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Valley Spirit: June 05, 1867 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Song of the Workingman
(Column 6)

Summary: In response to the frequent refrain, "Why are the rich growing every year rapidly richer, and the people who work for wages poorer?," the article surmises that "the blame" rests "rightfully" with the Radical party. The article includes a poem suggesting that the Radical Congress has taxed the white workingman to feed and clothe the freedmen and women.

Full Text of Article:

Since the late strikes in the West, by the workingmen of all classes, it seems there is, for once, some inquiry made as to the probable cause which brought about the high price of every article that is consumed in their household. It is true, and we have predicted the result months ago, that so long as the workingmen persist in advocating the claims of self-styled "protectionists," the old stereotyped phrase which comes from the lips of the Radical politicians before an election, so long will there be heavy taxes to pay and a constant derangement in the labor system. The question that now seem to be the great subject of consideration is simply this: "Why are the rich growing every year rapidly richer, and the people who work for wages poorer?"-This is a question that can be easily answered. If the workingmen saw other classes equally pinched, they would undoubtedly endure their lot with patience, looking upon it as a necessary consequence of derangements in which rich and poor were common sufferers. But when they walk the street, visit a church or some public place where they may happen to congregate, and observe more costly apparel and expensive frippery than were ever worn before; when they compute the profits of the landlords, of whom they rent their houses; when they read in the newspapers the income returns of the wealthier classes which are increasing heavier while they find it more and more difficult to meet their weekly bills, is it at all strange to ask the above question. This is not what they were led to believe when persuaded to vote the Radical ticket. The blame is now rightfully with that party, and in the language of the poet, which we append below, it is:

Work! Work! Work!

With pick, and shove, and axe,

To pay New England's protection;

Your own and the bondholder's tax.

Work! Work! Work!

There are millions of niggers to feed,

And the cost is hitched on with the bondholders claim,

And the sum of New England's greed.

Tug! Toll! Sweat!

Still harder than each day before,

It will go to keep niggers and bondholders up

And the wolf away from your door.

Work! Work! Work!

From the dawn of the dusk of day,

For your hopes are crushed with a weight of debt,

That toil of your life won't pay.

You gave your son to the war,

The rich man loaned his gold.

And the rich man's son is happy to-day,

And yours is under the mould.

You did not think, poor man-

You scarce believe when you're told,

That sum which the rich man loaned to the war,

Was the price for which you were sold.

Your son was as good as his!

As dear, perhaps, to you,

But yours died for his, and your daughter now

For his must wash and sew.

Nay, do not pause to think,

Or sigh for your children or wife,

For your moments are mortgaged to hopeless toil,

The rest of your weary life.

Thad. Stevens and the "Dead Duck"
(Column 6)

Summary: The article denigrates the importance of the fact that blacks in the South have indicated their desire to see Thad Stevens elected as the next president. "Such proof of the merit of any man is not," it suggests, "very impressive." Indeed, "the white voters of the county will not regard it with much favor."

Origin of Article: Sunday Mercury

Full Text of Article:

Forney tried hard to have That. Stevens chosen United States Senator from Pennsylvania. He is now trying to bring him forward as the candidate of the Radical Republican party for the Presidency. The first project was but a step to the last, and we now understand the motive of the "Dead Duck" in his arduous but vain efforts to have the miscegenator of Lancaster transferred from the lower to the upper house of the Federal Legislature.

In his paper, the Press , of last Monday, we find the following at the very head of the editorial column:--

"The colored men of the South, say our recent advices, are indicating their preference for Thaddeus Stevens as the next President of the United States."

"The Colored men of the South!!" Wonderful, Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful evidence of the sense and virtue of the American people in the choice of a President!!! And Forney thinks that because the negroes of the South prefer Thad. Stevens for the Chief Magistracy of the Republic, he should therefore, be elected. Such proof of the merit of any man for such an office, is not, in our judgement, very impressive, and we are quite sure that the white voters of the county will not regard it with much favor. Forney, however, is so anxious to get some subservient creature into the Presidential chair whom he can use to promote himself in wealth and in honorable station-perhaps a Cabinet office or a first-class foreign mission-that he is not only solicitous that the "colored men of the South" shall be allowed to vote for a Presidential candidate of his party, but be given, also, the high and mighty privilege of "indicating" the man whom that party, whites and blacks together, shall nominate and support for the position. It is hence clear that Forney and Stevens have entered into an arrangement for their mutual advantage. Personal interest, and not any other or better motive, influences them in this struggle for the Presidency. We have yet to learn that any white men have named Stevens for the office. The preference of the negroes may be attributed to the fact that Stevens has a negro for his wife, and mulattoes for his children, and they naturally conclude that his election to the Presidency would be a national endorsement of miscegenation.-Sunday Mercury.

