St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1861-09-05
Letter From Senator Grimes.

4 LGttti tiUHl Efifdttt uiItttD.
From highly patriotic letter Tatcs
ly published by Senator Grimes we
take the following extract:
More than any State in this Confcd-
eracy, Iowa should resist the prcten-
dcd right to seccde from it. Our po-
sition in the centre of Tie continent.
without foreign commerce, dependent
upon other States for our markets and
for onr means of transportation to
reach them, would soon, il the right
to destroy the Union by the secession
OF the States be conceded, place us i'm
the character of q dependent and con-
| qucred province We need, and must
have, at whatever cost, permanent
government and unrestricted access
to the Atlantic ocean and to the Gulf
OF Mexico. There must be no foreign
soil between us and our markets.
As one Of the representatives Of
Iowa in the Federal Congress, / have
sought to give expression by my votes
to what believed to be the opinions
OF the people of the State, and have
uniformly voted all the men, money,
ships and supplies that were asked for.
In doing so have not only expressed
what | believed to be their wishes,
but | have acted upon my own corvic-
tions OF duty. | shall continue 10 do
SO until this unholy war shall be
brought to successful conclusion.
The public debt that this war will
impose upon us will appal some, and
perhaps dampcn the patriotism of
some. Most erroneous Impressions,
however, seem to prevail as to the
magnAnde of onr present indebted
ness, and that which we are likely to
create. The entire public indebted
ness of this country OH the 9th inst,
the day that Congress adjourned, was
Slll 900, 900, most of which was in
herited from the preceding Admins.
tration, and the estimated expenses Of
tho next year for military, naval, and
civil purposes, were less than three
hundred million dollars-loss than tho
annual expenses of Great Britain in
time of profound peace. In conncc.
ton with the aggregate of these two
sums let us remember that England
paid eight thousand five hundred mill
lions of dollars to carry on her war
with the first Napoleon. She was
contcnding for her commercial rights,
and the result showed that her money
was well expended we are not only
contcnding for our commercial rights,
but we seek to uphold and pcrpetuatc
the best government ever known
among men.
Foreigners call us, with great truth,
the most inpatient people on earth.
This natural impotence is greatly in
creased by our present troubles. We
all want peace restored and business
revived, and most Of us believe that
permanent peace can only he estab-
lished by the victorious arms of our
soldiers. Our anxieties in this regard
are very liable TO cause us to do great
injustice TO the government and tn
ourselves also. We clamor for victor.
les, forgetting that the most thorough
preparation is necessary to achieve
them. We forget the condition of tho
country four months ago, and ask that
that shall be done in week which
requires months of arduous labor to
perform. Very few fully appreciate
the difficulties by which the President
of the United States found himself
surrounded, when he assumed power
on the fourth of March last Many Of
the Executive Departments had rc~
Gently been under the control of trai-
tors. The army had been dispersed
and demoralzed, and many Of tie
most trusted and prominent officers
were disloyal Our vessels Of war
were scattered upon foreign and re-
mote stations. The Departments were
full of spies and traitors. The public
armories had been plundcred and their
contents delivered to the rebels. Tho
President was without an army, with
out navy, without arms or munitions
of war, and with enemies within and
without. In this condition of things,
and after an almost uninterrupted
peace of fifty years, he was called up-
on to organize in n few weeks five ar
mics, each of them larger than any
that had ever been marshaled OH
this continent, and TO improvise nas
Wy with which to blockade coast
greater in extent than that which
England was unable to blockade with
more than four hundred vessels Of war
in lSl2-l4. That there have been
mistakes made i'm the selection Of
agents and officers cannot be denied,
but that there has been any lack Of
patriotism or of devotion to the cause
OF the country, it seems to me that NO
fair man who examines the subject
will assert. Few persons comprehend
the labor, the time, and the perplexi-
ties involved in furnishing clothing,
arms, transportation, stores and pay
for four hundred and fifty thousand
men, and in purchasing or building,
and equipping two hundred vessels Of
war by government whose credit
was impaired, whose armories had
been destroyed, and whose munitions
OF war had been stolen, and to do all
this in the space of three months.
1t becomes MS to be hopeful and pa
tient, bearing in mind that the authors
tiles in Washington are resolved that
their preparation for the conflict shall
correspond with the magnitude of tho
conspiracy they are compelled to en4
counter.
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The most skillfnl dctector Of conn=
tcrleit coin in the New York custom
house is a spaniard. His business ID
to receive and test money, and he was