The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1868-10-17
A Dirty Tissue of Falsehoods.

| we nave DciOre us q ratucal uoCuiucHt, Saiu
to have been dropped from the pocket of Bur
ton c. Cook in the town of Mission several
weeks ago, and which purports to give the
record of Horatio Seymour, and is rehashed
by Mr.. Cook in his speeches in the ''rural dis
tricts." We have no hesitation in pronoun
cling it a tissue of perversion and talsehoOd
from beginning to end. Scarcely speech OF
letter of Gov. Seymour, of extracts from which
it pretends to be made up, is quoted honestly,
while the meaning of occasional sentences cor
rectly quoted is baseIy twisted and perverted
to the opposite of that intended. The "doc.
ument," however, is an exemplifcation of the
tactics ofthe radical party wholesale lying
and the stale cry of 'rebel," "rebel," traitor,
| "traitor."
One of the leading heads Of this lying doc
ument is Seymour denies the. right to coerce
state" The extracts which follow show
that Gov. Seymour contended that the gov
eminent, in subduing the rebellion, must deal
with the rebels as individuals and not as
states, doctrine which no sane man few fan
atical abolitionists ever were wholly sane) ever
denied but the extracts are 80 twisted a. to
leave the impression that because Gov. Sey-
mour held that the government must coerce
the individual traitors and not the states,
therefore he was opposed to all force to crush
the rebellion. Gov. Seymour never occupied
that position.
But we can tell Mr.. Cook and all his radical
brethren who did hold that position. Will
Mr.. Cook have the kindness to look up the
record of one John NJ Palmer, at present, we
believe, recognized as a shining light in the
radical party and candidate on the radical
ticket for Governor Of Illinois. In q speech at
Carlinville, in this state, Marchj 18th, 1861,
John NJ. Palmer said:
81 am opposed to the doctrine Of force to settle
ourTreseM national difficulties. WHEN YOU TALK
OF ENFORCING THE LAWS IN THE REvOLTED
STATES you MEAN COERCION. What cares my
brother in the south whether he is shot under
the name of coercion enforcing the laws?
When you have
conquered those southern or seeding states,
what will you do with them In our system Of
government tce hire no place TOR conquered pror-
mces.-Then would you not be establishing
runous precedent, To-day you may -ubjugate
at the point of the bayonet, South Carolina. TO.
morrow New York may be subjugated or our
own noble state of Illinois may be compelled to
yield at the point OF the bayonet. II you conesde
the porer to The genera! government to s,ltjagate
and conquer an erring state, achat Jecomes of he
state 1T WAS NEVER INTENDED BY THE
TRAINERS OF THE CONSTITUTION AND
OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT TO EN-
FORCE THE LAWS BY THE MILITARY
POWER II"
That was something very different from
what Gov. Seymour maintained The position
of Gov. S was not inconsistent with the hearty
support he gave the government through the
whole war in all its Legitimate efforts to put
down the rebellion. But the position of John
NJ. Palmer was that of his confreres at the
time-Logan and Dougherty, and who only
ceased to be traitors. and turned over to the
union side, when they saw that it was the side
most likely to pay.