Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1866-08-24

Lee, Forrest BeauEegard, and even Da-
vis2
But we are met by the declaration that
the johnson platform contains a confess
sion that the rebellion is destroyed, that
the constitution is supreme. that no State
can secede from the Union, that slavery
Is abolished, that the freedmen ought to
have rights Of person and property, that
the rebel debt is null, and that the Fede-
raj soldiers ought to be rewarded. And
how were these confessions made In q
convention where no discussion or ex-
preston Of opinion was allowed, and
where they might, and doubtless were as
sented to, U5oa Uoce, with all kinds of men
tai reservations. And what sort Of con-
fessions are they2 First, that the rebel
lion is destroyed and slavery abolished,
facts too patent for even traitor to deny.
Second, that the constitution is supreme
and secession is impossible. Docs Dick
Taylor believe this Does Mr.. Steph-
ems ? Did not the latter no longer ago
than last winter solemnly testify under
circumstances much-more likely to elicit
his real sentiments than those Of the
bread-and- butter convention that he and
the Southern masses still believed IN the
right Of secession-but that they accept
ed the situation? ?" Well they might ae-
cept the situation, for they had no choice
in the matter; but, in the name of com
mon sense, which declaration of Mr.
Stephens are We to believe ? A man de-
serves no credit for confessing that he is
whipped when all the world knows it. and
it is q sort Of mock dignity of language
for him to say that he accepts bis situ-
alton" But for him to confess that he
was rightfully and justly thrashed is quite
another matter. Again, these men ao-
knowledge that the freedmen 50 should re-
ceive their civil rights. But what are
they willing to do to secure those rights
to them Are they willing to abide by
the civil rights bill ? IF they are, why
do they deuounee the act in bitterest
terms 2 Why do reconstructed judges re-
fuse to execute it2 Why do Southern
people refuse to comply with it until com
PEELED to ? Why is a Freedmens' Bureau
necessary to protect negroes from being
robbed, shot, hung and burned To say.
the freedman should have his civil
rights, and then do everything possible to
deprive him Of them, is only another IL
lustration of the deeeitful affection of the
Southerner for the negro. But then the
rebel debt is 3 nullity We do not need
to have the authors of the rebellion tell
US that We have seen toe many cart
loads Of JEFF. Davis miserable paper
promises to pay. burned and trampled un-
der the feet Of the jolly boys in blue
not to know it. Again it is acknowledged |
that Federal soldiers should be rewarded. |
It is easy to reply that Federal soldiers
ask no reward from reconstructed seoes-
lionists, and they certainly expect none.
D no, Mr.. Stephens, you rewarded us at |
Andersonville, Millen, Salisbury and
Libby. The remembrance Of the pre-
.ious legacies you bestowed on us there
ingers still and will not soon pass away
By your dead lines" your rotten beef,
our black soup, by your cold, Shiny. YER
ninous, pestilential dungeons we know
zou love us. BY the humane (2) Offices
f your WrE's. your Winder's and your
Dick Turner's we know you oare(d) for
IS. BY the bones of tens of thousands
E our comrades who endured the starv- /
ng, shooting, hanging and exposure of
outhern prisons, until the Death Angel i
a mercy came and took them arm in
rm to forgotten graves, we know how ]
1licitous you are for our welfare Kind !
r, any farSAer proofs of your regard for
ar welfare are entirely superfuous.- {
lease let period be now put to yOur ,
atgushing generosity. If, however, you /
ave any little pecuniary contributions ]
hich you are anxious to get rid of, we $
now of some soldiers wives in this
whose husbands, strangely
rough have not yet returned from An
'rsonVille and BelleEsland, and TO whom !
'ur assistance might be useful
But to return to the platform, even
ough these. concessions" (talk about
noessions from whipped rebels y are g
,nestly made, what are they worth ?-Et
ley are as devoid Of moral and legal
rec as the baseless fabric of vision \
nd yet. because such men as Stephens
d Taylor have asseuted to them 10
gged convention, it is not only asked 5
r them, but impudently claimed as ia,
yht that they shall be restored to, polit- !,
Il power Heavens and earth, what /
esumption what impudeneeg Verify 7
e face Of Treason is oased in triple !
ass! Why, if they were not only to
It these pledges, and others a hundred
nes stronger, in the Constitution, and T
en- swear to them with every breath !
ey breathe FROM now until the end Of q
cir lives, It would not be single guar /
tee too. muoh. Yet without repentance j
: treason, without disavoWing any of i
eir past heresies, without making any 3.
except those which have been !.
ested from them by the sword, and =
leh have now become the irrevoeable =.
: of the land, these meu, these unrs- u
ltant rebels, these slayers of our -
ends, these desolabors of our fresides, Eo
Sc destroyers Of cur eountry's peace, Il,
aand to be- placed back in the Con- II
IS which they shamefully, spitefully,
selessly bade an eternal farewell to
years ago, there to legislate again for fri
and me- Shall the victors yield this Il
and unprecedented request
The vanquished? ? The people must pit
ide. I'll
VII
a his speeoh to She delegation which as
Iented him a copy of the proceedings spf