Facts for the people

FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE.

To THE Citizens of Massachusetts :

In the belief that the people of Massachusetts,, under the
influence of some of the leaders of the Republican party, have
been swept along by a current, the direction and even the ex-
istence of which, has been concealed from them, towards dano-ers
which threaten to overw^helm the country, they are earnestly
invited to consider the following facts.

In January, 1857, a convention assembled at Worcester,
to inaugurate measures for the dissolution of the Union. Francis
W. Bird was the President of that convention. In the course
of a speech which he made, he said : —

" They [the Eepublicans] proclaim us traitors because we are laying
hands upon this Union. I say liberty and union if it may be ; liberty
first and union afterwards, if it need be. Liberty in the Union and
under the Constitution if possible ; but liberty out of the Union and
over the Constitution, if it must

And again he said, —

I have felt that it is time that this question of abolition should be
met, and I came here to enroll myself among those who believe that
the mission of this nation is Freedom, and who go for the abolition of
slavery at the price of dissolution if need be''

In another place he said : —

*' There is no Union between the North and the South. We have
no rights. This Union never did, does not now, and never can, govern-
ed by the same influences as now, give us any rights as members of the
Northern portion of the Union. It never was worth anything to tie

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free States, except that, at tlie commencement of the government, our
fathers, having just emerged from the Eevolutionary war, felt the ne-
cessity of Union to prepare for the ' common defence.' In that age,
when it was supposed that rights could be maintained only by war, and
the power of the strongest was the only power recognized, they felt the
necessity of a Union to protect the infant Kepublic from foreign aggres-
sions. That necessity no longer exists ; and it seems to me that no sane
and sensible man, who looks upon this matter apart from any political
aspirations, can make himself believe that this Union is of any value to
anybody in the free States now J*

That convention appointed a State Committee, of which Mr.
Bird was one, and passed the following resolutions among
others : —

Resolved, That this movement does not seek merely disunion, but the
more perfect union of the free States by the expulsion of the slave States
from the confederation, in which they have ever been an element of dis-
cord, danger, and disgrace.

Resolved, That it is not probable that the ultimate severance of the
Union will be an act of deliberation or discussion, — but that a long
period of deliberation and discussion must precede it ; and this we meet
to begin.

Resolved, That henceforward, instead of regarding it as an objection
to any system of policy, that it will lead to the separation of the States,
we will proclaim that to be the highest of all recommendations, and the
greatest proof of statesmanship ; and we will support, politically or
otherwise, such men and measures as appear to tend most to this result.

Resolved, That by the repeated confession of Northern and Southern
statesmen, " the existence of the Union is the chief guaranty of slavery
and that the despots of the whole world have everything to fear, and
the slaves of the whole world everything to hope, from its destruction^
and the rise o f a free Northern Republic.

Resolved, That the sooner the separation takes place, the more peace-
ful it will be; but that peace ov ^^ir \^ a secondai-y consideration, m
view of our present perils. Slavery must be conquered, ''peaceably if
we can, forcibly if we must.''

Resolved, That the experience of more than sixty years has proved
our national government to be a mere creature and tool of the Slave

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Power, subservient only to tlie purpose of despotism ; a formidable
obstacle to the advancement and prosperity both of the free and slave
States ; a libel upon our Democratic theories of government ; a disgrace
to the civilization of the age, and a bitter curse to the cause of freedom
in our own country and throughout the world.

Resolved, That, in view of this long and painful experience, we have
no longer any hope of its reformation, but are fully convinced that the
best interests of every section of the country require its immediate
dissolution.

Resolved, That this Convention recommends, as the first step towards
the accomplishment of this object, the organization in each of the
States, of a political party outside of the present Constitution and
Union, — a party whose candidates shall he puhlicly pledged, in the event
of their election, to ignore the Federal Government, to refuse an oath to
its Constitutim, and to make their respective States free and independent
communities.