Thad Stevens and Dave McConaughy
(Column 1)

Summary: The editors express alarm at the news that Dave McConaughy, the Republican candidate for state senate, is in league with Thad Stevens. "The whole affair," they note, "is a preconcerted, barefaced, scheme to catch votes for the Republican ticket."
(Names in announcement: Dave McConaughy)

Full Text of Article:

The letter of Thaddeus Stevens in favor of the confiscation of the property of rebels, has been published extensively throughout the country. Not knowing the person to whom the letter was addressed when it first appeared, nor the circumstances under which it was written, we were inclined to regard it as the mere expression of the sentiments of this "old man feeble," whose heart is overflowing with malignity and diabolical hatred towards the Southern people. Mr. Stevens has exhibited himself, in this new effort to make a pandemonium of our already thrice unhappy country, as one who would rather "reign in hell than serve in heaven." If he stood alone in his desire for the accomplishment of this end, nobody would keep any account of it, for he has the well-earned reputation of being the deepest-dyed Radical, and most intense rebel-hater in the country.

But it seems that there are those (or at least one,) in our own Senatorial District, who are in earnest sympathy with him in this movement. We confess that when we saw the name of the honorable gentleman to whom the letter is addressed, we quaked with fear. Our alarm exceeded all bounds. It made "each particular hair upon our heads to stand on end like quills upon the fretful porcupine." Another Richmond in the field! Ah, yes! The blood-stained sword of our Senatorial Knight has been unsheathed, and its scabbard thrown away, for this terrible crusade against vanquished rebels. Stevens has been reinforced by McConaughy! Who doubts now that the war will go vigorously on? The name of McConaughy is a very tower of strength.-True he was made a Senator after being beaten at the polls, but it was only through the force of his own irresistible logic that this was affected. The Winnebago Chief, with his wonderful skill in manipulating legislative committees, was in the field in his behalf, but taking the word of our editorial brother of the Repository , that "Cameron has lost all his influence," we have come to the conclusion that he could not have had anything to do with McConaughy's admission to his seat over the regularly elected candidate.

Be this as it may, McConaughy has shown himself "so clear in his great office" that the breath of scandal cannot tarnish his fair frame, but stop!

It does occur to us that he was instructed to vote for Curtin for U. S. Senator, by both counties in his District, and disregarding these instructions, voted for Cameron. But then how could his constituents expect him to exhibit ingratitude towards the great "Injun" in return for the legal-tendered sympathy which he received from him during his contest for his seat?

It occurs to us also that he, and "that great and good man" from our own county, did lend their aid in passing that bill to incorporate the Gettysburg Monument association, which some say was "soaked" through both Houses, and which the Attorney General intimates, is intended to swindle people out of their money. But Gettysburg, it must be remembered, is the home of McConaughy. It is natural that he should take an interest in any monument calculated to contribute to its prosperity adornment or reputation, and who is so base, knowing well his generous, unselfish disposition, as to charge that he could have been influenced by any other consideration!

But enough of this. The public will be convinced that the hero of the Buckshot war has received an ally who will not rest until victory has perched on his banner.

Well, McConaughy writes a letter to his friend Stevens requesting his opinion on the subject of confiscation. The "Great Commoner" replies, paying particular attention to the "robbed and plundered" citizens of the border counties of Pennsylvania. He seeks to impress upon the minds of our people that in no other way than by the confiscation of Southern land, can they hope to recover compensation or indemnity for their losses.

The whole affair is a preconcerted, barefaced scheme to catch votes for the Republican ticket. It is a common saying that if you would touch a man's heart, you must touch his pocket. This is the argument that is now addressed to the people of the border counties in favor of confiscation.

While the piercing cry for bread comes up from the Southern States; while orphan children, and famished widows are lifting up their skinny hands towards Heaven imploring assistance to save them from death by famine, these hard-hearted wretches, Stevens and McConaughy are plotting to catch votes, by appealing to the cupidity of our people.

Justly as we are entitled to receive full compensation for our losses, better that we should never receive a single dollar, than that property should be taken from famishing men, women and children, to repay us by a principle which is in direct violation of the constitution of our country.

