The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-12-29
st'hesIiaa gsgisfsr'
December 20.
Arrest.


-, RowIFs, of the Springfield Repab
roor was recently arrested in the Fiftl
.vepue Hotel, New York, at the suit o
FISK the great Erie swindler, carrie'
:, . common Jail, and kept there al
night, his friends meanwhile being de
uied access to him, all efforts to bal
him thwsrted, and his wife, who wa
II at the botel, being kept in a eondi
ton of great anxiety and distress unit
his release was effected next morning
Nr. BowLEs' paper, the RepHbheoR, hat
utterly denounced. FIsK's ontrageoui
msuirulatiou of the Erie stock. FISH
drought suit for libel and ultimate
}, procured the arrest of Mr., Bowie;
"a answer the charge.
The Republican papers throughout
N, country are fearfully incensed ovel
mi, proceeding. No words that they car
&C. are too bitter to condemn it. 1t is
,sIIed "a brutal outrage" ""a tyrannicsl
act" "a bigh-handed invasion of the
,ra,dom of the press" and IAN enor'
nifty fit to rank with the worst infamies
oftbe Bsstile." All this might be justi-
fab,e under the circumstances, if we
,,p,a overlook The fact that the arrest
o,. made in strict accordance with the
laws. no element of usuTpatiOn or of vio-
lance appearing in the whole proceed
inv Yet 1t cannot be denied that the
.,a;,-rs who arrested Mr.. BowLEs, did so
without in any way exceeding their du-
r. and that the papers, charges warrant
&c., we're all issned by competent au-
,bority and in strict accordance with
legal forms.
AZ the same time, the arrest is repre-
bep,lble 30 far as the motives OF the
man who procured it are concerned. 1t
wa, q piece of dirty spite; miserable
mcanness to gratlfy petty revenge.
He was severely stung by the criticisms
OF the press upon his questionable con-
Jnc,. His aim was to wreak a low sort
Of vengeance by compelling an editor
ybo had denounced him to undergo
,rsar discomfort and, if possible, dis
Trsce hv passing a night in Jail. FISK
,rU anew that any warrant served
,rou Mr.. BOwLEs would be answered
,y.rbout arrest, and that, as snbse-
arently appeared, the latter could com
ma7d anv amoMnt of bail that might be
,.ked. In this view of the case then, the
,r-atwent OF this editor was disgrace
!ll and outrageous.
And kere, we are led to inquire by
,faht do the Republican papeio d"ro ="
,,o5smn this OF any other arrest, no
,c,,r.r how arbitrary, or tyrannical
b.,,v - pot long passed, 1t IS tresh
,,bin the memory of many, when the
most yillainOus outrageS upon the rights
ef,ersen and the freedom of the press
U-re perpetratsd indiscriminately all
ever this country, and these same pa
psrs not only consented to the dirty
leeds bat applauded them. They taught
rrllfr sentiment to tolerate the little
,.rv- business of Mr.. SEWARD and the
bl.fi.- operations of the infamous STAN
r,Y When crazy mobs howled round
.lr D-mocratic printing offices OF the
and when the Provost Marshal, lifted
!am dirt to petty dignity, entered Tor
,ss iirst time in his life the respectable
.,g,e. of the country, and with bayo-
a,,, at his back, outraged old men and
nsgI,ed defenceless women, when the
sori of puppy in epaulets was an am
Ole warrant for depriving peaceful citi-
.,u. Of liberty and of life, when espion-
age made public the most sacred prlva-
lie. of the hearth and home, when per-
,rcu..ol and prescription made farce
%. Justice, a mockery of law, and de-
.r9y-d in sheer wantonness the proper
,7.rI,hts and liberties of the best men
5fthe nation, then it was that these
same journals, which wall out their deep
agony over, at most, a single curse come
aome to roost, approved, defended, ex-
gied over the great infamy and glorl-
led its authors in language that ex-
A4a,;ed the vocabulary of loyal
-g.o.y
SAYS the UOrld:
How different was the case, not with
Que or two, but with hundreds of Amer
caa citizens-the peers of Mr.. Bowles
IN all respects-who, during the terror
.m of the civil war, were arrested all
over the Northern States, not with war
faat but without warrant; who were
dragged away from their wives, their
families. their friends, not to legal places
Of confinement over which the legal
authorities exercised control ana 10
which the law could compel access for
;arir friends and for justice, but to forts
and arsenals, to true "Bastiles," garri-
,ourd bv troops and commanded by
military authorities; who were lnprls-
oled 10 utter ignorance alike OF
lie charges made against them
aud Of the time when, If ever,
hey would be confronted with a
'espOnsible accuser; who knew that,
rhi,e they lsnguished beyond the reach
of their friends and destitute OF the
means Of moral self-defence, their repu-
'ations would be blackened by imputa-
tons of treason, and their good name
stolen. We venture to assert that, from
he hour in which frantic and excited
POPULAR sentiment was taken advantage
oil b, such anprincipled men at Wash
.nston as the late Secretary of War
stanton and the present Secretary OF
>'Ate Seward, to spring upon us a sys-
ZEN OF espionage degrading to the man
mood and Of brutality debasiug to the
morals of the American people,
there passed not to the end
Of the civil war q single day
n which there were not committed,
somewhere IN this fair land, a score of
crimes against liberty and personal
night as much blacker and more humili-
ating to us than the arrest Of Mr..
Bowles as the heavens are high above