Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1866-07-04
g b Greem a n.
MONTPELIER, VT.
"wednesday Morning, July 4, 1896.
A Tremendous indictment Of the
COpperheads.
Speech of Governor Morton, of Indiana.

Speech of Governor Morton, of Indiana.
Gov. Morton addressed the great Union
meeting at Indianapolis, at the Masonic Hal,o
the 18th inst. More than two thousand persons
were present. The multitude, who could not
find place, crowded the streets and square
each way, and were addressed by other speak
ers.
Gov. Morton's speech is tremendous in
dictnent of the copperhead leaders for their
Conduct during the war.
The spirit of the democratic party, he said,
had not improved since the war. -Four or five
weeks ago a convention was held at Louisville,
tins members OF which did not disguise the
fact that they were rebels and nothern demo-
cratic leaders. believing that the time for pun
ishing treason has gone by, now make haste to
declare that they are, and have been, united
with them in restoring what they call their
rights, and in repairing the damages done them
by the war. Prominent Indiana democrats
met with that convention, mingled their tears
with these who weep over southern heroes, ut
tured glowing eulogies upon the memory of
Stonewall jackson and John Morgan, and ap-
proved their most ultra and reasonable doc
trines.
The leaders now managing the democratic
party in Indiana are the men who declared, at
the session of the Legislature in 1861, that if
an army went from Indiana to assist in putting
down the rebellion, it must FIRST pass their
dead bodies. On the 9Th of January, 1862,
they passed the resolution that the South had
been driven into the contest by the une nstitu-
sional and wicked aggres.ions OF the people of
thz North They proclaimed that southern de-
and barn dfssstayc
no sorrows. Ahey oorresponded with the reb-
eI leaders in the South, giving them full infor-
nation of our condition, assuring them that
,hey had but to persevere a few months longer
md the national government would fail TO pie
ces of ls own weight
They attempted IN the legislature of 1883,
to overturn the state government, and estab-
i.sh a revolution by sesing the military power
Of the state and transferring 1t into the hands
OF four state officers, of whom three belonged
To the trea,ouabIe organization known the
= Sons of Liberty" Having failed in this,they
determined to defeat the operations Of the
ate government, by Withholding the money
9cessary 10 carry it They conspired to
scredlt the state before the world by with
.olding, through fraudulent lawsuit, the mon
e, received from the taxes paid to hqudate the
interest on the state debt.
They are the men who introduced and
tulzsd in this state that dangerous and wide
read conspiracy first known as the " Knights
q. the Golden Gree" an afterwards the
Sons of LIBERTY, which had for It's purpose
/ z overthrow of the state and national govern
faen5s mol all OF them, il is true, belonged
3rmally II this Infamous order, but such as
pod on the outside had ledge of its
lstence, purposes and plans, and carefully con-
ceallng the T knowledge stood ready 10 accept
us work.
L % accomplish the heiiish work of this con-
spiracy, military officers were appointed, mill
iary organizations created, arms and ammunl-
ton purchased IN immense quantities and SNUG
gled into the state, correspondence opened with
the rebel commanders, aud military combna-
tons agreed upon, rebel officers and agents IN
;roduced into the capital, and concealed in the
hotels and boarding houses, and 1t was deilber-
.teiy planned and agreed that upon day fixed
hey would suddenly uprIse and murder the
Executive, seize the arsenal and It's arms and
ammunition, and releasing nine thousand prs-
aners IN Camp Morton, put arms into their
hands, and with their combined forces effect
military md bloody revolution in the state.
This dreadful scheme necessarily involved
murder. oontiagration, robbery, and the COM
mission OF every crime which makes black the
chronicles OF civil war, yet its authors and abet-
tors witt n the proofs of their guilt piled noun
asking the people to put into their guilty
hands the government and property OF the
state.
Some of these men who high IN favor
and authority in their party, and are largely en-
trusted with its management, have heretofore
occupied offices of great trust and responslolll-
ty,in which they proved to be recreant and COR
rupt
They are the men who, il the legislature az
Indlana, bitterly opposed and denounced every
effort to confer the right of suffrage upon SOL
diers in the field who could not come home to
vote.
They are the men who wrote letters TO SOL
diers IN the army, urging them to desert. and
assuring them OF support and protection If they
did.
They are the men who sought with devllish
seal to destroy the ability of the governmental
carry on the by deprecatng. It's financial
credit. They assured the people that
I" greenbacks - would die on their hands, and
warned them solemnly against government
bonds, as a wick device to rob them of their
money.
They are the men who refused to contrib
ute to the Sanitary Commission for the relief
of sick and ths wounded soldiers, upon lying
and hypocrtical pretencs that the contribu-
utions were consumed by the officers of the ar
my.
They are the men who excused themselves
from contributing for the relief OF soldiers
families at home by the Infamous SANDER that
they were living better than they had ever
done, and by foul imputations the chastity
Of soldiers wives.
They are the men who declared in speeches,
resolutions, and by their votes in Congress, that
not another man nor another dollar should be
voted TO carry on a cruel war against their
southern bret thren.
They are the men who, in the midst of the
last great campaign of 1864, at the time when
Sherman was fighting his way, step by step,
from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and Grant was
forcing Lee back into the defenses of Richmond
in desperate and bloody battles from day to
day, when the fate of the nation hung in he
and the world watched with breath
less interest the gigantic struggle which was
to settle the question of republican govern
ment, assembled in convention, in Chicago, and
resolved that the war was failure that our
cause unjust, and that We ought to lay
down our arms, and sue for peace.
1t was throwing q mountain into the Con-
federate scale to make the Union kick the
beam. IL was bold and desperate interfer-
ence behalf of the rebellion, at the very
crisis Of the fight. 1t was an insult to the 10y
al armies of the nation, vast, malignant and
deadly, that language can convey no adequate
idea of its wickedness. And in future times
the historian will record the fact with astonish-
ment that the government, at the most critical
moment of its life, when few hours, or
few days at the most, must determine whether
il should live or die, could permit large
body of its enemies to meet upon its soil IN
peace and security, and publish hagrant man
ifesto in behalf of the rebellion.
Now, do not mean to say that all the DEM