The Shreveport weekly news. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1861-1861, 1861-07-22
NO. Il.

be questioned. IL It just that stAey
shsllia,ow ke, 81 without aeepssi,t, ~
withosA innk ldg any s~tsarnf The
nation is now in debt for noaeyue5-
piled TO the benefit OF These soAcd5led
seeding States, in common with the
rest. Is it just. either. that cstditors
shall go unpaid, Or the rrmsining
states pay the whole? A part ofsae
! present national debt was contraclatl
to paw the old debts Of Texaa. IL it
lust that she shall leave ard pay no
part of this herself!
Again. If one State may .secede,
so may another; and when III shall
bhaye seeded, none will be left toTAy
the debts. Is this quite just to the
creditors Did we notify fhssn Of
this sage view Of ours when 70 Dor
rowed their money!
If we recognize this DOCTRINE. by
allowing the secedsrs to 60 in peace.
it is difficult to see what We can dc
If others chose to go, or to extort
terms upon which they will promise
| to remain. - 49,
! The seceders insists that our Con
stitution admits of secession. Thep
have assumed to make national
Constitution Of their own, in which
necessity they haze either difc.rd~d
or retained the right Of secession. rs
! they insist il exists in ours. II they
have discarded it, they thereby nd
anti that on principle it ought not to
| be in OURS.
If they have retained it by their
own construction Of ous. they show
! that to BE consistent, they must Sc
cede from one another wheneve- they
shall find it the easiest way Of set
ftling their debts, or effecting any
other selfish or unjuft object ~
The princiale itself is one of dis
integrat,on, and one upon which, no
government can possibly endure.
=. We are all bound by that definipg.
without question. What is now com
batted is, the POSITION that secessis1
is consistent ). the Constitution
is lawful and peaccfs!: 4.
is not commended that there ia any
expressly for. it; and nothing should
ever implied by law which leads to
unjust or absurd consequences.
! The nation purchased with money
the countries out of: which several Of
these States were armed. Is it just
that they shall go off without leave
and without xefundingl Then aticn
said very large sums, in the aggregate
] believe nearly one hnxdrsd millions.
! to relieve Florida from the aboriginal
tribes. .n,r
| Nor do I say this not true also in
the army of our late friends, now ad
versories, in this contest But If 1t
is, so much better the reason why the
Government which. has, ,cosAsFred
such ber;efits o,r,both them and us
I should not be broken up. Whoever.
( in any section. proposes to abandes.
such Government would do well to
consider ID, Difference to what princi-
pie it is that he does it; what better
he il likely to get in it's stead
whether the substitute will give, or
be intended to give. 80 much Of good
to the people. There are some fore
shadowings OH this subject. Our adj
versaries have adopted some declara-
! tons ofindependoncein which, unlike,
4, the good old one penned by Jefferson.
! they omit the words: "All men are
created equal" Why? They have
adopted atemporary National Eol,sti.
tuition, in the preamble OF which, uh-
like our good old one signed by Wash
ington, they omit: We, the people"
and substitute, We, the deputies Of
the Sovereign and independent States.
Why! Why this deliberate pressing
out of view the rights Of men and the
authority of the people!
! This is essentially peoples con
test. On the side OF the L Mon it is a
! struggle for maintaining in the world
that form and substance OF govern
ment, whose leading object IS to ele-
waite the condition Of men, to; lift arti-.
fetal weights from all shoulders. to
clear the paths of laudable pursuits
for all; to afford all an untettered sturt
and a fair chance in the race of lite.
Yielding to partial and temporary de-
parture<, necessity, this is the leading
object of the Government for whoss
existence we contend. l am most
happy tobelieve that the plain people
! appreciate this. i
It's worthy of note that. while ~,
this, the Government hour of trial,
large numbers of those inthe army and
navy, who have been favored with the
offices, have resigned and proved
false to the hand which had pa,nper-
ed them, not one common soldier or
common sailor have deserted his flag.
Great honor is due to those officers
who remained true despite the exam
pie OF their traitorous associates, But
the greatest honor and the most i'm
portant fact of all is the unanimous