The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1870-07-14
EBENsBURG PA, THURSDAY, JULY IA, 1870

your aVermentS Is, that the Secretary OF the
Interior permitted The robbery Of trust funds.
You did not mean it to be understood that a
robbery occurred which he knew nothing
about, and of which he was. therefore, as
innocent as any other man. You intended
to make the impression that he wilfully
gave his permission to the criminal asporta>
ton of the funds in question. made himself
an accessory to the felony before the fact,
and was as, guilty as if he had done it with
his own hands. You could not possibly have
believed this, unless you perversely closed
your eyes against the Sght Of plain truth.
a Il the circumstances of the transaction to
which you refer as we'll understood as
anything in the history of the country. A
committee of Congress, consisting of mem
bers opposed to the Secretary examined the
evidence when it was fresh, and reported
upon it. The correctness of their Judgment
has never been impugned. In the face of
these recorded and well known facts, you de-
lberately sit down and write out, or get
somebody to write and publish to the world
on your authority, the accusation that Mr..
Thompson has committed an offense which
should make him infamous forever. The
force of mepdacity can go no further. | ad-
nit that you are loyal man, in the nolern
sense of the word, and a Senator in Congress
iiOtb d inNS1 anu IL SHudliO
true that Mr.. Thompson was a rebel that
he as for years an exile from his home and
country, pursued wherever he went by an
Executive proclamation which put a price
on his head. This gives you an immense
I advantage over him. But the fact is still
true that no department Of this government
was ever managed more ably or more faith
fully than the Interior while he was at the
head of it. You may have ali the benefit of
loyalty, and you may weigh him down with
the huge burden of the rebellion neverthe-
less, his mental ability, good sense and com
mon honesty put him SO irnmeasurably far
! above you. that you will never in this life be
able to get horizontal view of his character.
come now to the more important part
of your article, which directly concerns Mr..
Stanton. Your attacks upon Buchanan,
Tuucey and Thompson might be safely pass
ed in silence. but the character of Stanton
must utterly perish if it be not defended
/ against your praise.
You give US the first information we ever
had that Mr.. Stanton, though acting with
the Democratic party, was an abulltlonlst
at heart almost from his earliest youth. For
this fact you vouch his declaration to Judge
Chase more than thirty years ago, at COL
umbus, Ohioi and you attempt to corrobo-
ton with DIR. Bailey aud other aboliiopists.
If yoa tell the truth. he was the most mar
velous imposter that ever lived or died.
Among Us. his political principles were
thought to be as we'll known as bis name
and occupation He never allowed his fl
deity to be doubted for one moment. 1t
was perfectly understood that he had no
| affinities whatever with men of your school
in morals or politics. His condemnation of
the abolitiouists was unsparing for their hy
pocrisy, their corruption, their ennity to
the Constitution, and their lawcss disregard
| for the rights of States and individu ualS -
| Thus lie won the confidence of Democrats.
On the faith of such professions we promoted
him in his business, and gave him office,
honor and fortune But according to your
account, he was all the while waiting and
hoping for the time to come when he could
betray the Constitution and its friends into
the cruel clutches Of their enemies. For this
cold -blooded and deliberate treachery you
bespeak the admiration of the american
people. You might as well propose to can
onze Judas Iscarict.
maintain, on the other hand, that he
was what hc seemed 20 be, sound and sin
cere friend, political and personal, of the
men who showered their favors or his head.
He had, at least, the average amount of att
tachment for 1.-THE Constitution of the Uni
ted States. and for the peace. good order and
happiness of the same" As a necessary
consequence, he dreaded the dishonest and
destructive rule which he foreSaw that you
would be sure to establish as soon as you
could. His Democracy did not cease when
the war opened. In the summer of 1861,
when your anti-constitutional principles be-
gan to be practically carried out by the kid
| Tapping ofinnocent citizens, by the suppress
| sion of free speech, and by the enslavement
of the press, he imprecated the vengeance OF
| God and the law upon the guilty authors of
| those crimes with as much energy as any
/ Democrat il the nation. Only short time
| before his appointment as Secretary Of War
his love of liberty and legal justice impelied
| him to curse Mr.. Lincoln himself with bitter
curses. He called him by contemptuous
names, aud with stinian, if not with "swi-
nish phrase soiled his ADDITION" 1 admit
that he changed these sentiments afterwards
but l deny that he had adopted your way
of thinking while he pretended to concur il
ours. His conversion was real one, pro
duced by what he regarded as "good and
sufficient reasons him thereunto moving
and 1t was accompanied, or Immediately
followed. by a corresponding change of hi
party attitude. He was not what you max,
him out. mere fawning hypocrite.
The issue 10 plainly made. The friends o
Mr.. Stanton will not permit you to gibbe
him in the face of the world, after death ha
disarmed him of the power of self-defense.-
You must prove the injurious allegation
you make, or else accept the just consequep
ces. If the Chief Justice will say that h
knows Mr.. StanJon to have been ''n entir
agreement" with the abolition party thirt
years ago, his testimony may silence denia
But you must not trife with us; we wi
hold you to strict proof; hearsay evidenc
will not be received least of all will the fac
be admitted upon the second hand statemen
of person who thinks, as you mapifestly
think. that deception, fraud and false pr,
tences are an honor to the man who practice
| them.
Next in chronological order is your assertio
that Mr.. Stanton, while yet a private citizeI
advised Mr. Buchanan that il was the dut
,,l .; Of fba Eadara 80 ooa-<