The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-09-11

ljustifiable or unjustifiable be approved
or condemned, as a whole. If Is right fol
portion Of this country to take up arms
against this Government, 1t is right to sus
tain such action; and If they are wrong, they
should be put down by the power Of the
people. (Applause.) There is no halfway
house in the matter--no tarying place be
tween sustaining the Government, and at
tempting its overthrow. There is no peace
proposition that will suit the case until the
rebellion is first put down. (Applause. y
And were | in favor, or disposed to tampel
with this rebellion, or to aid or countenanct
it, would 60 and take up arms with them
Because, II it is right for them to take uI
arms, it is right for them to have armed aid
and assistance. If they are wrong, if they
are guilty oftreason, ard murder, and arson
then they should be overthrown by the
whole power ofthe Government. (Applause
and cries of"good - and put down SO that
no resurrection day will ever find rebellion
again. (Renewed applause.) Now believe
| am one of those who, in former years, tho't
that sectional discussions put in jeopardy the
well being of the Union. believe now, as
then, that there never was sectional discus
sion that justified this, or any armed re-
bellion. Ibelieve this rebellion did not arise
out of sectional agitation. And I believe it
is the duty ofevery man, woman, and child,
to raise an arm against it to crush it. Our
Constitution is never to be put down. Gan
indistinct voice in the crowd Compromise }
What does my friend say, COMPROMISE p
Well, / will get at Compromise" before !
get through. daughter and cheers.) be-
lieve in the integrity of the Union l believe
in the integrity ofthe Constitution Il believe
in sustaining both by the power Of the Gov
ernment. rs
And of all men living, Democrat is the
last man who can take stand against the
Constitution of his country. [Cheers.] A
Democrat lives and moves, and has his be-
ing in the Constitution. He cannot live
outside of, or in opposition to, the Constitu.
ton. He must stand by the Constitution in
all its parts. 1t was that doctrine that gave
the Democratic party IFS power and ascen.
dency in the times Of jefferson, OF Madison,
and of that old hero, Andrew jackson. just
in proportion as the Democracy has wander
ed from the Constitution. just in proportion
have they gone down. And if they had
been faithful, and stood fully up to their
own doctrines, all the Abolition parties OF
the earth, and all the Republican parties Of
the earth, and all the combined powers of the
earth could never put down the Old Demo.
cratic party. Cries of "that is sou and
cheers. Ihave ever believed in the justice
of Democracy and believe in it to-day as
much as ever. And believe it to be my
duty to stand upon the ramparts of the
Constitution, and defend it from all foes,
whether they come from the North, the South
the East, or the West. [Cheers.] My fellow
Democrats, snpposing there are any such in
my hearing, [Cries, "There are,"] suppose
Breckinridge had been elected, Summer, and
Garrison, and Wendell Peillips, and the Alb
olltionists Of the New England States gene
rally had stai ted a rebellion against the au-
thority of the United States, what would
have been doneP Iwould have done as l
am doing now. l would have tried to ami
mate my countrymen to put them down by
force OF arms. Cheers and cries of 'good. "
Now, why not treat Southern rebellion Just
as you would have treated Northern rebel
lion-Eastern rebellion as you would West
ern rebellion-and wherever rebellion comes
from, put it down forever. [Cheers. That is
my doctrine. l have stood upon that doc.
trine in olden times and will stand by it
now, and if that doctrine goes down l will
go down with it. There were causes ofirri-
tation between the sections admit. I dep
recated them, and labored long and earnestly
to get rid Of them. But it was not DONE
Those causes ofirritation, although they may
have suggested to Southern States to request
becoming guarantees, they never justified
armed rebellion in any shape or manner
And what were those causes of irritation
The only real, practical cause of irritation
was the non execution Of the fugitive slave
law But that did not affect the Cotton
States SO called; but Missouri, Kentucky,
Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, and per-
haps one or two other States were the only
ones ever injured by it. The Cotton States
so called never lost fugitive slave from the
time of their existence to this day. To be
sure they had question about territories,
but it was SO entirely ideal, mere abstract.
ion, and 80 practically not real grievance
But if it had been they had the Supreme
Court and both branches of Congress, and
practically had control of the question. The
fugitive slave question was the only practical
question therefore which annoyed them, and
that question was not the cause of the rebel.
lion. What State first seeded South
Carolina began to scrapc lint before the votes
were counted. [Laughter.l She had no prac.
tical grievance whatsoever. Look at Virginia
Though politicians cajoled, cheated, and de
frauded, and bullies held bowie knives a,
the throats of her citizens to coerce rebellion
it was long time before they could compe
that State into anything like Secession. And
when they did so nominally, the State Gov
eminent was revolutionized, one part flew