Arkansas true Democrat., 1860-10-20

III a moment, acknowledge their indenend. .n'e, ana thus wrest from northern enn;d;. y, the prize which had so long been w;th neid' trade on equal terms win ,ba s,,e.a, ~.a. "aa co'toh States" The same tariff laws nov m m fore ioree, would yield from 30 GOO GOO fense. 'o' a war of de-
 It IS evident that such people, accustom. GU to constitutional liberty, can neither be eA,eI.h'hated '~n.i! or enslaved, by the moral or military power of the abolition Stotes even II sustained instead of being onnosed | oy large minority here.
 IL seems to me, therefore. "to adv;s. or vlndlcate force to prevent inc sooasa; oi s 'iie cotton States alone. would be the most anparoonaoie act of an atrocous policy A constitutional Union such as ours can not rest upon force. Mutual interests fra. 'elhai ioVe' and an enlightened and calm wisoom' are the true bonds of the Union An army sufficient to hold, by force sucb States as these. against their will in ,ba ohon' and make them submit to n lawless majority, not elected by, or responsible to tneh' must be so large, as to enable tboeo who command it to convert the balance of the confederacy into military desnot;sm ne concession by the north of some con. S'ltutionai guaranty for the security of the southern minority, and negotiation for many years would be, in my opinion. bet. ter than resistance by force to nrevent secession" P'e'e"'
 nave thus answered fully, and with candor, the questions propounded to mo b, you 1hese answers express nay opinion. l nave not seen or consulted Mr. Breckin- ,ioee since received your -intelroeatories. It would be unjust to him, for me to ex. press hls opinions; but I have no donbt that . calm examination of these questions must iorce all to the same conclusions.
 It h'ght, perhaps, be as well to examine thls question still further, and endeavor to determine whether 1t would be best to ad. Vise ana vlndlcate resistance by force to tbe secession of any one State This was not the question addressed to Mir. Douglas IL was the secession ofthe Southern States" which he thought it his duty to advise A. Abraham Lincoln "to resist by force. .''- The army and halter were the remedies pro. posed by hlm "to prevent the secession of the Southern States;" at least that is what l understand to be his position.
 It, then, any one of the Southern States shGuld secede upon the election of Lincoln. and he should employ force--the bayopet ana naiter-to coerce such State back into the Unlon, such an act would ultimately. in my opinion, involve the whole country in clVil war. A statesman should adopt his measures to the occasion. He should not pronofe ~ar, when he could more justly and easily give us peace. He should be calm. w'se' and Just when dealing with the pas s,ohs of men. l have already expressed the oplnlon that it would be better to re. man Tn the Union than for all the Soutb- ern States to secede, believing that two- 'hlros o1 the conservative voters are with us' ana Knowing that we still hold the se nate and supreme court. Much less would l encourage or advise secession to any one southern State, and thus, perhaps. inyolve all tae friends Of that State in the dangers or clvll war. But in case any one South erh otate shouid seceae, rash and imprudent as the act might be, no true friend of his country could, in my opinion, advice the heau ol an aggressive or unconstitutional party to use force the army, navy. and the haitef-not to prevent aggressons by mat State, but its peaceful secession. How hiach better would 1t be to remonstrate and negotiate for years, than for Congress to raise and equip sufficient army for Lin coin and the abolitionlsis to conquer. sub que, drive back and keep in the Union a 0tate determined on secession unaccompa. med with any act of aggression upon the rights Of others! Who does not see that. m war between the North and one of the southern States, defending what she con. Slders her constitutional rights, the first gun will be the signal for general revolt9 IS It consistent with any wise view of hu. man passions and reason to suppose that South Carolina would be permitted by the cotton States 10 perish in their midst by Northern bayonets and halters and they stand idly by? No! Never!
 lie who madly talks of placing sufi- clent military force in the hands of the in terna agltators who may elect Abraham Lincoln; who administered poison to the President and his guests; who devastated Kansas with the red scourge of civil war; who have organized and planned raids and instructions in Virginia and Texas, and who proclaim their purpose of still further attacking the constitutional equality and liberty of this Union-is an incendiarv applying his torch to the great structure of American government
 Very respectfully, yours,
 GEORGE w. JOHNSON