The Hon. Amasa Walker w^as invited to attend that conven-
tion, but being unable to do so, addressed it a letter, dated
North Brookfield, January 10, 1857, from which the following-
extracts are made : —

"For one, I must confess, I am sick of so much cant about 'the
Union.' I know perfectly well that it is feigned and false — that those
who indulge in it do it because they think they must, and lest they
should be themselves damned as * disunionists ' — a name of reproach
they dread, far more than that of 'traitors to freedom.' Our political
men seem to feel, that, so long as they insist that they are in favor of
the Union, at all hazards and in every emergency, they are safe ; hence
they are constantly shouting, at the top of their voices, * Great is Diana
of the Ephesians ! '

'* In my humble opinion, it is high time that this hypocritical bluster
was silenced. But that work can only be done in primary assemblies
of the yeomanry of the country, like that you propose to hold. The
people of Massachusetts, I have the best reason to know, are quite ready
to take the ground, practically, that they will have liberty and Union, or
no Union whatever ^

" There never was a time in the history of this country when the

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people needed bold and determined leaders more tlian at this moment.
But sucli leaders the people must themselves create by resolving that
such men, and such only, shall receive their countenance and support.
If the people will but exhibit the right spirit, they will soon have lead-
ers of the right stamp."

No one thing, as it seems to me, is so threatening to all our great
interests as the blind idolatry which the press of the country, whether
literary, political, or religious, pays to • the Union ; ' nothing is so
calculated to enslave the people, stupefy the public conscience, and
destroy all true manhood. / have not the least hope for our land until
this abject, craven spirit is rehuJced, and men speak out as boldly and
freely mi this subject of * the Union ' as they do on other matters^

" Now I think thai the more fully and calmly we examine this great
question, the better it will be for our common country. The incessant
stream of fulsome adulation of the Union, which flows from tlie press of
the North, degrades and disgraces us in the eyes of the people of the
South, and leads them to despise and trample on us. They regard it, as
well they may, as mean, dastardly, and mercenary."

" Now, sir, if the object of yourself and your associates is to awaken
the people to a free and fearless discussion of this great question, with
a determination to act in such a manner as their conviction shall dic-
tate, let that action be what it may, then I am with you ; if not, then
you can, and doubtless will, go on veiy satisfactorily without me ; but
at all events, I am right glad that somebody has had the courage to
move in this matter. The spell must be broken, even at the risk of
broken heads, and those who have the hardihood to engage in such a
work, are the men to do it."

Thus, in 1857, in Massachusetts, measures were deliberately
taken by men in Massachusetts to bring about the dissolution
of the Union.

It is now the duty of those who are laboring to restore and
preserve the Union, to know what relation the Republican
party, or its leaders, hold to that Disunion Convaitian, or to
those concerned in it. Look, thex, at these facts :

1. Francis W. Bird, the president of that convention, and
a member of the State Disunion Committee, is now a member of

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the Republican State Central Committee, and a nominee of the
Repuhlican party for t\e Governor's Council,

He was also a member of the Eepublican Convention held
this year at Worcester which refused to adopt Mr. Dana's reso-
lution ''that Massachusetts, with all her heart, and soul, and
mind, and strength, will support the President of the United
States in the prosecution of this war to the entire and final
suppression of the rebellion."

Thus we find the same man, at one time presiding over a
convention wliich resolved ' ' that it would support politically or
otherwise such men and measures as appear to tend most to " a
" separation of the States," and which recommended the forma-
tion of " a party whose candidates shall be publicly pledged, in
the event of their election, to ignore the Federal Government, to
refuse an oath to its Constitution, and to make their respective
States free and independent communities ; " and at another, and
later time, a member of a convention which recommends Charles
Sumner for Senator and John A. Andrew for Governor, and
refuses to pledge its support to the President in his efforts to
suppress the rebellion and restore the Union.

2. The Hon. Amasa Walker, who wrote a letter to that
Disunion Convention, saying, "J am right glad somebody has
had the courage to move in this matter, and that "The spell
must be broken, even at the risk of broken heads," is now nomi-
nated for Congress, by the Republicans of the 9th Congres-
sional District ; now, when the one great duty, resting upon
the people, and upon Congress, is, to restore and save the
Union.

Such are the men whom the Eepublican party delights to
honor.

Citizens of Massachusetts : reflect upon their doings. Think
of sending a disunion man to Congress to help the President save
the Union ! Is that a true support of the President ?

