Year: 1864




given rise to lengthy and acrid discus
sions in the papers. II strikes us as
sufficient to say that it is substantially
an attempted revival of old issues with
the Administration, ISSUES which are
settled beyond successful revival and
settled against Governor Seymour and
his friends by the verdict of the peo-
pie rendered at the last Fall elections.
We have no room, Of course, for the mes
sage The following will do, however.
as sample of the shilly- -Shallying at
tempts to re galyinize into life old sub
jects of clamor. Upon the proper method
OF filling our armies he has been in
chronic disagreement with the govern
ment and though he seems, judging from
the elections aforesaid, to have realized
but little political profit from his course,
ne is determined if possible, to keep up
the disagreement Before the govern
ment resorted to draft, it will be re-
membered that Gov Seymour and his
political sympathisers were the most
urgent advocates of this method of keep
ing up our armiesinstead by the volun-
teer system The government order
draft, and he turns about and in this
message denounces drafting.
Again he says that our armies Ought
to be filed by bounties." But the gov
ernment has been offering large bounties
to I'LL our armies and avoid the necessity
of another draft, if possible. But the
"iocal bounties are Oppressive, he says
"they are more oppressive upon the in
dustry of the country than they would
be If they We're made part of the ma
tional debt" If the localities choose
TO offer "local bounties for the purpose
of still further stimulating volunteering
they have the undoubted right, we sup
pose If they choose to pay their vol
unteers liberal sums in addition to the
large bounties of government, they
should not be prohibited. The volun-
teers deserve it all.--ln short, Gov Sey-
monr is like too many other northern
ers with whom partisanship buries pat
riotism, and whose leader he is They
are nothing unless dissatisfied. If vol
unteering is the order of the day, it is a
draft they want; if a draft. then il
should be volunteering if both, then the
draft Is odious and unconstitutional and
the bounties for volunteers are too large
and lnnppS nd tha nnfh hr,d NJ ,tct,,
them all wrong. SO through the whole
catalogue of government measures look
ing to vigorous prosecution of the
war. ...


Now the best test we have seen land
itwas to this we desired especially to
call the attention of our readers) of Gov
ernor Seymour's political status as
judged by his last message, is contained
in the following from the New York
Evening Post But its application need
not be confined to Gov. Seymours mes
sage alone. 1t is equally applicable to
the efforts of all, who, like Gov. Seymour,
in time of fearful peril to the I'M
ion, expend their energies in partisan
attacks upon all measures adopted by
the government for its defence. The
Post says ..... ....


Suppose there were Governor of
one of the rebel states who should attack
the military, political and financial
measures of the rebel government, de-
nounce the measures it adopts to pro-
cure funds for carrying on the war, con-
denim the means used to supply the rebel
treasury, declare the arrest of dissatisfied
persons and the suppression of loyal
journals within the rebel region to be a
violation of personal rights beyond en-
durance, and SO through the whole series
Of measures designed to give vigor and
energy to the rebellion, censuring them
as destructive Of the rights of the States,
and looking to their utter failure, their
breaking down. as it is called by Gov
ernor Seymour, as the only hope of the
. country, what should we say OF such a
Governor


We could only say that he should be
regarded as good friend of the Federal
Government, a foe of the rebellion,
proper subject for amnesty and the total
oblivion of all his previous political Of
fences. Suppose the same Governor
should go on, after the manner of Gov
ernor Seymour, to charge the rebel ad-
ministration with having pursued
criminal course in pushing the rebellion
to such an extreme-in not making it
merely halfway rebellion-in not leav-
Ing open pretty wide door for concili-
alton and peaceful return to the Union;
we should all say that such a Governor
was as much with us as it was prudent
Tor him to be, and we should count on
his help in putting down the rebellion
on the very instant he saw an opportu-
nifty OF doing it with effect.


Governor Seymour cannot complain if
we apply the same rule of construction
10 his message. 1t is document in the
rebel interest, and will encourage the
rebels so far as they are capable of en-
couragement, and tend to protract their
mao struggle, so far as, at this stage. it
IS capable of being protracted. Those
parts OF 1t which denounce our govern
ment and predict national ruin will
DC repuoIished on the dingy brown