Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1871-1872, 1872-03-25

receipt OF q letter, Of more tnsn oreihefJ IN
tarest. from the Hos. Leonard SWEET, OF
voar oity,-s copy Of which is herewith 10.
slos.d.-on the ssbjsos Of reform, 90 con
nee,ed With the Cincinnati convention; and
,hougA would disssst from some Of the
views therein preseaIed, allow me to ask
you TO publish the same 10 your videly-eir-
cOlased paper. Yours respectfully, I
~. - JEssE W. FELL.
HON. LEoSAHD SWIFT TO Nh. JESSE W. FELL.
CHICAGO, March Is, ls72.-Jssse W
Fell, ESQ, Bloomington, Ill.-Dear SIR
Your note, asking my views Of the Oinoln
nati convention has been received. | under
stand that convention 10 be Q ass.meetiug |
OF ell republicans opposed 10 the existing
policy sud practices Of the party, and | in
tend TO cooperate with she movement,
because believe ,he principles of our party
have been subVerted, and its present policy
aud practice TO be Injurious aud demoraliz-
ing TO the country.
At the close Of the war, the govern ment
entranchised the negroes, and BY attaching
dua5ilitlss to men prominent in The rebel
lion, practically disfrauehised the properly
holding and intslligent GLASSES of the south.
The next stsp vas to empower the army
quarterod there 10 override OWL authority,
The asgroes aud poor whites thus holding
ooatrol, and the country thus subordinAied,
political power became questions OF muscle
and enterprise. Adventures, without
oharaoters ~ home, swsrmes. there, and
encouraged by the government, becAuss
they we're republicans, conAlsd the negroes
10 the name Of liberty, aud appropriated 10
themselves all the positions Of pro6l and
trusL TSus, under forms Of law, property
has been pillaged, Intelligence enslavsd, and
every state, city, county, parish, and town
has been sadd!ed with debts which genera.
tions cannot pay, aud for which the people
have literally nothing to show. These
lesehsa are still Al their work, Teasing upon
al that 10 VAlusbls and vital, aud, IL the
truth may be spoken, our party il aiding
aud encouraging them. The people thus
crippled cannot shake them of, and they
will gorge themselves until the rights OF
citizenship arc restored TO those they are
depicting.
You and became Republicans be-
caused opposed 10 the oppression OF slavery.
What hand has nodded us until We have
become ice sdvooates and psttsrus2 The
same reason which made me sympathize
white man, now that war aud time have
changed their mutual relations
Recently, in our city, When twenty thous
aud families, At night we're homeless 10 the
streets, and Gre and fear we're universal, the
government, requested By the mayor, ssIAb.
lithsd . military guard over smoiderin7
bank vaults aud remsining vAluAbles, auu
gave asenss Of restful security 10 . worn.
out aud panio-strioken people. The gov
ernor Of this Republican state com planned
that such protection was irregular, And our
Republican Legislature, now in session
officially sustained him, under the fear that
this grateful kindness mighI become a
PreosdsH' for federal oppression.
Now, IL as party, we are such stcklsrs
about military interference at home that 10
cannot LET two companies Of regulars help
save . Burning city, whom no one charges a
motive except 10 relieve distress, what are
we thinking Of ourselves, when about to in
pose upon the south four years more oil
political disability aud federal control
knowing the consequences to be the prscti
oAl enslavement ofS people incapable o
resiSitAnos2
Abolisionists we're always charged will
hating the master rather than loving to,
slave. This charge was persistently ap
Piled TO the Republican party which Ab
sorbed them. We denied il upon the stump
aud our people, between 1854 aud 1860
have heard Mr. Lincoln deny it in Alnos
every county seat in the state. When tht
war broke out, the southern people, alarmed
By this fear, declared they were fighting fo
their Liberties, and 10 ust maintain the sIrug
gle bitterly. and 20 the last. We insisted
they were our brethren, -"bone Of our
bone, flesh Of our aesh. and ell we de
sired was an unbroken country in which
liberty should he universal. Mr.. Lincolr
officially proclaimed this congress declared
il, and our party conventions, national
stats, cosntry, town, and ward, resolved it
IL was for this, in tesrs aud pAia, tn
mother gave her boy and for this he carrie,
the flag 10 his death in the line.
With these accusations aud fears univer
sally known with all our deniAls, protesta
tious, aud professions, so notorious as q
stand boldly out in the history OF thos
times the rebellion surrendered, in armies
BY the fifty thousand, and history waited l.
write whether their fears we're well founded
or our profession sincere Seven years hAv
since elapsed, and, looking over the seen
Of the conaios We 6nd the white man ioade
with political disabilities. tbs control b
used TO exercise given to his former slave
and hn country q Botany Bay for ever
soalA~Ag who wishes to plumber him.
oonosds the right TO have vested upo
the leaders the death penalty Of treason
but TO hK permanent disabilities upon III
body Of the people Is to make slavery tn
conssquen OF rebellion. 10 doing this W
-. Ia II q. III ~
vert throughout the south the spirit of on
institutions, and stand before the word coz
frming their fsars and false to our profes
sionA.
1 partially oanvAssed this state in 1854
aud In 1898, aud generally in 1856 and SCI
joined IN all our dsniAls, protestAtionI
add professions, and want some day 10 se
these results changed, aud liberty restored
or 20 make tour, as general, Of penitenc
and confession.
And what was the truth OF the matter
Did We love the slave, or hate the master
Was the war to restore the union, or to sui
jugHle the south7
yet affirm that the northmAn new,
hated his brother Of the south, and the fac,
~ they exist, belle aud misrepressnt Il
sentiments Of the republican masses, AT
OF their great loaoer VINO 1911 IN the connie
la reference to Mr.. Liuoolu's hopes an
plans, neither friend nor foe oAn be mistake
His public record speaks with no uncertA
sound but those who knew his inner Ii
before his greatness dAvned, and saw d
vSop IN his later years Purposes Of libsr
for all, know he looks on all this busine
with abhorrenos.
Nor has our party in this state failed |
make the struggle TO restore the right.
our state oonVsnIion, held in Ssptemb,
last, a resolution fsvOrIDR immediate Ar
nssty was passed, in which the conventiC
officially declared that "the time had con
pheH tie enmities eagendeTed by The 20,
must yield 10 the friendships Of Peace"
Why then does not the government chan
ils course? Simply because !. will will n
aud cannot. The mission of the war was
mission Of furOe. When the war ceased 3
duty was to bind the shattered msmbs
togethsr, and heal, by kindness, the woun
which violanoe had made w. E,..1 Al