The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-06-26

reiaxing or SuSpendlng, red0ubled their fires
A more wanton or wicked war was never
commenced on any government whose his
tory has been written. Contemporary witt
and following the fall Of Sumter, the siege o
Fort Dickens was ard still is actively pressed
the property of the United States Govern
ment continued to be seized wherever found
and its troops, by fraud or force, captured il
the State of Texas in violation Of a'-solemr
compact with its authorities that they should
be permitted to embark without molestation
This was the requital which the Lone Sta,
State made to brave men who, through Ion,
years of peril and privation, had guarded it!
] frontiers against the incursions OF the savages
In the midst OF the most active and extended
warlike preparations in the South, the an
nounoement was made by the Secretary o.
War of the seeded States, and echoed with
taunts and insolent bravadoes by the South
ern press, that Washington City was to be
invaded and ceptured, and that the Tag Of
the Confederate States would soon float ovel
the dome of its Capitol Soon thereafter
there followed an invitation to all the world
embracing necessarily the outcasts and
desperadoes of every sea-to accept letters
of marque and reprisal, TO prey upon the
rich and unprotected commerce Of the United
States.
In view of these events and threatenings
what was the duty of the Chief Magistrate
of the Republic9 He might have taken
counsel of the revolutionists and trembled
under their menaces; he might uron the
fall ofSumter, have directed that Fort Pick
ems should be surrendered without firing a
gun in its defense, and proceeding yet fur
ther, and meeting fully the requirements of
the "let-us-alone" policy insisted on in the
South, he might have ordered that the stars
and stripes should be laid in the presence of
every bit of rebel bunting that might ap-
pear. But he did none of these things, nor
could he have done them without forgetting
his oath and betraying the most sublime
trust that has ever been confded to the
ha Ids Of man. With heroic fidelity to his
constitutional obligations charged him with
the protection of the Republic and its Capt.
tai against the assaults alike of foreign and
domestic enemies, he threw himself on the
loyalty Of the country for support in the
struggle upon which he was about to enter,
and nobly has that appeal been responded
to. States containing an aggregate popula-
ton of nineteen millions have answered to
the appeal as with the voice Of one man, Of
fering soldiers without number, and treas
ure without limitation, for the service Of the
Government. In these States, l,5o0,0O0
freemen cast their votes in favor of candi-
dates supporting the rights of the South, at
the last Presidential election, and yet every
where, alike in popular assemblies and upon
the tented field, this million and half of
voters are found yielding to none in the zeal
10 hi 70 flor
They are not less the friends of the South
than before but they realize that the ques-
ton now presented is not one Of administra-
tive policy, or of the claims of the North,
the South, the East, or the West; but is,
simply, whether nineteen millions of people
shall tamely and ignobly permit five or six
millions to overthrow and destroy institu-
tions which are the common property, and
have been the common blessings and glory
of all. The great thoroughfares ofthe North
the East, and the West are luminous with
the banners and glistening with the bayo-
nets of citizen soldiers marching to the
capital, or to other points Of rendezvous; |;
but they come in no hostile spirit to the
South If called to press her soil, they will
not ruffle flower of her gardens. nor blade
of grass of her fields in unkindness. No
excuse will mark the footsteps of the armies
of the Republic; no institution Of the States
will be invaded or tampcred with, no rights
ofpersons or Of property will be violated
The known purposes of the Administration,
and the high character of the troops employ
ed, alike guarantee the truthfulness Of this
statement. When an insurrection was ap-
pretended few weeks since in Maryland,
the Massachusetts, men at once offered their
service to suppress it. These volunteers
have been denounced by the South as
'knaves and vagrants," t'the dregs and
offscourings of the populace,'r. who would
''rather filch handkerchief than fight an
enemy in manly combat" yet we know here
that their discipline and bearing are most
admirable. and, presume, it may be safely
affirmed that larger amount of social posi-
ton, culture, and elevation in character, has
never been found in SO large an army in any
age or country. Ifthey go to the South it
will be as friends and protectors, to relieve
the Union sentiment of the seeded States
from the cruel domination by which it is op-
pressed and silenced, unfurl the stars and
stripes in the midst of those who long to
look upon them, and to restore the flag that
bears them to the forts and arsenals from
which disloyal hands have torn it. Their
mission will be one Of peace, unless wicked
and blood. thirsty men shall unsheath the
sword across their pathway.
1t is in vain for the Reyolutionists to ex-
claim that this is "subjugation" 1t is so,
precisely in the sense in which you and l
and all law-abiding citizens are subjugated.
The people of the South are o,ir brethren,
and while we obey the Jaws enacted by our
JOINT authority, and keep acompact to which
we are all parties, we only ask that they
shall be required to DO the same. We be-
lieve that their safety demands this; we
know that ours does. We impose no bur-
den which we ourselves do not bear; we
claim no privilege or blessing which our
brethren of the South shall not equally
share. Their country is our country, and
ours is theirs; and that unity both Of coun-
try and Of ofGovernment which the providence
Of God and the compacts Of men have crea-
ted, we could not ourselves, Without self i'm
notation, destroy; nor can we permit It tc
be destroyed BY others.
Equally vain is it for them to declare that
they only wish "to be let alone,". and thai
la es.abl: l:shing the independence Of the Sc
cedcd States, they do those which remain
in the old Confederacy no harm. The Free
States. If allowed the opportunity Of doing
so, will undoubtedly concede every guaranty
needed to afford complete protection to tht
institutions of the South, and furnish assn
rance Of her perfect equality in the Union
but all such gdatanties and assurances ART
now openly spurned, and the only Southern
right now insisted onis that of dsmemberins
the Republic. 1t is perfectly certain tha
in the attempted exercise of this right neith
or States nor statesman will be 'let alone. y
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