Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-08-14
Political.
ADDRESS FROM THE CHAIRMAN
OF THE REPUBLICAN SOLDIERS
AND SAILORS COMMITTEE.

OF THE REPUBLICAN SOLDIERS
AND SAILORS COMMITTEE.
COMRADES When the rebel armies
were oYerthrown and the rebel leaders for
given by our maguanimous Chief, the
whole world wondered at the generosity
which pardoned men guilty of such a
crime. The least We expected was that
the Government, for which we had fought
and for which SO many had given up their
lives, was secured against the possibility
Of another conspiracy. But warned by
history and taught by our own experience
among the misguided people of the South,
we maintained our organizations, and now,
in the forefront of another peril, congrat-
ulate ourselves upon the wisdom of that
decision. So throughy have our militia
ry brothers reunited themselves that only
a few who wore the Union blue can be in-
duced to join the ranks of the rebel De
mocTacy. Our camps extend East and
Westj from the Atlantic to the Pacific;
aud there Is not veteran who does not re-
alize that the public danger may once more
call him to the field. The alarming spec
tacle Of formal combination between the
two great columns of treason-the rebel
army of the South and the rebel sympa
lhizers of the North--is the living proof
Of great impending Calamilies. These
desperate men-the one side still vaunting
their treason against the country, and the
other still boasting of the aid and comfort
extended to them-profess to be confident
Of success in the approaching election. The
animosity they bore to our beloved Com
mander-in-chiei-now the candidate of the
great Republican party-suryives the hol-
low gratitude with which they hailed his
liberal terms Of peace, and now, remem-
beriug ouly that he struck them in the
field, and coldly forgetting how he forgave
their great offence, they are toiling with
superhuman energy to defeat him for the
Presidency, and to place in that high Of
fee fit successor of its present guilty oc-
cupant Their hatred Of Grant extends
to all our heroic leaders, with one or two
exceptions. The only offence of these ac-
complished soldiers is their fidelity to the
country for which they fought General
George H. Thomas in Tennessee, General
Irwin Mcdowell in Mississippi, General
George H. Meade in Georgia, General
Candy in South Carolina, and General
Reynolds In Texas, with their predeces-
sors, Sheridan, Sickles, Pope, Swayne,
and Mower, are prescribed and slandered
like common felons-wlile every Union
man in the South, black and white, Is sub
jected to inconceivable cruelty and oppres-
sion. This wholesale maleyolence, look
ing directly to the restoration of the rebel
governments, teaches US not only the wis
dom aud justice of our organization, but
inyokes US to renewed efforts in favor Of
Grant aud Colfax, the standard-bearers Of
the Republican party, aud for our gallant
comrades, Hartranlt and Campbell, our
standard bearers in the State contest.
The fundamental ideas of this rebel
combination are that nothing has been
gained by the success Of our arms, but
that every thing has been lost. To forget
the gallant living, and to remember and
reward those only whose crimes in any
other nation would have been punished by
death or cou6scation, is the inspiring mo-
tive Of our adyersaries. What American
soldier does not feel the insult? What
American citizen does not burn TO resent
il? Instead OF cordially submitting to
the laws passed by overwhelming Con
gressional majorities, and carried into ef
feet for the grand purpose Of reorganizing
the South upon the basis Of equal justice
and equal rights, our recent adversaries
openly threaten new resort to arms
At no period in the rebellion have they
been at once so defiant and SO cruel. Uni
ted IN antagonism to the laws, to the ma
tional credit, to the national currency, to
the public peace, aud to those great prin-
cples for which we contended, and sue
cceded IN maintaining, they cody appeal
to the people and ask verdict in favor of
their incredible crimes. Speaking now
for the returned Volunteers of Pennsylva-
MIA, who were disfrauchised by the Sey-
m ur Democracy, We solemnly renew our
devotion to our beloved country, and as
cert, not simply our readiness to support
our candidates at the ballot-box, but our
determination, at all times, to march to
our Governments defence against her en-
emies BY order Of the Committee.
CHAS. II. T. COILS. Chairman.
\. j.. RUSSELL, Secretary.