Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1866-08-30
VOLUME XVII.

Johnson raised before ngn Heaven when
he swore before God and man that treason
should be made odious, that traitors should
die, and that loyal men alone should con.
troll the destinies Of the recovered States of
the South. A convention of all the States
of the American Union, for the adjustment
OF great questions, is one of the wise rem
edies of the national Constitution But il
was never intended to be prostituted to the
purpose of destroying human liberty, of
elevating human slavery, of furnishing the
brave and the loyal, and Of rewarding say
age traitors. Had convention of the rep
reseOtatives Of the victorious people of the
loyal States, and of the obedient and peni-
teLt people of the recent insurgent States,
been called in Philadelphia, there to com.
memOratc the ceremonies of a perpetual
peace, on the solid basis that treason had
been crushed and freedom maintained, the
occasion would have been almost unparal
leled in human annals 1t would have
been the worlds wonder and the worlds
| Joy. Our American future would have
| been secured by guarantees, as that would
have been frankly demanded and required
| by the victorious, and cheerfully and CRATE
fully accepted by the vanquished The
noisy and bitter waters Of strife would
have been permanently stilled and sweet
ened. Every household would have erected
its altar to reconciliation. Religion would
| have sanctified the blessed reunion with its
| holiest symbols and every agency of be-
nevOlence, of art, Of trade, of manufactures
| every class and condition of society
every man, woman, and child, in both sec
! tions, would have contributed to one spon-
taneous and rapturous thanksgiving. How
is it now? Let Memphis and New Orleans
with their savage celebrations of Andrew
Johnson's treason-let the murdered loyal
lists of Texas and Mississippi answerl The
motive that prompted these frightful ex-
cesses originated the Philadel phia conven-
ton. That body met under circumstances
calculated to awaken the strongest resent
ments, and to revive the most terrible re-
collections. 1t was held, as it were, for
the purpose Of provoking that civil war
predicted in the Presidents speech on the
22d of February, as sure to begin " at the 9TH
er end 0f the liner The thin veneer of
cheap and well-paid loyalty did not hide,
even if it was intended to hide, the black
and poisonous elements marshalled for the
purpose Of arranging the new plan Of re-
warding treason and Furnishing loyalty
The choicest spirits of the two wings of
the rebel army--the Copperheads of the
North and the traitors Of the South crow
ded the spacious amphlthcatre. They came
for purpose well known to themselves.
Invited by the President of the United
States, and melted by the hopes Of division
among the men who had defeated them at
the battle field and at the baIlot-box, they
were well content to look upon a drama,
the end Of which was to bring equally res
toration and revenge to themselves. The
incidents and actors of the convention de-
serve a faithful historian 1t was to last
ten days, and was to be a formal council
between statesmen in which great problems
# government were to be discussed and
solved. 1t did not last two entire days.
Inc feature that most distinguished it was
fear Of discussion, a horror Of truth,
dread lest from some one OF the crowded
benches an overjoyed and impenitent rebel
might give utterance to his eXulting pray
er for the defeat Of the only party that
saved and continues to save the Union, or
lest from the overhanging galleries an in
dlgnant soldier might denounce the COVER
ing conspiratOrs beneath him. Hence the
secret care which marked the arrangements
Of the entire proceedings. Hence the in
decent and the hot haste to get through
with the dangerous work. No comedy
was ever so rehearsed before. The author
Of the play was the willy philosopher Of the
State Department, who seems to have en-
ployed the hours of his convalescence from
the wounds inflicted by the slave-tyrants'
dagger to weave a plot by which at once
to crafty his revenge against his own par
l,l, L., i 4l,, f.,
dislranchise the loyal millions, and to bring
back the guilty traitors, full-handed, to
power. With the proceedings Of this con-
vcntion before us, we at last distinctly un-
dcrstamd why Andrew johnson, immediate
ly after Mr. Seward rose from his bloody
bed, with his wicked philosophy duly ar
ranged, began to turn his back upon his
pledges to the loyal people of the United
States. We can now understand why be-
fore and after the autumn elections of last
year he refused to decide in favor of Hart
ranft in Pennsylvania, Barlow in New York
and Ward in New Jersey, why he private
| ly pledged himself to the friends Of all
these men, and yet declined a public pref
| crcncc. We can now understand why
! Mon gomery Blair travelled through Penn
| sylvania and New York and declared that
johnson was against the Union candidates,
and in favor of the Copperheads. Now we
really know that this crafty and cold-blood-
ed politician with written credentials from
Johnson in his pocket, had authority for
what he said when he attempted to demor-
alize the Union men of Maryland and Penn
sylvana. The glittering generaities of
Johnson's annual message are now proved
to have been the deceptious coloring Of the
Dead Sea fruit, gathered in almost all Of
his succeeding acts. The plottings of the
Copperheads the secret interviews be-
tween johnson and his slanderer, Heister
CIymer the lncoherent speech to the
South Carolina aristocrats in the summer
OF 1865; the offensive admission to his
confidence of the notorious sympathzers
with treason, and the no less offensive ex-
cIuaion of tried defenders of the Republic :;
the cold and callous speeches to the color
ed regiments of Washington, after they
had returned covered with laurels from our
hard-tought fields the attack upon Con-
gress the prescription Of the white Union
men Of the South the assault upon Gov
ernor BrowDlow, Of Tennessee, and his
compatriots, Stokes, Fowler, Arnell, and
Hawkins the veto of the Freedmen's Bu-