The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-05-27
No Treason The National Debt National


law.
No Treason The National Debt National
swindic.
The voice Of the people rises with disappoint-
ment and indignation at tho conduct Of those
who favored and have been instrumental in the
escape of the arch traitor, JEFF Davis. We have
rarely witnessed moro general and sponta-
neous expression of public continent The re-
lease ot Davis on straw ball. which il really
the abandonment of tho charge of treason on
the part of the government and judiciary, salts
fes no one, except few uncovered secession
lists. II leaves everything unsettled; it makes
the war farce; it shows that half a million OF
brave men have been slain for naught, and that
three thousand millions of national debt, con-
tracted to put down treason and TO make 1t
odious, is a swinde. Had Davis been tried
and the laws indicated, had the crime OF trea-
son been fixed and defined, and stamped with
that odum which the authorities talked 80
much about and which would have made men
shudder hereafter at the thought Of committing
it, the people would not have complained.
Then they might have been magnanimous,
even, and have consented to executive
clemency to the offenders Bat now nothing
is settled, aud they ask, Is there treason or
is there not in this countryi
All the parties to this infamous fraud upon
the public are conscience stricken, or, rather,
they are stricken with fear OF the consequences
to themselves; for it is doubtful if they have
any conscience in the matter. Having commit
ted the deed, they suddenly wake up to sense
Of the evil done, like the assassin Booth, and
appeal to the public with all sorts Of lame ex-
cuses and special pleading. The President
pleads want Of authority or jurisdiction. and
throws the responsibility on Congress and the
judiciary. Congress did nothing, and endeavors
to throw the responsibility on the Executive.
Chief Justice Chase. whose duty it was especially
to see that the traitor should be tried and
treason punished, positively refused to act, and
now tries to make the District Judge, the plant
Dogberry Underwood, responsible. Under
wood, acting under instructions from Mr..
Chase and the administration, undoubtedly
made great fuss about the heinous crime of
treason, and then let the traitor 60 on straw
bail. Greeley, who, pretending to represent
the loyal North, and the republican party in
particular, went all the way to Richmond to in
fuence his radical friend, Underwood, and to
volunteer bail for the liberation Of the traitor,
now makes pitiful defence of his conduct
Bolts, the bitter enemy Of rebels, and of Davis,
the chief one, especially, was another of these
volunteer and uncalled-for bailmen who takes
the stand to defend himself before an outraged
public. Well may the people ask, Is there
treason or is there mott
All these radical DISCLAIMERS against the |
odiousness and Nervousness OF treason-all |
these pretended Simon Pure loyalists
been made in the end the tools of an able and |
adroit State rights lawyer Of this city.
Through their weakness and vanity Mr.. O'Conor
has entrapped them. They placed them
selves in position TO be tempted and ruined
politically, and he has lured them to destruc-
ton. AS lawyer he has only done his duty
for his client. For the escape Of the chief
rebel the people will hold Mr.. Chase to
account, with Greeley and the rest of the
radical Chase party who brought the disgrace
upon the country. Everywhere the question
is asked, Ia there treason or is there mott
But wha. will be the consequence Of let
ting the rebel chief go without being tried ?
How will the people interpret this acti Will
they not argue that il there be no treason
the war was in vain and is fruitlessi There
is now in the public mind degree Of con-
slerna,ion and doubt The action Of the gov
eminent and judiciary has unsettled it, Is
there treason or Is there not is the question
every one asks. Soon, IL we mistake not,
the people will interpret the action Of the
government, the Chief Justice, Underwood,
Greeley, and Of all the rest, as repudiatng trea-
son and rs declaring the war q failure in its
results. If so, will they not regard the national
debt national swindle, and repudiate that
as readily as the crime of treason has been re-
pudiatedi They win say naturally enough that
they ought not to be burdened with debt Of
three thousand millions and upwards reckon ]
ing the debt Of the States as well as Of the
general government, for nothing. They will
ask why they should be taxed q hundred and
ffty to two hundred millions year, when they
have been cheated in the object and results of
the war. Is there treason or is there mott This
the question Of the time, before which every
other must give way. 1t involves the security
OF our government hereafter and the payment
or reputation Of the national debt Under
standing the action Of the government and the
judiciary - virtually declaring there is no
such crime as treason, we should not be sur
prlsed TO see, within Eve years, the debt Gre
ated by the war repudiated IS an imposition
and fraud. That, in fact, would be the logi-
cal consequence of letting treason 60 untried
and unpublished. II there be no treason the
war was all wrong, and the national debt is