, 1876-09-24

ing the enGre Democratic party itself, "a tco1
spiracy In aid Of the Southern Rebellion, aud yc
have not yet abandoned this sort Of fsh-maxk
warfare. The Order Of ''Sons OF Liberty" was
loyal to the Union and devoted to Its laws as W.
the Union League" itself, and tue lovers Of tn
| Union. not then members Of the Democratic party
are little aware Of tue debt OF gratitude the coun
try owes that organization for the potent influence
it exercised in checking The tendencies to vio1enc
and outbreak OF men almost infuriated by politica
prosecutions OF themselves and their fellows.
BY reference to the paragraph which "
published, it will be seen that the statemen
that the "Sons Of Liberty" was s'a Con
spiracy In aid Of the Rebellion" was no
that Of THB TRIBUNE, but was officially mad
BY Judge~Advocate-Ge General Ho1T in the It'll
Of his report As this report was made con
corning the order of which JUDD admits b
was Grand Commander in Illinois, and il
which he named JUDD as an officer Of th.
Sons OF Liberty, it is strange that Mr. JUDI
has never sought out Judge Holt and madt
! him answer for this j" fsh-market" and "mali
cious falsehood-" For twelve years Mr. JUDI
has permitted this declaration that he was
! "Grand Commander OF the Sons of Liberty
In Illinois, which organization was con,
spnacy in aid Of the Southern Rebellion" tc
rest unchallenged upon the National records
and pass into the history Of the War, and at
this late day he proposes to treat it Us an
assault upon his private character
We wish to state here that we have pub
lished no word concerning his private char
acter. He is a veteran politician, and an
old and familiar parsonage in politics; and
whether he pushed himself into the chair at
the Tnuanu11 meeting, or was invited to
take it, the old party politician broke out
when in introducing Tnu,1Bu11 he assailed
LOGAN as recruiting officer for the Rebels.
man with his political record has no right
to expect that he can publicly assai1 other
men and escape criticism himself His per-
sonal character is no more "sacred" than
that Of the persons whom he accused.
We utterly refuse, in the light of the in
formation before US, to accept JuDD's state
ment that the Sons Of Liberty was as loyal
to the Union as was the t'Union League"
The Union League was exclusively devoted
to the support Of the Government in the
prosecution of the War. If the Sons of Lib
erty twas an Offset" to the Union League,
then it opposed the ends of the Union
League. III fact, it was for peace, and was
opposed to the War. But on this point
thcro can hardly be any room for doubt.
Our readers are invited to the testimony Of
two witnesses, testhying officially. These
witnesses are JOSEPH Ho1r, Judge Advocate
General Of the United States, and JAcoR
TaoMpsox, Commissioner Of the Confederate
States
If the render viii keep in mind the state
ment of this man JuDD-" was, however,
member and Grand Commander in Illinois Of
the Order Of tho Sons Of Iiberty,'"-
also of the fact that at the time when most
of the transactions covered by these two re-
ports took place he was Democratic candidate
for Lieutenant t-Governor Of Illinois, there
will be no difficulty in discovering the ap-
picabi1ity of the testimony. Judge Holt
says in his report:
From printed copies heretofore seized BY the |
Government of the Constitution Of the Supreme !
Council, Grand Council, and county Parent Tenn
pies respectively, OF the Order OF the Sons Of Lib
erty, in connection with other and abundant testi-
nony, the organization Of the Order in It's latest
form IL understood to be fol}ows: 1.-THE gov
ernment OF the Order in 4 State is vested in 4
Grand Council, the officers of which are Grand |
Commander" ETC., land certain number OF
siajorGcnerals, or ono for eoch military district
The secret Constitution OF the Supreme Council
provides that the Supreme Commander 'sshall 81
commander Chief of all military forces belong
ng to the Order in the yarious States when called
into actual service, " and further that the Grand
Commanders ''sha1l be Commanders in Chief OF
he military forces OF their respective States."
In Illinois, where the organization OF the Or |
Ter Is considered most perfect, the members in
acA Congressional district compose brigade ~
'h'ch Is commanded By q ''Brisadler- General"
he members OF each county constitute ''regi-
aent, - with q ''Coloncl" in command, and those
I each township form company"
According to this official report, Mr.. S. G.
uDD, as Grand Commander" WAS Com
1ander-in- Chief Of the military forces of the
ons Of Liberty in Illinois.
But Judge Holt, in that portion Of the
eport directed to the specific purposes and
perations Of the Order, enumerates these
urposes under the following general defni-
0n6:
l. Aiding soldiers to desert and harboring and | 1
-otecting deserters.
2. Discournging enlistmcnts and resisting the
aft. {
3. Circulation of disloya1 and reasonable pnbli-
tions. :
1. Communicating with and giving intelligence
the enemy.
s. Aittln. the enemy by recruiting for them, OF 1
ding them to recruit, within our lines. :
9. Furnishing the Rebels with arms, ammuni-
IN, etc.
!. Cooperating With the enemy in raids and in
sions. | q
& Destruction OF Government property t
J. Destruction Of private property and persecu- Il
N Of loyal men.
10. Assassination md murder
IL The establishment Of a Northwestern Con- I
leracy. e
The report on this Order thus closes: K
n the presence OF the Rebellion and Of this ! h
ret Ordcr-which is but its echo and faithful !,
we cannot but be amazed at the utter and | -
1e-spread pronisacy, personal and political, c:
lch these movements against the Government
close. The guilty men engaged in them, often NJ
ting aside their allegiance to haye troddcn r.
fo1f /