Civil War: Political Position of the Gallatin North Missourian

The following Prospectus is reprinted from the Sept. 15, 1864, edition of the Gallatin North Missourian. Original copies of this first edition no longer exist; this Prospectus was reprinted in the July 22, 1971, edition which marked the 100th anniversary of the Winston train robbery by outlaws Frank & Jesse James.

This conveys the intentions and hopes of the newspaper’s fledgling founders, Waters and Kost:

In soliciting your patronage for the new paper we have established in your midst, it were well to introduce ourselves to you, make known the political platform upon which we stand and define the principles we advocate.
First, then, we have both served and suffered in the army for the Union and been discharged from the service, and although we went from other States and not along with your friends and brothers, yet we fought side by side and shoulder to shoulder, in person and sentiment with every loyal man who went forth to defend the stars and stripes against an insolent and rebellious foe: — Hence we are Unconditionally for the Union and as a necessary consequence for the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency in the coming fall. In this only can we see the protection of Liberty and the salvation of our Country, for we Despise any Peace or Compromise with Traitors whereby one jot or tittle of our freedom, glory or happiness shall be sacrificed. War, we know, is a present curse to any people and only to be undertaken as a dire necessity, but this we consider a war in which liberty and the interests of the people make a final struggle for mastery with despotism and aristocracy. The war, then, must go on, and vigorously, to, till God says “It is enough,” and freedom has triumphed.

Believing that free labor has made such mighty empires of the States lying immediately north of the Ohio River and, that slavery is a curse to any people and the cause of the rebellion, we shall advocate the principles of Emancipation and that line of policy which will carry Missouri to where she belongs — the front rank in the line of the great Free States.

We shall make the “MISSOURIAN” eminently a County paper, looking well to the interests of the farmer in all the various branches connected with agriculture, and shall earnestly and steadily advocate the thorough organization of Free Schools in every nook and corner of the County, and by every means in our power endeavor to build up and establish a high standard of social and religious sentiment.

Shall we be sustained? Will the people of this community walk up to the make and take and defend an administration paper? We do not expect or desire assistance from Sympathizers. No, our paper would burn their fingers and our principles shame their hearts, but to the Loyal and true we look for support. Shall we have it? Will not every man who counts himself for the Union in this great struggle not only take the paper himself but endeavor to extend our circulation and thereby spread his principles as well as our own.

We shall thoroughly canvass the County, but do not wait to be called on. Subscribe yourself and induce your neighbor to do likewise.
“THE NORTH MISSOURIAN” will be printed on good material and issued regularly every Friday morning at $2 a year, Invariably in Advance. This you will admit is a very low price when you take into consideration the steady advance of everything and especially of gold.

Hoping to merit and receive your subscriptions, advertising, and job work, we remain

— reprinted from the July 22, 1971, edition of the Gallatin North Missourian