3. Mr. Sumner and Governor Andrew, who were recom-
mended for re-election by the Republican Convention together

with many of the leading men of that convention, are well
known to be in close sympathy, upon the subject of slavery,
with the leading spirits of the Disunion Convention ; with ]\Ir.
Phillips, Mr. Garrison, Mr. Bird, and others. They also sym-
pathize imth each other in their condemnation of the Feopleh move-
ment and of those engaged in it.

4. The Disunion Convention proposed the dissolution of the
Union as a means of exterminating slavery, and the Republican
Convention resolved that slavery should be exterminated, as a
means of suppressing the rebellion, but said not a word about
restoring the Union, while Mr. Sumner, whom it indorsed, had
previously introduced resolutions into the Senate, declaring in
substance that the States in rebellion had forfeited all their rights
as members of the Union, and were to be subdued and held,
hereafter, not as members of the Union, but as territories only,
thus excluding the idea of a restoration of the union of the United
States as the object of the war.

Is it not therefore evident that some of the leaders of the Ee-
publican party do not love the Union, or care for its restoration,
and do not prosecute the war for that object, but seize upon it
as a means for accomplishing their long cherished schemes of
abolition ? How else can we account for their nomination of a
man for Congress who has avowed his sympathy with Disunionists
and their schemes ?

If any doubt exists that the objects of Mr. Sumner and his
indorsers, in prosecuting the war, are entirely at variance with
the objects declared by Congress and the President, let the Res-
olution of Congress at the extra session in 1861, and the declar-
ation of the President in his Emancipation Proclamation be com-
pared with Mr. Sumner's resolutions offered in the Senate at the
last session.

The Resolution of Congress is as follows : —

''Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced
upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in
arms against the Constitutional Government, and in arms around the

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Capitol ; that in this National emergency, Congress, banishing all feel-
ing of mere passion and resentment, will recollect only its duty to the
whole country ; that this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of
oppression, or for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of
overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of
those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Consti-
tution, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and
rights of the several States unimpaired ; and that as soon as these
objects are accomplished the war ought to cease."

The President declares his purpose as follow^s : —
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, &c., do hereby
proclaim and declare, that hereafter, as heretofore, the war ivill he pros-
ecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relations
hetween the United States and the people thereof in which States that
relation is or may be suspended or disturbed."

Here are two of Mr. Sumner's resolutions, the first and the
last : —

Resolved, That any vote of secession or other act by which any State
may undertake to put an end to the supremacy of the Constitution
within its territory is inoperative and void against the Constitution, and
when sustained by force it becomes a practical abdication by the State
of all rights under the Constitution, while the treason which it involves
still further works an instant forfeiture of all those functions and pow-
ers essential to the continued existence of the State as a body politic, so
that from that time forward the territory falls under the exclusive juris-
diction of Congress as other territory, and the State being, according to
the language of the law, felo de-se, ceases to exist.

Resolved, That the duty directly cast upon Congress by the extinction
of the States is reinforced by the positive prohibition of the Constitution
that "no State shall enter into any confederation," or "without the
consent of Congress keep troops or men-of-war in times of peace or
enter into any agreement or compact with another State," or *' grant
letters of marque and reprisal," or "coin money," or " emit bills of
credit," or "without the consent of Congress lay any duties on im-
ports or exports," all of which has been done by these pretended gov-
ernments, and also by the positive injunction of the Constitution,
addressed to the nation, that " the United States shall guarantee to

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every State in this Union a republican form of government ; " and that
in pursuance of this duty cast upon Congress, and further enjoined by
the Constitution, Congress will assume complete jurisdiction of such va-
cated territory where such unconstitutional and illegal things have been
attempted, and will proceed to establish therein republican forms of
government under the Constitution ; and in the execution of this trust
will provide carefully for the protection of all the inhabitants thereof,
for the security of families, the organization of labor, the encouragement
of industry, and the welfare of society, and will in every way discharge
the duties of a just, merciful, and paternal government.

Citizens of Massachusetts ; whom WAX you support ; ]\Ir.
Sumner, v^^ith his scheme for uiping out some of the States from
the Union, and assuming complete jurisdiction of their territory ;
or the President, in his patriotic efforts to restore all the States to
our glorious Union under the Constitution given us by the Father
of his Country and the Patriots of the Kevolution ?

Printed by J. E. Farwell & Co., 37 Cougress Street, Boston.

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