The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1867-08-22


to mere infercnse. On the sontrsry hp
directly affirms that there uus causs-
He is not contented 70 leave ithe! matter
in doubt. He 1neansto be explicit and
he is. We quote his own words:
But we hear it often said that the
late rebellion was wantonly wicked, and
| without the least shadow of excuse or
palliauon. This Is not true. They who
make the assertion deceive themselves,
or they knowingly attempt to deceive
others.n .: .e.@--e..---
! And again: e.. oh
"Under a full sense Of my responsible
ity in 50 doing hereby deliberately de-
clare that In my firm opinion the dIssat-
isfaction out Of which this dreadful war
arose was not without some solid foun-
datiOn. The wrong was not wholly on
| OUR SIDE" - G>@l5' s.,,'
: He then refers to the controversy on
the question of slavery, declares that q
strictly sectional party" was organized
in the free States, that such organization
was violation of the compromises Of
the Constitution, and that this section
al party" victorious upon platform af-
firming that "stavery should no longer
be permitted in any Of the territories,
which ,0as an open Disregard Of the
solemn decision Of our highest judicial
tribunnal!' This he thinks was good
cause Of complaint. He says:
1.-THE South regarded this as an as
| sumption of superiority on our part,
| wholly incompatible with their equality
of rights in the government and its COM
mon property. In this | think we must
agree with them. 1t was with them q
point of honor. IT drove them into
secession, resulting in war. The wrong
on their part consisted as believe--,aot
in having acted aDithoM any cause of
conlpidint-butin hduing resorted to CT
trenle measures before they had exhaust
cd those Of q milder character" of
That is, the declaration that the FER
ritories should be free Of the inhuman
incubus Of slavery, was good cause for
rebellion, but since the rebellion did not
succeed, it would have been wiser to
have "exhausted measures Of milder
character? So that Judge Mason not
only deems rebellion always right and
duty, but thinks the perpetuation and
extension of slavery so good and dcSira-
bic a thing, that an attempt to limit it is
sufficient cause to justify treason and
revolt! With all this Judge Mason is
not satisfied. He grows still more em-
phatic from the effect of his own argu-
ment, as lift We're absolutely oyerWhelm-
ing, and exclaims:
81 tell you, my fellow-citizens, we
have been in error OH this subject. The
South have had ground for dssatisfac-
ton. They were not justified in the at
tempted mode Of redress, but we owe it
tojustice, to duty and to ourselves to eX-
tend charity to those with whom we
have been sharers in the great wrong
which has produced such baleful results.
The lime has come for reason to resume
is sway"
As MISREPRESENTATION of the rebellion
he then presents the following choice
argument:
"There is another view to be taken Of
this matter, which greatly strengthens
the duty of liberation on our part. The
! right of State secession has long been
the received doctrine i'm most of the
southern States. If they are right in
this, they were fully justified in the
course they took. For although eXcep-
ton has been sometimes taken in regard
to the manner in which they attempted
to carry out that principle still, as no
technical rule had ever been adopted, all
that was requisite was for the people to
express their wishes in some unmistak-
able method, which they certainly did
in this CASE
And he states that when Davis, Lee
and the two Johnsons were at West
Point, the text book upon the Constitu-
ton, there used as autharity, taught that
"the secession of a State from the Union
depends upon the will Of the people of
such State"
Having thus, as he thinks, fully justi-
fled the rebels in their atrocous attempt
to overthrow the Republic and to estab-
lish Confederacy upon the corner
stone of slavery" Judge Mason next at
tempts to demonstrate that our own
Government is responsible for all the
horrors of Andersonville and the other
prisons of the South! He has deliber-
ately searched for testimony to this effect,
and now openly atlirms that, not the
rebels, but our own government is
chargrable with the "tiendish atrocity ~
And not content with this he more than
insnuates that our own treatment of
rebel prisoners was little better than
their treatment OF ours! From his con-
Guiding remarks we take the following
to show that, on surveying all that he
has said, he still afiirms and reiterates
its truth:
81 have made no statement which
do not believe to be strictly true, vel
satisfied that sound policy dictates !;
course of magnanimity on our part ano
of mutual forgiveness and forgetfulness
OH both sides. I have endeavored t.
take such q course as was calculated tt
produce that result. | would be NOR.
than glad if / could inspire feelings o
mutual kindness and charity in tn,
hearts of those who have SO lately sough
each others greatest harm. Upon nj
other prinsiple can we restore our ole
federal relations. In no other way car
we have reliable peace, nor stop the
wasteful expenditures which, while
they enable the favored few to amas.
fortunes are c0nSiuninr the many tt