We can not close our ears to the touching appeals which come up to us from the South. We have no heart to add to the miseries of this who are scourged with famine. Our common humanity revolts at the very thought. But even if this were not the case we would be obliged to oppose this scheme of confiscation for the reason it finds no warrant in the law of the land. Besides, this movement cannot, and will not receive any sympathy from abroad, in so far as it is intended to help the people of the border counties. In other parts of our own State, we are regarded as cowards.-Hear what the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph, one of the most intensely radical papers in the State, speaking of this letter, says:

"He thus declares himself in favor of limited confiscation, in order that the farmers of "Bedford, Fulton, Franklin, Cumberland, and York" may be reimbursed for the loss inflicted by the Rebel invaders. If there is no better ground for confiscation than to repay the cowardly semi-disloyal farmers of the counties named, who charged our soldiers for a cup of milk and fled from or tampered with the Rebels, we do not favor confiscation. We have no sympathy to waste on such losers. The State has already reimbursed all deserving, and many who were not deserving; so that if the Aiken and Hampton estates are not reduced for any other purpose, we think they might as well remain with their Rebel owners. It may be that confiscation will be necessary as a punishment for continued contumacy. It may be that it will be needed to yet further humble the spirit of the late Rebels. But it can never be that it will be enforced to repay the Pennsylvania farmers for losses suffered years ago, and already once paid by the State."

The truth is, it is all a mere sham-a deliberate Scheme planned for political effect. It does not contemplate the procurement of a single cent for our losses. It is an effort to obtain our votes for these men under pretence that they will enforce confiscation and that we will be repaid in that way. Our people are not ready for this-they are unwilling to accept compensation in this way-and we imagine that whenever an opportunity offers (which we fear will never present itself) they will brand Mr. McConaughy with that condemnation which he so richly merits.

Tennessee
(Column 3)

Summary: Reports that, under the direction of Gov. Bronlow and the Tennessee Legislature, two-thirds of the state's white men will be disfranchised in the upcoming election. By contrast, black men will be given suffrage rights.

Origin of Article: Bedford Gazette

Correspondence
(Column 3)

Summary: "Ogelthorpe" recounts the details of his trip up the Shenandoah Valley "to see how matters stood in that historic region." He asserts that, despite "having been robbed of their domesic help," the people there have adapted to the new order of things.

Full Text of Article:

CHARLESTOWN, Va.: June, 1867.

Messers. Editors:--We have taken a trip up the Shenandoah Valley to see how matters stood in that historic region. We observed everywhere in our route evidence of recuperative energy and a cheerful go-ahead-ativeness. The common complaint in the Shenandoah is, scarcity of the circulating medium; and farmers and business men are compelled to dispense with its use to a great extent. The farmer pays for his labor with wheat, corn, wood, &c.-So also for merchandise. Of course, this is a great drawback to all business, but the people get along and appear as cheerful as can. The good people have lost none of the hospitality for which they have heretofore been distinguished.

Nothing strikes one so forcibly as the readiness with which the heroic people of this valley adapt themselves to the new order of things. It might naturally be supposed that, having been robbed so suddenly of their domestic help they would be unwilling to undergo the additional labor of entertaining company. Such, however, is not the case. On stopping at the house of an old acquaintance and finding their household servants had left them, I proposed to continue on to the next town.-"Not on that account," said the good lady. "I can cook as well as any servant I ever had, and am not afraid to do it, I sometimes feel surprised that I ever was satisfied with the trouble and expense attendind the old slave labor."

Such buoyancy of spirit under circumstances so changed is certainly refreshing. Among that portion of the people who are in the habit of noticing political events a feeling of misgiving is apparent, and but little disposition to attend to anything outside their occupations is shown. In fact like all unpleasant subjects it is seldom referred to. It is not strange that apathy and disgust should everywhere prevail in the out-lawed States. The everlasting nigger holds sway throughout the South.

In every community, there is a class of men whose wealth, intelligence, and moral worth give them a controlling influence.-If a difficulty occurs between neighbors, they are appealed to for advice; if sickness or calamity befall the poor their humanity is appealed to for succor; or, if a responsible office is to be filled, they are selected as being most capable. This was the case here once-not so now. This class is set aside entirely, except that they are still looked to to pay all the taxes. The lower class of northern adventurers fill the offices, and direct and control the machinery of government. The way some of these gentry acquit themselves of these important trusts may be judged from a case I will instance.

In the town of Martinsburg a northern man made his appearance, formed the acquaintance of some of the radicals who control affairs, and was forthwith elected magistrate; and in addition to the aforesaid important trust he was also made clerk to the board of Supervisors. This board issued $18,000 in County bonds, as county money, whilst this Mr. Aaron Burr Steinmetz, was their clerk. Mr. Steinmetz thought it would not be a bad plan to issue a few on his own hook; and accordingly issued, and put in circulation about $15,000 more. These were, of course, forgeries.-He is now in jail awaiting trial. Who can be witness to such a State of things without indignation and disgust?

