Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-01-27
NUMBER 1870.
h9 stevens and fancy. !
, tFrom the st. Louis Republican,

'This doctrine of q white mans govern a
ment is as atrOci0us as the infamous sehti=
ment that damned the late Chief Justice to
everlasting fame, and, fear to everlasting
| fire.n f77sJ| boo .tnJgL hood .YosZtpsI-iT
The 'late Chief Justice" Taney, who is /.
assailed In such language as the above by,
| Thaddeus Stevens, was man OF exemplary
morals, the purity Of whose private ehar-7d
acter and the integrity Of whose judicial
| life. was never doubted by anys man. who, z
knew him. He stood in the foremost rank,
of American jurlsts. In his celebrated
opinion-which, however, was no more HIS b
opinion than that of large majority Of 4
his associates on the Be1ch1he declared 10
what he and the Supreme Court believed to
be the law Of the land. The "lnfamous
sentiment" charged upon him by his in
famous libeller is, we suppose, part of the
late venerable Chief Jnstice's, recital of y
historical facts showing the legal status Of
the negro In this country at the time when
| the present Federal Constitution was
adopted! is not that recital true? o. Is itnot
true that at that period incur history, the
negro had no civil rights? He could
neither hold nor convey property; he''
could contract no lawful marriage his
offspring could be taken from him at any
moment; he was subject to be bought and
sold, and in this respect was treated like
chattel. Manning or numbering him was
punishable by law; and so was any gross
abuse of his person. But beyond such i
protection as this argues, neither, the law
nor public sentiment regarded him as en-
titled to the enjoyment of civil rights If
all this Is true, and its truth is undeniable, u
Judge Taney simply declared the truth, q,
when he uttered that sentiment" which
this man Stevens presumes to brand with
infamy. Ever since the delivery Of that 1t g,
has been the trick OF the abolition press to ~
present Judge fancy in the light of per- p.
son who exulted over the degradation of +,
the negro and delighted in the exercise Of !
judicial tyranny. Fouler llbels aud lies sh
were never uttered. That pure minded ai
and able judge, in pronouncing that opin- ~
ion, declared what he c0nscientiously be-
lieved to be the law of the land; and was
supported in It by majority Of his brother
judges. In his recitals from history, he
set forth facts which are undeniable, though
for so doing he has been denounced as in
famous by Stevens and kindred libellers. o'
In his treatment of such negroes as came q
under his care, we have. always heard that
he was kind and indulgent; never forget
ting, but always recognizing, their claims
upon his heart as human beings. Yet he
has been held up as q monster who wished
to debase the negro because he hated him, ID,
This man Stevens pretends to express a
fear about the fate of the pure and pious
/ SllCi OuoOlCCy uOW dSCcuueu DIS IcSIs
| He "fears" that this great and gOOG Judge \
is damned to everlasting fire." Stevens
says he fears this fate has beiallen Judge
fancy. But such an expression Is mere
| hypocrisy. 1t would comfort and delight 4;
him If he could have assurance that Judge
Taney had been doomed to the pit. Stevens
is himself hoary with age, and has one foot
in the grave. Would it not be more be-
coming in him to consider the probabilities
4 n w oc s.la
over the imagination that political enemy
Is eternally damned? Has he lived such
life as, upon received theological theories, ia
assures him that he will not be eternally a
damned himself? Has he at no time dur
| ing his life been most unscrupulOus parti-
san, ready to sacrifice aprinciple of morals
to the furtherance of aparty object? Has
he at no time been exercised-nay, possess
ed like devil-by foul and fierce spirit of p.
malignant hate and revenge against all who
stood in the way of his political plans and
plottings? Has he lived in the habitual
| commission of any other sin? We do not
accuse him here of any particular crime 1
! denounced in the statute-b book or the dec
alogue; but he can read the list aud then
select for himself which, ii any Of them,
he can answer to with the plea of 0Rltv. ID
N one less exalted than an archangel
| should presume to fix the future and final
| state of any mortal. What presumption
| then for such man as Stevens to pronounce
upon the future state of such q man as >
| Taney J. But Stevens is fully capable of
this orany other imaginable piece of pre-
| sumption. The presumption is, however,
less worthy of note than the malevolent
spirit which prompted it. If any spirit 20
| ever caught its heat and color from the %
| everlasting fire" of the lowest pit we
| thiuk the temper displayed in the speeches
| OF the man excuses us in saying, it is the j
| fiendish malignity which makes perpet4qg y
ual hell in the bosom of Thaddeus Stevens. +
Honest and Criminal Labor. opq
The WOrkingmen's Union has issued for
signature petition to the Legislature, ni
against the system of recruiting, the trades
by the present method of employing the
labor of convcts. The offender against
civil society, while entitled, by virtue of 4 ii
wholesome sympathy, to certain encourage
ments calculated to promote his reform,yu
ought certainly not to be made subject of
invldious rewards. To give good trade
to q criminal because he has waged war
upon mankind, is not only wrong but i'm M
polite; while honesty and virtue is oblig- n
ed to earn scanty subsistence at the hard
labor of the pick or crowbar. AS a 'ques-
ton of public morals, then, we hold shat b
the system of training convicts in the skill II
ed branches Ofindustry is, in effect, neither !,
more nor less than bonus on crime. The