Joseph A. Wright: 'put down all traitors'
From The New-York Times February 25, 1861:
EX-GOV. WRIGHT, OF INDIANA, ON COERCION.
Ex-Gov. WRIGHT, of Indiana, now the American Minister at Berlin, in a letter to a friend in this City says:
“I have not the heart to say anything about my country. Still hold my old opinions. We cannot have a peaceable separation. All this talk of two Confederacies is nonsense. We cannot be two people, cannot be three people, cannot be four people; we are one people or we are nothing. I would sooner fight a citizen of my country guilty of treason than to fight any enemy in the world.
You may do many things, say many things, but God is my judge, there is one thing you shall not do; that is, destroy the temple erected by my fathers. This is the only hope left for humanity everywhere. I hold any man guilty of treason who shall attempt in any way to destroy this Union. I say, fight — fight on, no peace, until we put down all traitors.
Joseph A. Wright sure seems to be a consistent man. According to Wikipedia:
The Washington Monument was under construction during Wright’s term. A strong supporter of the Union, Wright had a block sent for the monument with the inscription, “Indiana knows no East, no West, no North, no South; nothing but Union”. The stone eventually found its way into the monument where it remains today.
