Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1861-06-08
To the Editor eth Register:


hope upon the action of the loyal or Union
men of the slave States The argumen,
used is that loyal men have been overawed
and the utterance Of Union sentiment
suppressed by the determined and resolute
bearing Of small minority in power
and the belief is entertained that, after the
law abiding citizens Of these States shall
see that the government has, really. nc
hostile intentions toward them and is on
ly using force to save them from a worse
fate, they will hurl the leaders from the
position they have usurped and disgraced
j and place the South, once more, under the
protection of the Stars and Stripes. This
may, indeed, look very plausible but let us
examine d little, the facts from which this
reasoning is drawn:
In the first place, the position that there
exists any real genuine loyalty in the
slave States, to the Government of the
United States, is assumed, and indeed the
fact may be subject of very serious doub,
conservative men there may be, but
there is wide difference between conser,
vatism and un;onism. There are, and for
a long time have been, two classes in the
South, one desiring a separation from the
Union at all hazards and at every cost,
and the other prefering to remain in the
;Union and seek redress of their griev-
sances in the manner prescribed by the
CONSTITUTION. So far the conservative men
sof the South may be considered loyal to
1.-THE Government, but unfortunately, when
! the test is forced upon them by ultra men
\ in power-that of deciding between allie
glance to the Federal Government and the
State, they unite with the very minority
they have been so long opposing. at the
most critical moment, and when thei.
efforts might have been efiicacous and
sweighty in support of the right. The
,present distracted state Of political affairs
has resulted, to great extent from their
lack OF energy III opposing the faction in
.the South that has been seeking. a. every
hazard, to disrupt the bonds of Union
There are, it must be admitted, some
exceptions to the rule, and the Union
men of Virginia stand forth as noble
example of what the Union sentiment Of
the South should have been and of what
they might have been able to accomplish
They have covered themselves with glorvi
land their noble efforts and decided stand,
for the Government Of their country in the.
darkest hour of its peril. will remain a.
bright spot on the dark page Of our his
tory. Half measures, in times like these ;;
are more disastrous than decided opposi';
zion they only irrtate and inAame the,
spirit Of resistance without sufficient ener-!
icy to check it. Whenever the Govern
Iment shall succeed in re- establishing it'd
supremacy over the leading faction of the:
,SoutH, tuese Union men VIII return vi
their allegiance just as water will seef,
again its original channel after the inf II
idimentwhich has temporarily obs ru'edta Il
tits passage is removed n
The opinion that the restoratiopot th'sE,
Government will ever be accomplished oy.I
the direct cooperation of any9or''on oil q
the Southern people, cannot b, Tor mo- 4
lnent, entertained Even tb Union men i
,of the South do not recognize the rightly
claimed by the Governmnt. The PERM :
.cious doctrine of independent State soy.
'ereignty, advocated at he South, strikes a
deadly blow at the vsy yitals Of the Fed z
eral Goverrnent, and if it be received
and allowed to operate on the mind, it'll
must greatly weaken, if no. entirely des 1
Troy, all attachment to its Institutions The5
Union men of the South, when brought to
the test, are found to advocate aud sup
port this very doctrine. How, then, are I
we to expect that they will put forth anys
Efforts in defence Of the institutions Of
their country, when they have allowed tn
only occasion for doing so with advantage
to pass by them without striking a blow n,
Upon careful eurvey Of the who.hi
field of our difficulties, it appears clear o;;s
my mind. beyond the possibility Of aS
doubt, that if we are ever to emerge frmn
the troubles that environ US and see nrs
country once more united and prosperous,
= s.-ot be .f.e- our Government has eyhi II
5lted to the world its inLr.ru. power otE
enforcing obedience to its laws and nsti.
tutions. That such will be the result Of $
the present contest, ! do not for moment y
doubt. But whatever fate may be reservedss
for US, let US indulge the hope, that while. |:
we have a Government it may be such a
one as will command, a. least, the respectH
Of those who owe obedience to it. ~