Iowa
Old Press
The Dubuque Herald
Dubuque, Dubuque county, Iowa
May 15, 1863
The "death of civil liberty'' was the arrest of
Vallandingham and his sentence to be sent South ...
We might as well speak plainly respecting this affair and let the
consequences which follow plain speaking follow this. That the
administration have the power to punish recusants we are well
aware and we refrain from saying a great many things we are
impelled to say because we do not wish to invite its attention or
the exercise of its arbitrary power. But there are times,
however, when to fail to speak is criminal, and this is one of
them. A crime has been committed against the most vital right of
the poor and the rich, the humble and exalted--the right to
think, to speak, to live. When this thing is consummated then
plainly before the American people does Abraham Lincoln
stand--the murderer of the nation. The plea of military or
governmental necessity is a flimsy screen which will command no
respect. No necessity can justify the monstrous outrage.
[contributed by Dubuque co. IAGenWeb, Sept. 2015]