Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-08-09
Paying Pensions to Rebel soldiers.

WHEN IL was first reported that Horace
Greeley owed his present candidacy to q
bargain made between himself and Waldo
Hutchins on one side, and Horatio Sey.
mour and other prominent Democrats on
the other, the story attracted no special
attention. II had from the first been evil
dent that he had made bargain with
some representatives of the Democracy,
and whether the go-between was Car.
michael or some other nobody was mat
ter of no consequence. But the original
report has been followed by details
which not only fully establish the truth.
fulness to the story, but give defniteness
and importance to the campaign. In.
stead of being merely the confirmation
of general opinion touching the
machinery put In motion to secure Gree
ley's nomination, il lifts the curtain and
let's us see what the real nature of Gree.
leyism is,
According to the affidavit of Mr.. @. s.
Carpenter, editor of the 0neonta IN. "
Herald, the man Carmichael received a
letter in August or September from
Horace Greeley, in Greeley's own hand
writing, in which he declared himself as
favorable to the passage of a law provid-
ing that the General Government shall
pay pensions to Southern disabled sol
diers, although he doubted if Congress
would pass such bill.
We now know what the Liberals mean
when they talk of RECONCILIATION" and
"clasping hands over the bloody chasm."
They propose TO put Premium upon
treason and reward rebels. Not few of
the Hessians remained in this country
after the war of the Revolution closed,
and, according to Greeleyism, they should
have been placed upon the same pension
footing as the soldiers of the patriot otermy.
We are now paying out about thirty mill
ions year in the way of pensions.
The Greeley infamy would add at least
twenty millions more. The idea of q
Government pensioning its enemies is ut
terly atrocious, and would seem at first to
be too absurd for serious consideration.
Yet there is actual danger of it. Wem
remember that the rebellion was crushed
in spite of the fact that from first to last
it had the sympathy of large proportion
of the white citizens of the nation. The
South was almost a unit, and in the
North the Copperheads did not fall short
of a million in number. OF course every
rebel and Copperhead would favor this
Confederate pension plot.
The Republican majority of four years
u,
the entire vote being 5,716,6SS. The
problem, as it presented itself to the Sey-
mours and Carmichaels of the country,
was, how to draw Oft enough Republicans
to turn the scale. AS Greeley stood at
the head of the most widely circulated
Repu olican newspaper of the country,
and had the confidence of his party in an
eminent degree, they naturally thought
that his treachery would be worth pur-
chasing, at however high price, provided
only he would give secret pledge, which
would be satisfactory to such of the lead
ers as should be initiated in advance.
They knew that no one would think of in
venting Il charge so atrociOus against Ho-
race Greeley and who would have thought
that the prime mover in the affair
would have the insuferable stupidity to
show Greeey's letter to any one, espec-
tally to an editor? Those, however, who
have noted the outcroppings of crime
know that "murder will OUT when least
expected. In this case, it is quite likely
that Carmichael did not know what the
letter contained, and showed it to Car.
penter with no thought of its contents.
The handwriting of Greeley is so blind
that this is the most probable explanation.
But it makes no difference how the secret
got out. The fact that Greeley pledged
himself in black and white to favor the
rebel pension policy, is the point. The
exposure and direct proofs of this fact are
most timely. The exposure laid before
our readers yesterday should reach every
voter, that the people may realize the real
issue of this campaign, and what the con-
spirators, headed by Greeley, are actually
plotting. "After Greeley what?" is now
an answered conundrum.-Ch Jour-
nal.