The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-06-30
THE PRESS.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 30, '75
FOR GOVERNOR,
GEN. SELDEN CONNOR.
Gen. Roberts, Godfather,

| editor OF the Wing and Mr.. Pillsbury of the
Maine Standard. In the course of its COM
ments upon the late Democratic Convention,
the Wig stated that Mr.. Pillsbury, who on
that occasion presented the name of Gen. Rob-
erts and vouched for him as ''patriot SOL
| dier, twas guilty of "inciting resistance to the
| drafts" Mr.. Pilsbury replies that the editor
| of the Wing is ''liar" Now tie Whiq
comes with its proofs which are taken from
a file of the Franklin Patriot published
In 1868 by Mr.. Pisbury, which, to say the
least, are rather bad for a gentleman who
appears as a political Godfather for can
didate and declares that he was a ''patrot
soldier.''
We cannot give all of the extracts wh 'ch
the Wing presents to show that Mr.. Pills
bury is guilty of the offense charged against
him. Indeed, it is not necessary. There were
but two sides then. One was doing its ut
most to sustain the government and encour-
age the people in supporting the war. The
other was doing its utmost to shake the con-
fidence of the country in the government and
10 discourage and dishearten the people. Of
this last class was Mr.. Pillsbury. He may
now have forgotten it, CT, seeing the wicked
ness of such course, may have repented the
evil he cannot now atone, bit so long as
file of his printed utterances is in existence,
he cannot afford to fling about the lie very
recklessy unless he delights in seeing this
''ghost of his disloyalty.''
The most critical year of the war was 1868.
The country was respondent and dishearten-
ed with defeat. 1t was time when the s'pat-
riot soldier' would have been in active service
and the patriot at home doing his utmost to
strenthen the hearts of the people. Now
what was Gen. Roberts God father doing?
January 9, 1868, an editorial of the Patriot
charges President Lincoln with deception
and falsehcod and declares that the soldiers
would not have volunteered had they known
that they had been deceived March 6, 1863,
in bitter editorial, Mr.. Pillsbury denounced
the draft as "dn unconstitutional lou of
abraham the First" ridiculed the greenbacks
as "shinplasters' and declared that 'every-
thing is tending directly to state of anarchy"
The next week he printed an article which
contains the following:
SIT is useless to talk longer about preserving
the free government Of our Fathers. for it has al
ready become a mass of ruins and has virtually
cea Sed to e1ist. American freedom has been
wrecked during the brief period that the Apos-
tates to Liberty Ii. e. President Lincoln and
his advisers] have had control. The
great question for the future is whether there
is craftsmanship left in the country to rebuild
the Temple of Liberty, to drive out the arch-
tects of ruin "and reconstruct q free gooerr-
naent."
Just before the battle of Gettysburg, he
said that "the evil Of to-day is regarded by
those who can foresee and calculate the fu-
ture, as altogether light and endurable COM
pared with the disasters that are looked for
Tomorrow"
In his issue of June 26, 1868, Mr.. Pillsbury
gave an account of an anti-war meeting at
Kingfield at which he spoke. Of this he says:
1--WE hare attended many political meetings at
klngheld, but none OF them ever compared
with this one in numbers and enthusiasm.
There seems to be an universal feeling that we
have suffered enough from the msrule of abo-
ltion fanatics, and determination TO effect a
change in the management OF public affairs"
This meeting was followed by riotous re-
sistance in Kingfeld, to the draft. Mr.. Pills
bury might not have advocated resistance in
SO many words, but as there was to be no
general election for fifteen months, the logi-
cal conclusion to which those in sympathy
with Mr.. Pillsbury must come, is that the
federal authority and its orders for drafts
must be resisted.
Mr.. Pilsbury was quiet for time after the
Kingfeld fiasco. Some of his political asso-
ciates had been at Fort Lafayette. In the tall
of 1868, however, he regained his courage
and renewed bis disloyal utterances, among
which were the following:
Another proclamation of the President will
be found under the telegraphic head, calling
for 100000 men in addition to those required
under existing orders. This is a necessary po-
lcy. Let those who believe in the
policy redeem their pledges and answer this
call for more men,"
'The people have ueen patient, forbearing
and suffering, but their patience is about worn
out"
''Ths conscription is faic specimen of alb
clifton wisdom, aud If the people do MT turn
out the crazy incompetents, CONSUMPTION after
cODscrptlon will come upon us.
This war FARCE is carried on unrele utingly
and systematically, and the question is recpro.
cally one of life and DEATH
''Conscription (or drafting) is a policy re.
its execution cali only pc enforced by the iron
hand of military despotism."
As these utterances were made more than
year before the Presidential election of
1864, it is hardly possible that Mr. Pillsbury
could intend them to have bearing on that
campaign. OF course he will attempt to
make this appear, but candid men will be
convinced that at that period the sturdy
patriot was lost in the conscienceless parti-
san, and that Democratic partisanship in
1868 was only another name for treason. 1t
differed in degree, but Mr.. Pillsbury had the
intensest degree. and consequently wasn't
just the man to vouch for Gen. Roberts as
the 'patriot soldier" except with the qualif-
cation that he had always been steadfast
Democrat.