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Valley Spirit: April 1, 1863 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Habeas Corpus
(Column 6)

Summary: The editors quote from Blackstone, Marshall, Story, and Curtis on the ability of the government to suspend habeas corpus. The tendency of their arguments is that it is only the legislature that can decide whether or not the situation warrants the suspension of habeas corpus, and thus the transferral of that power to the President is unconstitutional and dangerous.

Editorial Comment: "In order to show what great principles of human freedom have been assassinated by the passage of Thad. Stevens' indemnifying bill, we have only to say that it virtually authorized the President to strike down the write of habeas corpus."

"What of the Night?"
(Column 1)

Summary: The editors note several indicators of the increasing weakness of the Confederacy and the increasing strength of the Union. Confederate currency is rapidly decreasing against gold, which they see as a vote of no confidence by the Southern people in their own government. At the same time, greenbacks are stable against gold and northern securities have a ready market abroad, which the editors interpret as a sign of confidence that derives from recent Democratic electoral advances. Confederate newspapers complain of food shortages, and their are rumors that the Confederates plan soon to evacuate Richmond. The conservative element might yet save the country, they conclude.

Full Text of Article:

It is so common for newspaper editors, every few months, to predict the winding up of the rebellion within a few weeks, that the public have begun to place very little reliance on such prophecies; and yet, despite this popular impression, we will make bold to say we think we see some bright spots on the political horizon--some indications which point, if not to the speedy suppression of the rebellion, at least to a curtailment of its extent, its influence, and its prestige with foreign powers--and others, too, which show that the old Government, although in many respects mismanaged and its vast energies shamefully misdirected, still commands confidence at home and respect and sympathy abroad, and strikes terror, as with a deadly blow, into the hearts of its enemies. Let us see what these indications are.

Gold is now selling in Richmond at four dollars premium; that is, Confederate Scrip has so far depreciated as to require five dollars of it to purchase one dollar in gold. What is the cause of this depreciation? The Richmond papers attribute it to the demand for coin by the blockade runners, for the purposes of trade. But this demand must be comparatively small and unable to produce such a general and extensive depreciation. The true explanation must be found in the fact that the people of the South are beginning to distrust their own cause, and, in the desire to save something out of the general wreck, are investing in European securities, or hoarding gold in the hope of "better days a-coming." The tone of their own papers seems to confirm this view. This is one of the most cheering signs of the times. If gold were selling at four hundred per cent premium here, we should all agree that we were "going to the dogs," as fast as our legs could carry us. But look at the contrast: Gold is only thirty-seven or forty per cent premium here; our securities have a ready and available market, while the English capitalists come forward and propose to lend us a hundred millions in gold, at par, or at the regular rates of exchange. Why this equally sudden appreciation of Northern securities? It finds an easy explanation in the recent uprising of the conservative element over the whole country, and its declaration that the war must be brought back to its legitimate purpose, and must be prosecuted with vigor, for it "has never agreed, does not now agree, and has no intention of agreeing in future to a dissolution of the Union." From this stand point we can not fail to see, in the financial condition and prospects of the two sections, a ray of hope for the future.

The rebels seem to be impressed with the idea that this will be a year of defeat to their arms, and that they will be compelled to give up many of their strongholds. Their tone sounds not near so defiant as it did last year. The Richmond Examiner says: "Active operations of the chief Federal army, that under Hooker, are now commenced, and either a decisive battle or the retreat of the army commanded by Lee must be the speedy consequence." And again:

"If the Confederate General's force is not sufficiently numerous to prevent the completion of the manoeuvre, it is supposed that no course remains but to fall back on some point near Richmond and give the enemy battle at a greater distance from his base. This is the worst that is even possible, and it would be no disaster even if it should occur. Some disaster, some defeat, in the enormously extended campaign now opening, will, of course, fall to our lot."

