Year: 1863

| Tie. DO lnOSe people VINO lllk OI the IN
famous. the odious conscription bill not


know that there is not government on


top of the earth but passes a conscription


law whenever they desire to raise troops
for any emergency whatever? Some gov


ernments riise troops without conscrip-
tion laws. They just issue proclamations


and tell the people TO march up and be
soldiers without further notice. This IS


the way they do in the land of jeff


Laughter. lie issued an order the 9th
er day without any act of Congress. They


have TO go forward and deliver themselves
up, or they will be arrested and shot as


deserterS. But that is all right, of course


because jeff. does it. He has right to


do that; but if Congress of the United


States happen 10 pass conscrption-law,


when we have not troops enough to put


down this rebellion, it is an outrage. |


want to say this if | was President OF


the United States and had the power. and


if jeff. Davis or any other jeff. was fight


ing against the Government to destroy 1t


whether had conscription law or not,


| would haye soldiers. Applause.l And


every man l found trying to excite sedi-


ton or to produce dissatisfaction in the


army that was fighting for the Govern


ment, | would hang on the first tree |
came to. Appluse. That's what I'd do


with them.


Whenever gentlemen talk in this coun-
try about obeying law, and about the vio-


lation of the Constitution; whenever gen.


tlemen in this or any country are denoun-


cling men for the exercise of power


that doesn't belong TO them, why, in
Gods name, let them try and obey the
/ 10, Il Iof al yo1l- nfI
ers about it. Look at New York. Here
is a conscription law attempted to be en-
| forced for the purpose of raising soldiers
to fight for the old flag that was carried
/ by Washington on many bloody field;
that our fathers and brothers have waived
and shaken in the face of the enemy un-
til they trembled with fear because of the
power that was known to be in that old
banner; to fight by the side of veterans
who have for over two years marched to
the music of the Union to fight for old
Yankee Doodle as always did. But men
were told that this law must be opposed.
that mobs must be raised to prevent its
enforcement, and these men, who invite
the mob spirit in Now York are clamor
Gus for the Constitution and laws. They
want the letter of the Constitution ad
hered to. They want the laws all admin
istered properly. In New York, gentle
men will get up and make speeches, and
talk about usurpation in Office, and the
unjust exercise of power, and all this, to
do what? To make people law abiding
citizens? No, but to excite the populace
to every deed of violence and atrocity, to
make them resist the law openly; to
TO make them wilfully murder their fell
low-citizens in the streets; TO make them
commit acts of robbery, murder and ar
son. Was not that the result of these
teachings in New York? What did they
do for the people whom they excited
thus? Did they prevent any of them
from being enrolled No, but they caus-
ed the streets of New York to How with
the blood of her fellow-citizens. And so
it will always be when such riots are at
tempted, because the Government has
the power to put them down, and will put
them down, and the gentlemen who try !
to excite mohs will be the first to suffer |
they will be the frsI TO run out of the |
country to get rid of the law too. Ap- |
plause.


There are great many other objections |
to the-prosecution of this war. They |
want to stop the war to prevent the furth- |
er effusion of blood. Fellow-citizens, this /
Government is Government that we all
love or once loved. We love the people, |
the country, the rivers, the trees, every |
thing in it. They are ours. 1t is our peo-
pie, our lakes, our shores, our rocks, our |
mountains, our rills, our hollows. 1t Is |
our people, our Government the best and |
brightest that ever existed on earth, and |
before would see this war stop until the |
Government is restored in all its former
power and supremacy, would rather see
the graves of ourselves, our sons and our
brothers, mountains high. l would rath
er see carcasses sufficient to make bridges
across the widest streams, before this war
should stop, until the true soldier of the
Union could wave his sabre in his strong
right hand and cleave the head of traitors
in the land. Loud Applause. This
Government is worth generations and cen
turies of war. 1t is worth the lives of the
best and noblest men in the land, and may
they all be sacrificed before the war shall
stop and leave an armed traitor in the
land. [Applause. We will fight for this
Government for the sake of ourselves and |
our children. Our little ones shall read |
in history of the men who stood by the |
Government in its dark and gloomy hours |
and it shall be the proud boast of many |
that their fathers died in this glorious
struggle for American liberty. Ap- |
plause.


PEACE MEN.


You hear peace speeches made very oft |
en-. We are for peace, they say. l say so
too. l am for peace as much as man can
be. We will meet them half way and /
shake hands on this proposition. We are
both for peace But will tell you what
sort of peace l am for. am for piece
Of eOuHtry. [Applause. l am for this
sort of a peace. Before the rebellion
broke out we had peace. Before the reb-
els raised armies to fight against our Gov
eminent we had peace. While the stars
and stripes hoated from Maine to Califor-
MIA, and from the lakes in the North to
the CULTS in the South, we had peace
While the same martial music was played
in every town and hamlet through
out the length and breadth of the
land, we had peace. While we had one
army, one navy, one President, one Uni
ted States, one people, we had peace
Then, l say, am for the same kind of
peace again, and, so help me God, want
no other kind. Applause. am for
the same country and the same Constitu-
ton. And l can tell these gentlemen
how they can get peace tomorrow. You
once were the State of Mississippi, belong
ing to the United States Government so
you were once the State of Louisiana; so
of all these seeded States. You rails
ed the puny arm of rebellion. You mus
tered yourself against the Government,
and brought war and bloodshed. You did
all these things. Now lay down your arms
as rebels ought to do, pay obedience to
the Government, again say that owed al
legiance to the Government of the Uni
ted States once; owe it again. Walk
as whipped child las you are and will be
worse if you don't quit soon9 to fond in
dulgent parent, who loved you and gave
you nourishment. Now my fellow-citizens
that is the kind of peace l am for. Ap-
plause Now these other gentlemen, who
talk about peace, don't tell you what kind
IL. Nall T toll