The horse thief, the beggar and the nigger hold the reins. Will not there be a merry drive? The machine is bound, through this bad and reckless driving to be run in the mire; when is it to be hoped a new set of drivers will be looked for. It is for this reason discreet people avoid the coach and take it afoot, (just as the people of Horse Valley shun the Jackstown stage coach.)

The wheat promises a heavy yield throughout the Shenandoah Valley, the avails of which will greatly relieve the pecuniary embarrassment of the farmers of the Valley.

Mr. Taylor, of your place, and formerly sheriff, has purchased a farm in this county, and adjoining the land of your correspondent. He paid $60 per acre and has undoubtedly made a good purchase. He takes possession of the 13th proximo. Jefferson and Berkeley are being rapidly settled by New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians. I am happy to say the Pennsylvanians are considered the best farmers. The people here cherish unbounded faith in the low heavy-set Dutchmen, with broad brim, and short, square coat-tail, as cultivators of the soil; and they are received with open arms in a lasting embrace. The Berks county men are generally preferred as, staunch Democrats, and entertain innocent ideas of lager and saur kraut.

A good joke is told of an old Dutchman from Berks county who paid the entire purchase money $80,000 down. The old man carried the money with him; and where do you suppose he carried it?-nicely padded in the capacious seat of his breeches!

Yours truly,

OGELTHORPE

Trailer: Oglethorpe

The Union Pacific Railroad From Omaha, Nebraska
(Column 5)

Summary: The piece reports on the progress of the construction of the continental railroad, which "will retain and bind more closely together the eastern and western extremes of the continent in one great United and Pacific country."

Origin of Article: N. Y. Observer

Local and Personal--Register In Bankruptcy
(Column 1)

Summary: Hastings Gehr, Esq., was appointed Register of Bankruptcy for the 16th Congressional District, which comprises the counties of Somerset, Bedford, Fulton, Franklin, and Adams.
(Names in announcement: Hastings GehrEsq.)

Local and Personal--Internal Revenue Taxes
(Column 1)

Summary: Notifies readers that appeals to the Assessor of Internal Revenue Taxes will be held on June 15th, at the office of J. L. P. Deltrich, Esq.
(Names in announcement: J. L. P. DeltrichEsq.)

Local and Personal--Death Of Mrs. Baker
(Column 1)

Summary: Reports that Harriet Baker, wife of Samuel Baker, died in Ohio from the effects of an injury she suffered last fall near McConnellsburg. The other occupant in the wagon, Miss Hassler, died shortly after the accident.

Local and Personal--Deadly Affray
(Column 1)

Summary: A fight between two black men, David Montgomery and William Stoner, occurred in Wolffstown on the evening of June 1st. After the initial confrontation that morning, Stoner sought out Montgomery and upon finding him in a store later that night, shot him. Stoner was accompanied by several companions, one of whom, George Blue, was apprehended and placed in custody. Stoner, however, is still at large. The victim is not expected to survive.
(Names in announcement: David Montgomery, George Blue, William Stoner)

Local and Personal--The Street Sprinkler
(Column 1)

Summary: Notes that the town's sprinkler system is running fine, though overuse has produced a "wet and muddy condition" at the crosswalks, which has caused damage to "ladies dresses and polished boots."

Local and Personal--A New Lodge Of Odd Fellows
(Column 1)

Summary: Announces that members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows dedicated a new lodge in Orrstown. During the ceremony, two residents of Chambersburg, I. H. McCauley and W. S. Everett, delivered speeches and the Chambersburg Coronet Band provided music.
(Names in announcement: I. H. McCauley, W. S. Everett)

Local and Personal--Numbering Houses
(Column 3)

Summary: Reports the town council approved a plan to number dwellings and businesses in Chamberburg.

Married
(Column 5)

Summary: On May 23rd, John A. Snider and Rachel Annie Appleby were married at the residence of the bride's mother, Agnes Harper, by Rev. William A. West.
(Names in announcement: John A. Snider, Rachel Annie Appleby, Rev. William A. West, Agnes Harper)

Married
(Column 5)

Summary: On May 29th, Rev. J. Smith Gordon and Maggie B. Kyle were married at the residence of the bride's mother, Mary Kyle, by Rev. William A. West, assisted by Rev. John C. Wilhelm
(Names in announcement: Rev. J. Smith Gordon, Maggie B. Kyle, Rev. William A. West, Rev. John C. Wilhelm)

Died
(Column 5)

Summary: On June 1st, Nannie E., daughter of W. W. and Mary C. Paxton, died after a brief illness. She was 31 years old.
(Names in announcement: W. W. Paxton, Mary C. Paxton, Nannie E. Paxton)

Died
(Column 5)

Summary: On May 28th, Jacob Stover, 57, died in Mercersburg.
(Names in announcement: Jacob Stover)