Rensselaer Union, Volume 12, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 October 1879 — NORTHERN DEMOCRATS. [ARTICLE]

NORTHERN DEMOCRATS.

The Okolona Han Free* His Hind as to the Copperheads Who Now Claim to Be “ Union Men** The Democratic party of Northland, barring its fools and knaves, was a unit in favor of recognizing the rights of the South. Its members formed themselves into leagues known as the Knights of the Golden Circle, and contended, with grand phenomenal fidelity, for Free speech, Free press, And the recognition of the young Republic of the South. ' They left nothing unspoken, nothing unwritten, and nothing undone, to Hamper, Embarrass, Demoralize. Annoy, Confuse and Defeat the General Government in its Beelzebub business of coercion. They helped us as far as lay in their power; They hoped and prayed that we would succeed in shooting the Red, White and Blue into rags and tatters. Their sympathy was a stimulus to the Confederate Chivalry from • the commencement to the close of the struggle between the States. A speech from Vallandigham was like a blast from the bugle-horn of Rhoderic Dhu. An editorial in the Cincinnati Enquirer was worth a thousand men. Their denunciation of Lincoln and his devils sent a thrill and throb of hope through hearts that had begun to falter in the fight. We have not forgotten that they were our friends in the times that tried our souls, and that is why we are solid in their support to-day. We cannot, will not, forget their services in our behalf in 1861-5. Ingratitude is not a part of the Southern nature. While we thus do meet and fitting homage to the Democratic party of Northland, we want the branding-irons and the whip of scorpions brought forth to mark and lash the slinking scoundrels who have turned traitor to the party-faith and still affect an affection for the party-flag. These runagates—these slimy, sneaking, shameless runagates —seem to forget that men have memories and that History has a babit of impaling facts on her immortal page. Turning to the files of Democratic papers oi the Northern and Western States, we discover that these men were the loudest and the lustiest in favor of bidding the South good-by and godspeed; That they gnashed their teeth and stamped the ground in wrath whenever Linkhorn issued one of his infamous calls for recruits, and swore that they would resist conscription to the bitter end; That they cursed him to the conclusion of time and eternity, because he emancipated • our bond-servants, and thereby, at one prepotent blow, destroyed the labor system of the South, demoralized the social, moral and business welfare of the world for indefinite ages, and brought an unhappy race to ruin, misery, want and ultimate extinction. And yet these fellows say that they have been Union men, first, last and all the time! And to hear them talk you would think they had conceived and drafted the devil-spewed Amendments! O the parvitude of their perfidy! And how small, how mean, how pitiful they must feel when their present position is contrasted with the proud plane on which they stood in the battledays of 1861-’5! If there was one atom of manhood in their moral make-up, they would slink off to some dark corner and die of very shame. “ Union men,” forsooth! If they were Union men, why didn’t they drop into line with the party that fought for the Union, instead of allying themselves with the friends and upholders of State-Sovereignty ? “Union men”! Yet they denounced the Union soldiers as “Lincoln dogs.” “ Union men”! Yet they voted for Alex Long & Co., who wanted to let the Union slide. “ Union men!”

Yet they tried to discourage the Union soldiers by declaring the war a failure as late as 1864. If they meant the Union of Washington, Jefferson and Buchanan— The State-Sovereignty, White Man’s Union of old, we would consider them worthy of the crown and palm of partyfellowship; But no! They want us to distinctly understand that they don’t take any stock or bonds in the old Union; That they believe in this new Union; This Centralized Union; This white, black and speckled suffrage Union of to-day; Inis Union of Force, And hate, And blood, And pollution; This Union of Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Sherman, et al. These traitors snuggle up to the Amendments, and hug 7 Kiss and fondle them by the hour! Yet there wouldn’t be a negro voter in America to-day if it had been left to their say-so. O how they did try to fight down black suffrage! How they strained and struggled against it, till their veins swelled to the size of whip-cords, and their vocabulary was exhausted of its last epithet!

And how much dfrtthefhfcte chewed and swallowed since the New Departure! Dirt!!! Why, they have consumed pecks, mountains, planets oi dirt; and they are stQl in the business at the oldstana. And now, gentlemen, them are the men who have swaggered to the front and asserted that the Okolona Stales is in Republican pay! Because we will not preach the ReSublican heresies of Consolidation and Tegro Suffrage, they say that we are in Republican pay! Because we teach the Democratic truth of Secession as Jefferson taught it; Because we teach the Democratic truth that this is a White Man’s Government, as the party-platform taught it, they say that the States is not a Democratic paper! O the inconsistency—the naked, nasty inconsistency—of these cringing cravenhearts! But, high Heaven be praised! the heart and soul of the old Democratic party are still clean and white; Its masses will keep step with shoul-der-touch to the trumpet-blast and drum-beat of the Fathers; And they will restore the Republic to its ante-bellum status at whatever cost and hazard!— Okolona (Miss.) Southern States.