentation. A few of the most extreme
radical journals have pretended to
discover an Inconsistency between the
views embraced in my testimony be-
fore the Congressional Com mittee on
Reconstruction, in March last, and in
my present action as delegate to the
Philadelphia Convention and a. sup
porter Of the principles enunciatcd in
the resolutions and platform pro-
claimed and adopted by that illustri-
GUS national and patriotic assembly,
composed of representatives from
every State and Territory in the
Union, and therefore the first truly
national convention which has assem-
bled in our country during the past
six years, Prominent in this misrep-
rosen.ation and willful peryersion of
truth is the organ controlled and edit
ed by yourself, and, were it not for
the official position which you hold, /
would not deem myself justified in
referring to you or anything emana-
ting from you.
/ will not refer to tho seditious and
innammatory epithets you applied to
that Convention, Of which am proud
to have been member, but will only
class them with your ,insidious and
wicked harangues pronounced in the
city of Philadelphia during the sitting
Of the Convention, in which you en-
dtavored to stir the passions of what
you supposed a mob, to deeds of vio-
lance and blood. Neither will l oc-
capy Time in exposing your baseness
III characterizing those gallant sol
diers of the Union who took part in
th~ r'>nsention as being influenced
oy any ,ut tho hisI.~.a, ..oblvet aaa
most patriotic impulses which govern
the human will. Much less were
they, as you insinuate, tinctured with
tisloyaIty. Such unwarranted, un-
Just ard unprovoked assertions come
rom you with bad grace when di-
ected against those who, during the
entire war, have freely and unselfsh-
~ periled their lives to restore, de-
end and perpetuate the principles of
constitutional Government, which
,ou are laboring to destroy. What
have you done OF accomplished to JUS
Iify you in maligning and tradpcipg
hose whose patriotism has undergone
he test Of battle and is beyond i'm
beachment, ''''l |
Ny sole object in addressing you
now is to correct the misrepresenta-
kions which have been made by you
tnd other radical journals regarding
(my testimony eonveininS the condi- |
don OF one, and a portion of another,
| Of the Southern States. In the first
,ltce, you would have. your readers
,eieye that | had submitted testi-'
ntny in regard to the Southern States
asa body, whereas l testified with
reference to Texas and Western
louisiana alone, and particularly with
reference to the former, Furthermore
before giving my evidence, / re-
marked to Senator Williams, of Ore
,gon, who, conducted the examination,
that Texas had always been, moro or
less, regarded as a State in certain !
lparts of which the local or domestic
laws had little or no power where
citizens as class were lawless, un-
gpyernable and uncontrolled by any
other law than the one that might
makes right Consequently, the
condition Of affairs as represented by
me at that time (seven months ago)
could not justly and wholly be con-
Isidered as q result of the war, mas
much as the same condition, to q GER
tain extent, existed before the war;
And to that class of the population
who were responsible. for this con-
lition Of affairs did refer when
,tated that they Z" accepted the situa-
ion from motives entirely selfish. y
That large number of the citizens
,f Texas, embracing the most intelh-
Igept and prominent men of the State,
men, too, who have been prominently
Engaged in the rebellion accepted the
Isituation in good faith Iknow to be
true. That the condition of the loyal
men in that State would have been
endangered by the complete with
drawal of the United States troops j
do NOT entertain doubt, but the dan.
Fger would be shared by all Glasses.
1t is universally known and con-
ceded that the animosity. existing be-
tween the partisans on the frontier of
the Southern States was more bitter
land unrelenting than that existingi
lbetween the masses Of the people
North and South Owing toithe law
Hess character of a considerable portion
Ipf the population of Texas l regard
sd it at that time as beyond tho power
lof Che civil government, ,fnaided AID
unsupported by military authority, to
preserve perfect peace and order with
in the limits of the State. / therefore
in my testimony, which was given
u,;th ,.ofarance to ethat norton of the