There seems, too, to be stronger hope than ever of being able to starve the rebels out. Scarcely a rebel newspaper finds its way North that does not complain of the great scarcity of food. The Governors of all the States have recommended the planting of wheat and corn instead of to bacon and cotton, and the Governor of Georgia has called an extra session of the Legislature, in view of "the necessity of further legislation, at an early day, to secure the use of all our productive labor in the cultivation of all our lands in grain and other articles necessary to sustain life. This scarcity of provisions is sorely felt in their army. The Richmond Enquirer says:

"From every quarter where our armies are massed--from Vicksburg, Tallahoma, Charleston and Fredericksburg--we have the most gratifying accounts of the conditions of our troops and their certain ability to cope with any force that the enemy may hurl against them. The only point upon which there is room for apprehension is that our forces may be forced by want of food for men and horses to relinquish the strongholds from which the enemy could never dislodge them, and that this is a grave and pressing danger we have many reasons for believing.

It is a fact as well known to the enemy as to ourselves that all the country in the vicinity of our armies has long been stripped of its provisions and forage, and that these armies depend for their existence and maintenance of their positions upon the railroads."

And, unfortunately for them, their railroads are all giving out, with little or no prospect of their being reconstructed. The Enquirer further says:

"The railroads of this State are on the point of giving out. They have decreased their speed to ten miles an hour as a maximum rate, and are carrying twenty-five to fifty per cent less tonnage than formerly. This change in their rate of speed and quantity of freight has been made through necessity. The woodwork of the roads has rotted, and the machinery has worn out, and owing to the stringent enforcement of the conscription law as to railroad employees, the companies have not been able, with all their efforts, to supply either the one or the other. We are not informed of the actual condition of the railroads in the more Southern States, but conceive that they are little better off than our own. The Government should not be content even to keep the railroads in the condition in which the war found them; it should endeavor, and the effort would be successful, to improve upon that condition. The better the roads, the better supplied would our armies be, and consequently the more certain is the resistance to the extraordinary efforts for our subjugation which the enemy proposes to make during the coming campaign."

It seems as if these facts were making a deep impression upon the rebel leaders. Late private advices from Richmond bring reliable information that they are preparing to abandon their capital to its fate--at least they are removing their public workshops, manufactories and machinery to some point further into the interior. At last they are beginning to feel the coils of the anaconda tighten around them. In the Gulf, at Charleston, at Savannah, in North Carolina along the Blackwater, the Rappahannock and the Shenandoah, at Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Murfreesboro, and along the line in Kentucky, our forces are prepared for a general advance. Soon we will "hear the thunder all around the sky." It is possible and perhaps probable that in the varied fortunes of war we may meet with some repulses, but victory must perch upon the banners of some of our armies; and the Confederate government, as it is at present situated, with a bankrupt treasury, with a starving population, with scarcely any means of rapid transportation, and with no hope left of foreign armed intervention, can not withstand a defeat. Let us take courage, then. With a vigorous, concerted campaign, the mismanagement of the last two years may yet be retrieved. We may yet snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The armed power of the rebellion may be broken, and the conservative sentiment of the country, discarding alike the radicalism of the Secessionists and the Abolitionists, may yet save the country.

"Copperheads" versus "Blacksnakes"
(Column 3)

Summary: This writer claims that he prefers being labeled a copperhead, as opposed to a black snake Republican. The copperhead is fearless, independent, and brave, while black snakes are cowardly, hissing, and thieving.

Origin of Article: Westchester Jeffersonian

The "Copperheads" About
(Column 4)

Summary: The editors note that they had underestimated the Democratic majority in the county, that it was actually over six hundred, while the Republicans only elected three judges of elections. They go on to cite Democratic victories across the state.

[No Title]
(Column 4)

Summary: This brief editorial argues that Republicans are setting up bogus tests of loyalty, and that the truly loyal are those who stand by the Constitution and the Government of the founding fathers.

Sent Off
(Column 5)

Summary: A number of deserters and paroled prisoners were sent to Harrisburg last Thursday.

Crowded Out
(Column 5)

Summary: The regular army correspondence and several other articles have been displaced by "a press of advertising" in this week's issue.

Anniversary
(Column 5)

Summary: The anniversary celebration of the Presbyterian Sabbath School will be held at the Presbyterian Church next Sunday.

