The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1868-08-07
THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR
GOVERNOR.
An about George washington Click.

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From the Atchison DAILY Champion,
we clip the following sketch of Click,
the Democratic candidate for Governor.
Col. Martin, the editor, knows the SUBJ
ject of the article well, and says moth
ing but what he can substantiate:
Mr.. Click has been resident of this
city for many years, and his opinions
upon the subjects that have agitated the
public mind for that period are matters T
of record. La what we say Of him we
shall speak by the book.
At the outbreak of the war Mr.. Click
was one of those Democrats who did /
not believe in coercion" His parti- /
san feelings were stronger than his /
love OF country, and when the fash OF /
the gun AT Sumpter scattered the cloud |
which had obscured the heart of the |
nation from itself and from the world, |
revealing TO it all the fearful dangers
that menaced the country and the stern
duties that devolyed upon all patriots,
Mr.. Click felt no thrill of the noble
emotion which in an instant lifted the
loyal people to the most sublime
heights OF courage and devotion. HeI
was Northern man, but in all his SYM
pathies he was with Carr, Weightman,
Mcclure, Westbrook and other South
erners who then lived here, and who
afterwards went South TO fight on the
side of jeff. Davis. Those who lived
in Atchison during that dark and stormy
} time will well remember how anxious
ly the loyal people hoped and waited
. for word of encouragement from MIR.
Click. Judge Horton, Captain Fair
child, and hosts of other Democrats at
once left that party and united with the
} men who were true TO the flag and the
, country. But Mr.. Click continued a.
partisan OF the Democracy, acting with
men who were notorious and confessed
traitors, a leader in their councils and a
e sympathiZer with all they said or did.
t We CANNOT, in this article, attempt to
: give full history of the events of that
period, but to lew facts, which stand
T out prominently in the record of that
e time, we propose to direct public atten-
= tion.
q We have before us, as we write, a
copy of the Atchison Daily Union OF
{ Sept. I'd, 1861. This paper, a Democrat
n ic sheet, gives the official proceedings
e of Democratic meeting held in the
Il stone warehouse on the Levee, on
. Saturday, the 3lst of August, 1861. L.
. L. Fortune presided over this assem-
= blagc, and Geo. w. Click, Levi Bowles
l. and others were appointed committee
O / to draft resolutions. Headly and
BOwles afterwards ran off to Missouri.
Speeches were made by Isaac S. Has
: call, (who in his advertised card, an
e nounccd himself as Il " Border-RutfiaH
d and Pro-Slavery lawyer James L.
% Mcclure (who afterwards served iii the
rebel army, and others. The resoiu-
u tons reported by the committee, OF
e which Mr.. Click was member, and
e which were adopted by the meeting
= were pretaced by the following pre-
amble:
L WHEREAS, Our beloved country
h having been plunged into an Wnnecessa
l. Yy and .ti'atricidaf tUar, it behooves al
the patriots to raise their voice once
:, more for peace and Union. We appeal
= to all, both North and South, BY the
IL memory of our common ancestry, oul
he common sacrifices, and by the glories
.r of the past and the hopes of the future
to rally around our common standard
" and proclaim for concession, coD,prO
at msSe and peace"
at After this preamble follow lon-
re string of resolutions. Tie first of these
! ':pr0teStS against the acdT, as we do no
:, believe the people of any State can b.
ia cannonaded into common brother
hood or shelIed into a love for th'
Union" Another declares that "th'
~ civil war by which our country is a
Id present distracted is the natural off
spring of misguided sectionalism.
Another declares sit is not only GU
privilege but our duty as good citizens
and friei4ds of the Union to unite on
= efforts TO procure, by compromise, tn,
reunion of the States, and to accom-
plish this result we invite all person
nt who are willing to cooperate with u
i'll this effort to unite with us in de
III nadHding q cessation Of hoStiIities, 81
that one more effort may be made in
spirit of actual concession and compro
mise, to preserve the Union by all hon
orable peace" Another resolution
denounces the Congressional war ta,
as unjust, and demands its amendment
In order to appreciate these resolu
tons as they should be appreciated til
Ii condition of affairs at that time mus
ad been actually going on for five month:
Sumpter had been fired upon; tn
o. strongholds of the Government wer
ty i'll the hands of rebels; the America
&C. FLAG had been dishonored by the hostil
m artillery of thieves and pirates; til
: ;, country had been wantonly disturbe
g and its great interests gratuitously dc
IN stroyed because aw-abiding me
tic would not submit to law reakin
nd men; Bull Run had been foguht; an
three hundred thousand men were
"a" arms to defend the Republic. Nearl
On, one month before on a bright Angus
er morning, two regiments of soldier
in from Kansas, the nclShbors and fellow
citizens of the men who thus clamore
for a cowardly and dishonorable peac
ri fought at Wilson's Greek, where til
!, heavens were blackened and the cart
nc shook with the mad wrestle of COZ
Ier tending armies; when the air was file
in with whisting bullets, shrieking shell
rs and the grOans of the mashed an
=, gashed of the fearful fray-fought an
Vi struggled, and were wounded an
les killed, that treason might be Owe
ere thrown and peace come through honol
an able victory.
- Thus, while all loyal men were labo
1' ing with earnest zeal to aid the Coy
ernment i'll its fearful struggle viii
:, heroes were marching TO their deaf
lhe with proud and noble resignation, tn;
rd- the Republic might live; before I'll
art crimson stains that dyed the green tu
Fill at Wilson's Greek had faded out viii
~. nearly every home in Kansas had i
INC vacant place beside the hearthstoI
and i'll the heart; while in every eli
100 and village and hamlet in Kansas thel
were aching hearts and weeping ey,
for the heroes whose death had cons
w Grated forever the cause for which the
IAN died-at such time as this, in the FIRE
his State of Kansas, Mr.. Geo. w. Clio
met with those who were deadly en-
mics to the country, and declared tn
r - contest an unnecessary and fratricid
I'll e -