Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-04-26

hymns 70 the Sfar spangled Banner, and
pledge himself to another Union still more
fail than the one which that piece Of dis
honored bunting was framed to representG
He is in confidential correspondence with
the head of the Southern Confederacy. He
J is gathering arms and ammunition TO pre-
pare for that which he knows will, and which
he is determined shall come. And with his
proclivities and from his point of view, be
is in the right. He, OF some body else for
him, is abundautly wiser than the Governor
of Ohio, aided by the careful men, the large
and valuable shipping interest and all the
pious old ladies who have horror Of war ia
the State of Ohio.
Governor Dennison would not seize mu
nitions Of war going TO States that have not
yet seeded, but are only preparing to
secede - Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas.
These States have not gone out; bat are
they in3 Are they acting the part of loyaI
members Of the American .UnionP Where
are the quotas of troops which they were
required to supply, in aid of the natural
aIm2 If Governor Dennison can take cog
nizance Of the fact that they have not vet
passed formal acts of secession, what is to
hinder him from knowing that they have,
through their Governors, positively refused
to perform their constitutional obligations
to the paramount Government7 What is a
state Of neutrality-of declared EARNED neu-
trality"-between the Union and conspi-
racy bent TO destroy it, but disunion2 Was
Mr.. Jefferson Davis any less traitor be-
cause he plotted and prepared to execute his
treason while in his seat as Senator of the
United States, sworn to support the Consti-
tuition
1t is time to get rid of these hair. splitting
distinctions, and take things as they are.
| These guns which our city and State au-
tborities are so willing to put into the hands
of those who did not buy them to lie idle,
can, within five days after they arrive at
their places of destination, be mounted upon
the nights commanding this city, passing all
the way through country where there is
not the remotest probability of their being
intercepted by any authority opposed to
their passage, or their use when they shall
have arrived.
They may not come in this direction; but
then again they may. There is no assurance
that they will not. In such a case, what
would Charleston, what Richmond, what
Savannah, Mobile, New Orleans and Mem
phis doP Would they wait until Ohio had
declared formal war against the States
where they are situated, before they seized
upon any munitions of war of hers or her
citizens within their reach2 The doings o {
the last two or three months are an answer
to that question. Would the people of
Louisville, at this moment, knowingly per-
init a steamer, loaded with guns for Cincin-
natl, to pass that city2 Nobody believes it.
The mission Of the Kentucky gentlemen
to this city, had, it would seem, its mercan-
tile as well as its political aspect. Louisville
holds an important relation to the seeded
States, as the factor through which they re-
Ceive necessary supplies of provisions, with
out which war can not we'll be carried on.
This trade is valuable to Louisville, and
there are not few of our fellow citizens
who feel deep interest in keeping it open,
ss she is large purchaser in and through
this market. The stoppage of the traffic
would deeply affect this class and others
engaged in transportation but it is certainly
a very serious question whether taking the
J interest of the whole into view, there are
= not considerations paramount to those o.
profit which should govern the policy to be
J pursued 1t is to be regretted that the
General Government has not declared some
rule in this matter-a thing of as much i'm.
portance as any that could, in this juncture
of affairs, come under its consideration
The Kentucky gentlemen, we are told
talked quite pathetically of the stoppage o.
the peaceful trade between their State and
ours; but offered no guaranty that thi:
, trade would not be abused by their citizens
f becoming the agent through whom the en-
/ emy is supplied with that which, to all in
, tents and purposes, is a sinew of war. Their
will not be much sympathy felt for the suf
feTings of that order of men among us whC
/ are as ready to ship barrel of gunpowdel
as box of cheese or keg of lard, and to ex
ecute an order for cases of muskets as fol-
: barrels of pork. A thousand barrels of gun
powder were, it is said, smuggled through
this city yesterday by some one or more o.
, our honorable and respectable merchants
, and so long as such things can happen and
: the actors not cease to be esteemed honor.
able and respectable by others of their class
there are not many outside that class who
will weep over the hardships of complete
and peremptory embargo. Let the mercan-
tile interest begin by cleaning its skirts Of
that most damnable of all offenses, trade
with our enemies in munitions of war, and
then it will be time enough to consider their
entitlements in other respects.
We have evidently not yet quite arrived
at the point of considering our condition in
serious light; and yet nothing is more
certain than that these things are meant to
be serious. We had better begin for to
delay much longer will be productive Of re.
suits of very serious character.
We have another word to add to our Gov.
ernor, and other Executive officers upon
whom devolve the duty of acting in these
matters. What the grounds of their policy
may be, or what are their ideas of duty in
the present crisis, we have no means o.
knowing. But it is evident that neither
Mr.. DennisOn nor Mr.. Hatch are up to thu
occasion. They do not understand thu
times nor the temper of the people. They
are, whether they perceive it or not, playing
into the hands of those who mean mischief
There are periods when the most Vigorou
action is the best-When the question is no
so much what is the law as what is de
manded by paramount necessity. The time
have been when the officer elected in tim
Of peace has been forced by the people t