Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-05-22
The Position of Ken,uclsy.


The Louisville Journal OF yesterday announces
that there are many strong and in its opinion,
unniistakable Indications Of the existence of "a
conspiracy to take kentucky very speedily out Of
the Union by combined fraud and violence. The
following are the reasons it presents to substan-
tiatethis serious charge:
The Governors late message reveals the fact
that DR.. Blackburn was commissioned by him 10
the South for the purchase OF arms in behalf of
Kentucky, and OF course the commissioner was
instructed as to the reasons he should urge upon
the people OF the South why they should furnish
him with arms for Kentucky. And we must
Judge what reasons he was instructed TO assign
from thereasons he did assign. He declared with
emphasis that Kentucky was ready to 90 into the
Southern Confederacy, and would 20 immediate
~ if the South would but let her have arms to
protect herselfin tie position. Now if DR.. Black
burn was not authorized and instructed to say
this, he acted the part of an impOst0I-a thing
that We dcem Impossible. Clearly and mani
festly aud hndcniably. then, it IS 4 fact that
highly respectable kentucky citizen went 70 the
South fresh from the inspiration of the counsels
of Breckenridge, Alag0ilin K Co., bearing with
him credentials for the purchase OF arms uron
Kentuckys credit, credit pighted by those who
had no legal power to plight it, and instructed to
announce, for the promotion of the object OF his
mission, that Kentucky, on obtaining the arms,
would instantly Secede from the United States
AID W. have cOgent reasons for believing thst
arms are what is now chiefly waitei for by the
leaders of the conspiracy in Kentucky. There
/ has at no time been anything To Indicate to the
general mind that Kentucky, whatever arms
might be obtained from the South or the North
would 90 out of the Union, but vet we know that
/ the leaders in the Southern Confederacy and the
disunion leaders in Kentucky and the relatives
/ nj al
along In spite of any appearances adverse to
Their hopes and wishes, been uniformly confident
OF the secession OF the State, Just soon as she
could be armed, regarding 1t as a settled thing,
| and even betraying at times, unguardedly no
doubt, the fact that they had sources of informa-
| ton not accessible 70 their fellow citizens. We
! know that in some instances they have regulated
and shared their whole business and the plans OF
their lives uDon what they regarded their re
able secret knowledge. We know too. that citi-
zens Of this State, having large property in the
seeding States, and fearing that it might be con
| fscated or in some way lost as the property OF
| alien enemies have upon seeking from certain
disuniOn leaders attceas to the best means Of Sc
curing their possessions. been told to give them
selves no sort of trouble upon that score as Ken
! lucky would be in the Southern C0nfederacs within
! a few days. Moreover, we know that some OF the
military officers of our State, men out OF bust
ness and longing for service and its emoluments.
pre exuling in the assurance, given them no doubt
by the master spirit of the disunion plot, that
| they Will soon. very soon. have work to do It
/ il, we are informed, unquestionabe fact, that
every secessionist, enrolled in the military com
p1nies of Kentucky, regards the precipitation Of
the State out of the Union as inevitable.
Unquestionably the machinery of the State
Government, its engineFy, IS in the hands OF the
secession leaders, and they have had all the ad-
vantage of secret organization and preparation
for months, so that they can, no doubt, concea
trate their strength at a signal and WELD it most
effectively in whatever direction they pleise; and
this, five DO not look well TO our position, will
enable them 10 Succee IN our State lust rs men
like them have succeeded in other States. in
forcing secession in defiance of the viii OF large
majority OF The people. Even the tremendous
Union nfaiOiity OF Kentucky in the recent eiec-
ton of delegates to the border slave States Con
vention may rot avail TO save US from the mis-
erable fate of Tennessee and Virginia and North
Carolina, if we suffer set of secret piottcrs,
welding strong and organized military force to
take US unaFares.
We want reace Tn the great question now
pending as in MI other great political questions
we ask only for the quiet and just arb;trament OF
the ballot box Let that he accorded, and We
shall not complain. To be sure, We 10 not nd
nit the constitutional right of State to secede
from the Union, to be sure we can see, rs clearly
as VIC ever saw the light OF mid day, that the Sc
cession Of Kentucky would cover her all over
with blood and ashes and make her streams run
rel TO the SCI, still, If majority of her people
in the free exercise of the right OF suffrage, sa,
that she shall 30 out Of the Union, we would not
have hand lifted to defeat their will. But We
would gladly see a. million hands lifted, and W,
would lift our OWN, feeble as it might be- to pre-
vent our State from being taken out of the
Union by ilegitimate means. If there shall b'
any attempt to take her out by fraud, by state
gem, by force, by indirection, by the sudder
springing of some hidden mine, we would have
her whole loyal population resist, to their las
g breath, the contamination of the terrible crime
1 The recent vote of our State startled an,
appalled, the disunion leaders, and no doubt it ha
e disauanged their plan aud postponed its execu
{ ton; but mark you, fellow citizens, the plaza j
not G6GRdoned.