Columbia democrat and star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1867, 1867-01-02
Plain Talk with a Radical.

Sit down, my good man, on that LOGON
the fence-on the wall you are building-on
the counter-on the plow beam-on the an
vii block-on the board-pile or whatever you
can rest on a few minutes from toll, and we
will talk as reasonable men should talk, al
belt in homely style. You do not like me.
Won do not ike Democrats. You hate US
vet we do not hate you. 1t is true we dis
like YOUR ideas. And we will tell you why.
Your radicalism of puritanical priestcratt
leading you slaves to an ari7tocracy at the
expense of labor You forget facts and fall
in love with absurd theories. You lack dis
cretion. aud run wild after new issues, partly
from envy, partly from love of novelty and
excitement-partly in hope of making llv-
ing without work, or getting into some little
Office. Before radicalism and abolitionlsm
cursed this country, we were happy and pros
perous-a united, working, willing people,
with good laws, light taxes, peace, security,
prosperity and brotherly feeling. Abolition
agitators began educating the people to hate
each other. Ministers Of the gospel forgot
Christ for the negro for new ideas with our
people are too popular for men so-called
Christians to resist.
The South never had warred upon you
Her slaves were better cared for than the
factory operatives of New England, or the
poor of Northern cities They were better
off as slaves than they now are as freedmen.
They supported themselves-noy you sup
port them in their disease, filth, poverty, and
degradation, and bury them when they die.
VIII you tell US frankly if the doctrine of
abolition has proved benefit to the blacks
of the South, or the laboring taxpayers of
the North IF so, where, when, and how
We do not feel angry do not wish to be ug
", but you remind us of the man who was
well, and wanted to be better, so he took
physic, and died. Your people came into
power crying reform, retrenchment, free
press, free speech, and free people. Now,
let us see. Your reform was in theory, new
er in practice What reform have you ever
made =? Whom have you benefited =? Our
taxes arc higher Our means to pay are less.
You ruined eleven States In the effort to utl-
ize silly theory You destroyed the news
paper Offices of the country, unless their ed
itors would cringe at your crazy bidding. =
You went mad, drunk, reckless with power.
You mobbed the defenceless. You battered
down the printing offices, which are the sig
nal towers on the wall of liberty. You shot
people on the streets You put men in pris
on, and did not dare to give them trial. You
dragged the ermine of justice at the tail of
your politics You incited soldiers to do acts
they and you are ashamed Of You advocated
on the streets, in cars, boats, stages, and in
your family circles; you advocated from your
crazy presses, from your pulpits, in your
meetings for prayer and praise, in your lady
sewing society meetings, and even at the
grave, the necessity of doing mob violence
to those who would not, because they could
not agree with you.
You taught soldiers to abuse, terrify and
murder defenceless citizens in the name of
loyalty. You endorsed theft, swindling,
trickery and dishonesty in army officers. You
upheld the giving of swindling contrctas to
relatives of Cabinet officers, as if the public
treasury was trough from which every hog
was entitled to swill. You taught your min
isters of religion to dabble in the pool of pol
itics
You, in the name of God, morality, Chris
tianity, loyalty and patriotism, committed
thousands of wrong, wicked acts. You en-
dorsed all the wrongs, abuses, corruptions,
delinquencies, extravagances, malfeasances
and trifing of the late administration.
You claim to be living members of Nor
ality party, yet stopped to every wickedness,
employed all sorts of wicked tools to do your
work, and to-day have for your leaders the
most wicked, corrupt, dishonest, diseased,
reckless, extravagrnt, icentious people-rob-
| bing men In the world
You sent men to war to maintain the I'm
ion you mortgaged the property of these
men while absent to shield yourself from
successive calls for troops you exempted
| the rich from taxation and filed their pock-
| cts with United States non-taxable bonds,
while the poor mea were fighting your bat
ties, and now compel these same poor men
| to labor to support the rich ones they peril
| led their lives for.
You gave commissions to weakened
| Democrats, as a reward for endorsing, for
the time, your principles and administration
you bribed men to sell their principles
| you bought men to sacrifice the interests of
the laboring men, and gave your highest of
fees and best gifts to those who could wallow
closest to the bottom of the radical cesspool.
You are so blinded by hate, prejudice and
overstrained zeal that you now war upon a
people you conquered by force of numbers,
and not by an excess of personal bravery.
You deprived people of what you would
not be deprived Of You are educating your
i L L L