American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-09-19
Philadelphia Convention.
sorvHEmN hexALEsTs.
ADDRESS AND RESOLUTIONS

the report of the Committee on the Al
dress which he read from the Presidents
desk. introducing it with the remark that
il had been unanimously agreed upon by
the Committee appointed to prepare 1t.
rup Appeal. OF THE LOYAL MEN OF THE
SOUTH TO THEIR FELIow-CITIZENs OF
THE UNITED STATES:
The representatives of eight millloT S
of American citizens appeal Tor protec-
4;on aud instice to their friends and
brothers in the States that have been
spared the cruelties Of the rebellion and
the direct horrors Of civil war. Here on
the spot where freedom was proftcred and
pledged By the fathers of the RepubIic
we ilnplorc your help against an orsar-
lied oppression, whose sole object IS to
remit the control of cur destiuies to the
connivers of the rebellion, after they have
Teen vanqnished in honorable battle thu'
at once to punish us for our devotion 10
our country and to entrench themselves
in the official Notifications OF the gov
ernment Others have related the thru
ling story of our wrongs from reading
and observation. We come before you
as unchalengcd witnesses and sieak l. ON
personal knowledge our sad experience.
If YOU fail us we are more utterly de-
fcrted and betrayed than if the contest
had been decided against us, for III that
case, even though victorious, slavery
would have found profit in the speedy
pardon of those who had been among its
iravest force; unexpected perIidy in the
highest place, accidentally hllcl by one
who adds cruelty to injustice and for
gives the guilty as he proscribes the in
nocent. has stimulated the almost exiin-
guishcd revenge of the beaten conspira-
tors. and now the rebels, who offered to
r;cid everything to save their own lives,
are seeking to consign us to bloody graves.
Where we expected to find a bcnetactor
we find a prosecutor Having lost our
champion, we return to you, who can in
woke Presidents aud punish traitors Our
last hope, under God, is the unity and
frmncss of the States that elected Abra-
ham Lincoln and defeated Jefferson Da-
yls. The bes. statement of our case is,
the appalling, yet unconscious, cones
sion of Andrew johnson, wherein. IN
savage hatred of his own record, he pro
claims his purpose to clothc four mill
lions of traitors with the power to i'm
roverish and degrade eight WllHons OF
loyal men. Our wrongs bear alike on all
races, aud our tyrapts unchecked by you
will award the same fate to white and
black. We can remain only as VIC are,
interiors aud victims. We may fly from
our homes, but we should fear to trust our
fate with those who, after dcnouncng
and defeating treason, refused to right
those who have bravely assisted them in
the good work Till we are wholly res
cued there is neither peace for you nor
prosperity for us We cannot better de.
fine at once our wrongs and our wants
than by declaring that since Andrew
johnson affiliated with his early SANDER
ors and our constant enemies, his bands
has been laid heavily upon every earnest
loyalss in the South History the just
Judgment of the present, and the stern
confirmation of the future, invites, con-
mands us to declare that after rejecting
his own remedies for restoring the Union
he has rcsorted to the Eespons OF traitors
to bruise and beat down patriots; that
after declaring that none but the loyal
should govern the South, he has practic>
ed upen the maxim that none but traitors
shall rule; that while in the north he has
removed conscientious men from office
and filled many of the vacancies with the
sympathiscrs Of treason in the South
he has removed proved and trusted patri
OTIS and selected the equally proved and
convicted traitors that after brave men,
who had fought for the old flag, have
been nominated for positions, their names
have been recalled and avowed rebels
substituted; that every original Unionist
il. the South who stood fast to Andrew
Johnson's covenants, from 1861 to 1866,
has been ostracised; that he has corrupt
ed the local courts by Offering premiums
Tor thes.deiance Of the laws of Congress
and 'bly diseouraging the observance OF
the.oath against treason; that while re-
fusing to punish one single conspiratoh
though thousands had earned the penalty
OF death more, that thousand of de-
voted Union citizens have been murder
ed in cold blood since the surrender Of
Lee, and in no case have their assassin'
been brought TO Judgment; that he has
pardoned some Of the worst of rebe
criminals, North and South, including