Postponement
(Column 5)

Summary: The poor weather will delay the sale of B. S. Schneck's town lots until next Saturday.
(Names in announcement: B. S. Schneck)

New Provost Guard
(Column 5)

Summary: A new Provost Guard, under the command of Lieut. Palmer of the First Maryland Cavalry, arrived last Sunday as church was being let out, and created "no little excitement among the people, many persons supposing we were about to be treated to another rebel raid."

Sword Presentation
(Column 5)

Summary: Lieut. M. W. Houser of the 57th Penn. Volunteers was presented with a sword last Friday at Montgomery's Hotel. Capt. James M. Brown was called upon to preside, while the presentation was made by Jere. Cook, Esq., and the reply by John Orr, Esq.
(Names in announcement: Lieut. M. W. Houser, Capt. James M. Brown, Jere. CookEsq., John R. OrrEsq.)

Horse Thieves
(Column 5)

Summary: A valuable horse belonging to John Funk was stolen from the shed in Kurtz's Hotel yard on Sunday evening; it was also learned that on Tuesday, a horse was stolen from John Welty. Nothing is known of the horses or thieves' whereabouts.
(Names in announcement: John Funk, John Welty)

Origin of Article: Village Record

Released
(Column 5)

Summary: James Grove and Daniel Shafer of Mercersburg, and William Connor of St. Thomas, who had been captured during the raid of Stewart's cavalry, and were confined in the Libby Prison in Richmond, have been released and returned to their homes. They were the last of the "political prisoners" taken from the area, all discharged save for Rice, who died.
(Names in announcement: James Grove, Daniel Shafer, William Connor)

Elections
(Column 6)

Summary: A letter sent with the returns of the local elections from Waynesboro, which claims that the elections prove that local voters have lost confidence in the party in power.

Full Text of Article:

Messrs. Editors:--I send you full returns of the election held here on the 20th inst.

Many persons are at a loss to account for this result, while many more seem to understand it perfectly. The truth is, the people have lost all confidence in the party now in power; they want a change, a change from the most insignificant township officer to the President of the United States, and especially so, in the latter.

The people have become disgusted with the loud boastings of the abolitionists of love for the Union, while, at the same time, they manifest an utter disregard for all the rights and liberties of the people, guaranteed to them by the Constitution, the very bond of our Union.

Then, again, the people still entertain the belief that the white man is better than a nigger, and that if Father Abraham, under the pretext of prosecuting the war for the restoration of the Union, is willing to sacrifice the lives of white men to liberate slaves, he would as well not look to Washington Township to furnish him soldiers, but depend alone upon Greeley's nine hundred thousand to see him through. It is all folly for Mr. Lincoln, under any pretext, whatever, to attempt to convert the great Democratic party into an Abolition party. The thing can't be done and the sooner Mr. Lincoln learns this fact, the better for all parties concerned.

WAYNESBORO.

Trailer: Waynesboro

Married
(Column 6)

Summary: Hiram Kirkpatrick of Amberson's Valley, and Elizabeth Burkholder from near Roxbury, were married on February 3 in St. Thomas Township.
(Names in announcement: Rev. S. McHenry, Hiram Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth Burkholder)

Married
(Column 6)

Summary: Philip Bitsch and Sophia Fornuf were married on March 29.
(Names in announcement: Rev. M. Wolf, Philip Bitsch, Miss Sophia Fornuf)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: John Myers died on February 27, near Marion, aged 26 years and 23 days.
(Names in announcement: John Myers)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: Mrs. Martha C. Gelwix died on December 22 near New Franklin, aged 22 years, 1 month and 5 days.
(Names in announcement: Mrs. Martha C. Gelwix)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: Mrs. Mary Catharine Gift died on February 6 near Guilford Township, aged 34 years, 5 months and 5 days.
(Names in announcement: Mrs. Mary Catharine Gift)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: Miss Nancy Ellen Etter died on February 17 in Fayetteville, aged 4 years, 7 months and 17 days.
(Names in announcement: Mrs. Nancy Ellen Etter)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Freeze died on February 7 in St. Thomas, aged 31 years, 7 months and 19 days.
(Names in announcement: Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Freeze)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: Dortha Ann Freeze died on March 13 in New Franklin, aged 10 years, 8 months and 18 days.
(Names in announcement: Dortha Ann Freeze)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: Mary E. Small died on March 22 near St. Thomas, aged 2 years, 4 months and 9 days.
(Names in announcement: Mary E. Small)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: Samuel Frederick, Sr., died on March 20 near Marion, aged 83 years, 11 months and 20 days.
(Names in announcement: Samuel FrederickSr.)

