The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-04-08
DAILY PRESS.
PORTLAND.
Monday Morning, April 8, 1867.
Re-iie-nble PnhIic Jour,.,.


One is led to infer, from the character of
their statements, that the copperhead editors
have adopted the old maxm-all is fair n
a time of war-and applied it to political dis.
cussions. The most reckless falsehooJs arc
circulated for facts, and reliance is placed nm.
on the ignorant scum thrown upon our shores
from foreign lands to believe such lies and.
influenced by them, to fill up the depleted
ranks of the once proud but now disloyal
Democratic party. Ignorance affords the
most profitable recruiting ground for this eff
tete concern. No wonder the World recently
advised to take advantage of the newly en-,
franchised freedmen aohile they are unable to
read, and suggested that this ignorance would
protect them against radical ideas and make
them easy of control under Democratic ma
nipulations. ''h -tt
We have before us Democratic paper of
the 4th inst. perhaps we ought to style it
the Democratic paper of the State, since it is
well known that early in the war it stood al
most alone, but now, unchanged itself, it is
backed by the whole patty force of the State
In this paper we find conspicuously inserted,
on its editorial page, and duly leaded-thus
giving it the highest endorsement-an article
headed Massachusetts .fe,o gears ago.
The article then goes on to say, "a .few gears
ago slarery aoas tolerated in Massachusetts,
and the newspapers were filed with disgust
ing advertisements relating to negroes" l.
then gives some halfdozen samples of these
disgusting advertisements. One offers for
sale 9good Barbados rum, and a young negro
that has had the small pox." Another pro-
poses to sell negro woman and her child, to-
gether or separately. Another offers negro
woman II years old, sold for no fault except
Such advertisements, copperhead papers
tell their ignorant readers, filed the Massa-
chusetts papers only "a te,o gears agom
Whenit is remembered that slavery was abol-
ished by law in Massachusetts, prior to the for
nation Of the Constitution Of the United States
in 1851, and that no slaves have been bought or
sold in that State since that time, the truth
ftlness and fairness Of the statements above
quoted will be appreciated. Politicians who
can see no beauty in freedom, and look with
complaceney upon negroes only when they
are in chains;- class of politicians who
have ever been ready to do the dirty work of
slavery, and have now lost their occupation
because there is no longer any slavery to re-
qliire dirty work, are willing to resort to such
baseness in order to create a prejudice against
free State, and bring it down to the level of
their own grovelling minds
But why should the papers referred to
taunt Massachusetts, for, having tolerated
slavery, and for filling her papers with such
advertisements? Did not all the Democratic
States hug slavery till forced to give it up?
And were not their papers embellished with
precisely such advertisements as those above
referred to? And did any Democratic paper
ever reproach them with such things? Why
then SO Mortified because State now free
free for seventy-fve years-Once tolerated the
same human blessings? II slavery is bless
ing to the colored race and freedom curse,
as Copperheads usually agree, why reproach
sister State for what she did that was right
and say nothing Of her wrongs? Why spit
upon her because in the days OF her purity
and regard for the good of man, she forged
fetters for his limbs, and remain silent in re-
lation to her barbarous tendencies shown in
abolishing the blessing OF slavery and estab-
fishing the curse of liberty $500
e ID H