Year: 1866

WIS 1rduQulently Smuggleu through


the Circuit Court and lodged in the
Supreme Court, before the minutes of
the case had been read and signed by


the Circuit Judge, or he had been made


acquainted with it's character, and was


hastily decided by the Cupreme Court
against the credit of the State.
They are the men who introduced


and organized in this State that dan
| gerous and widespread conspiracy first


known as the ''Knights of the Golden
Circle,' and afterWard as the .'Sons of
Liberty" which had for its. purpose
the overthrow of theState and National
Governments. Not all Of them, it is
true, belonged formerly to this infa-
nous order, but such as stood ON the
outside had knowledge of its existence
i purposes and plans, and carefully con-


cealed their knowledge, and stood ready
to accept its work s5. -"
To accomplish the hellish work of
this conspiracy, military officers were
appointed, military organizations ere
ated, arms and ammunition purchased
in Immense quantities and snuggled
into the State, correspondence opened


with rebel commanders, and military
combinations agreed upon, rebel off


GERS and agents introduced into the
capital and concealed in hotels and


boarding houses, and it was deliberate
| ly planned and agreed that a day fixed,
they would suddenly uprise and MUIR
der the Executive, seize the ammunition
snd releasing 5000 rebel prisoners in
| [ NJ int fboi,
hands, and with their combined forces
effectra military andtbloody revolution


in the State This dreadful. scheme
necessarily involved murder, confia-
grafton, robbery and the commission


Of every crime which makes black the


chronicles of civil war, and yet its au-


thors and abettors, with the proofs of
their guilt piled mountain high, are


again struggling for power, and asking
the people to put into their guilty hands
the government and prosperity of the
State. Some of these men, who are high
in favor and authority in their party,
and are largely entrusted with mana0 0e-
ment, have heretofore occupied offices


of great trust and responsibility, in


which they proved to be recreant and
corrupt. -r IS.


They are the men who, in the Legis-


lature Of Indiana, bitterly opposed and
denounced every effort to confer the
right of suffrage upon soldiers in the


field who could not come home to vote.


They are men who wrote letters to the
soldiers in the army, urging them to
desert, and assuring them of support
and protection if they did. e ~


They are the men who labored with


devilish zeal to destroy the ability of


the Government to carry on the war


by depreciating it's financial credit


They assured the people that ''green-


backs" would die on their hands, and


warned them solemnly against govern
ment bonds, as a wicked device to rob
them of their money.


They are the men who refused to con-
tribute to the Sanitary Commission for
the relief of sick and wounded soldiers,
upon the lying and hypocritical pre-
tense that the contributions were con-
sumed by the officers of the army.
They are the men who excused them
selves from contributing to the relief of
Isoldiers' families at home by the infa
nous SANDER that they were living bet


ter than they had ever done, and by


foul imputations on the chastity ofsol-
diers' wives.


They are the men who declared in
speeches, resolutions, and by their
votes in Congress, that not another
man nor another dollar should be vo-


ted to carry on a cruel war against
their Southern brethren.


They are the men who in the midst
of the last great campaign of 1864, at


the time when Sherman was fighting
his way, step by step, from Chatta-
! nooga to Atlanta, Grant forcing Lee


back into the defenses Of Richmond,


in desperate and bloody battles from
day to day when thefate of the nation
hung in the balance, and the world
} watched with breathless interest the


gigantic struggle which was to settle


the question ofrepublican government,
assembled in convention in Chicago
and resolved that the war was a failure
that our cause was unjust, and that we
ought to lay down our arms and sue
1OG peace 1t WIS luEOWl IL LIO uIIGstiil
into the Confederate scale to make the
Union kick the beam. 1t was a bold
; and desperate interference in behalf of
) the rebellion, at the very crisis of the
fight. It was an insult to the loyal ar
mics of the nation so vast, malignant
and deadly, that language can convey
no adequate idea of its wickedness. And
in future times the historian will record
; the fact with astonishment that the
Government, at the most critical mo-
: ment of its life, when a few hours, or a
few days at the furthest, must determ-
inc whether it should live OF die, could
permit large body of its enemies to
meet upon its soil in peace and securi


ty, and publish fragrant menifesto in
behalf of the rebellion.


, Now, I do not mean to say that all
!, the Democratic leaders have done all


these things, but what I do say is this,
i, that the men who have done these
: things are combined together, and con-


stitute the real leaders of the Demo


cratic party. The few moderate men
of the party have been stripped of all


power and influence, and are carried
= along with it merely for numbers and
policy, while the living and aggressive
q element which controls it are the