Died
(Column 6)

Summary: Susan Oyler, only daughter of Rebecca and Jacob Oyler, died on March 3 near Fayetteville, aged 5 years, 11 months, and 6 days.
(Names in announcement: Jacob Oyler, Rebecca Oyler, Susan Oyler)

Notice
(Column 1)

Summary: A list of petitioners for license, to be presented at court on April 13. For Hotel licenses: M. M. Grove, Margaret Montgomery, William McGrath, Daniel Trostle, Jacob S. Brown, A. J. Brand, and John Fisher, all of Chambersburg, John Gordon, Ennion Elliot, both of Hamilton Township, Benjamin Kohn, J. R. Tankersly, Charles Gillan, John Mullen, all of St. Thomas Township, James Mullen, John Treher, both of Loudon Township, John P. Martz, Peters Township, Thomas McAfee, J. H. Murphy, both of Mercersburg, Jacob Elliott, Welsh Run, Lewis H. Hinkle, Upton, William C. McNulty, Daniel Foreman, Thomas Pawling, all of Greencastle, L. B. Kurtz, Francis Bowden, Adaline Eckman, all of Waynesboro, D. H. Funk, Washington Township, D. Miller, Monterey Springs, George A. Anderson, Elizabeth Middower, both of Quincy Township, Mary Ann Kuhn, Andrew Shank, both of Funkstown, John Spidle, Margaret Holland, both of Green Township, John S. Brown, William Rupert, both of Fayetteville, Hannah Snyder, New Franklin, Samuel Frison, Jeremiah Bark, both of Marion, Martin Shoemaker, Greenvillage, W. S. Bard, Orrstown, John Wyncoop, Jr., Roxbury, B. S. Culbertson, Amberson's Valley, John R. Ritner, Concord, John Gooshorn, Doylesburg, Benjamin Crouse, Dry Run, Jesse M. Jones, Fannettsburg, Aaron Gockley, Metal Township, Jacob Nusbaum, David Guyer, Abraham Keefer, all of Letterkenny Township, John R. Weist, Jeremiah Zullinger, both of Strasburg. Wholesale Dealer's licenses: Miller and Croft, S. F. Greenawalt, both of Chambersburg.
(Names in announcement: M. M. Grove, Margaret Montgomery, William McGrath, Daniel Trostle, Jacob S. Brown, A. J. Brand, John Fisher, John Gordon, Ennion Elliott, Benjamin Kohn, J. R. Tankersly, Charles Gillan, John Mullen, James Mullen, John Treher, John P. Martz, Thomas McAfee, J. H. Murphy, Jacob Elliott, Lewis H. Hinkle, William C. McNulty, Daniel Foreman, Thomas Pawling, L. B. Kurtz, Francis Bowden, Adaline Eckman, D. H. Funk, D. Miller, George A. Anderson, Elizabeth Middower, Mary Ann Kuhn, Andrew Shank, John Spidle, Margaret Holland, John S. Brown, William Rupert, Hannah Snyder, Samuel Frison, Jeremiah Bark, Martin Shoemaker, W. S. Bard, John WyncoopJr., B. S. Culbertson, John R. Ritner, John Gooshorn, Benjamin Crouse, Jesse M. Jones, Aaron Gockley, Jacob Nusbaum, David Guyer, Abraham Keefer, John R. Weist, Jeremiah Zullinger, S. F. Greenawalt, Miller, Croft)