The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1861-06-08
VALUE OF the UNION.

VALUE OF THE UNION.
One Of the greatest benefits to the American
people, of that Union which Davis and his fel-
low-traitors are endeavoring to destroy, has been
our entire exemption from the enormous war ex-
pcnses with which all the nations Of Europe are
constantly burdened. 4
Isolated from the rest of the world-holding
the greater part Of the continent i1 our own pos
seesioL-we have had no powerful or ambitious
neighbor threatening our borders and by his
ownfwsrlike preparations, keeping us in a state
of alarm, and forcing us.to maintsin in peace
costly armies and navies for our protection: In
this happy exemption lies one Of the secrets Of
our wonderful prosperity. We have not had a
large portion Of our able bodied young men d-
verted from fields Of productive labor to the un
productive employment of soldering The ma
ton has been able to devote all its powers to
subduing the fertile wilderness Of the West, and
perfectng the useful arts OF civilization. 1t has
not been compelled to devote yearly millions to
the support of idle armies, such as eat up the
substance of England, France, Austria and every
other nation of Europe.
Our people have enthusiastically rallied to the
defence of the Union against the rebels who
have plotted to destroy it md substitute mill
tary despotism in the place of our constitution
al liberties We give men and money with open
hands, but we do not forget that every man who
thus goes to defend his country leaves some en-
ployment, useful not only to himself but to the
nation; and that every dollar spent in war is a
dollar withdrawn from the general capital of the
nation. This reflection does but embitter every
thoughtful man against those wretches who, to
crafty their selfish, wicked ambition. have Incl
ted part of their countrymen to Instruction
against the Government, and are using them to
subvert our liberties.
The belief that the preservation of constitu-
tional liberty on this continent depended on the
continued possession OF the whole country by
one nation, was cherished by WASHINGTON, and
has been shared by every patriot and states
man since the Revolution. Standing armies in
time of peace have always been thought dam
gerous to the liberties of a people, because the,
placed in the hands of an INSCRIPTIONS and am
bilious ruler potent weapon with which to de
stroy the opposition to his unconstitutional
measures. We have never encouraged the main.
tenanee of large standing armies; and the regu
lar army of the United States used to protect
our vast border and frontier lines amounted las,
year to only eighteen thousand men. But the
first act of the Montgomery mutineers-one
most significant both of their distrust of the
Southern people, and of their intention to es
tablish military despotism-was to provide
for the creation of large standing army, the
soldiers OF which, In the words of the New Or
leans Delta, would have no other aim in life but
to follow the banner of their chief, and to take
for life the chances of the camp, the campaign
and the battlefield.
With such power in such hands, on this con-
tinent it is easy to see that our whole peaceful
policy would be destroyed, and we should find il
necessary to have, what has long oppressed the
nations Of Europe, large and expensive peace
establishment to defend ourselves against such
neighbors. This was quickly seen by the Lon
don Times and some other British journals
which, hastily taking for granted the division Of
the Union into two nation, congratulated Eu
rope that henceforth Americans, too, would be
burdened with foreign policy" and such an
army and navy rs would suffice to command and
enforce respect from warlike neighbor.
That these journals had cause to think this a
severe blow to our national prosperity few
figures will sufficiently show. 1t must be re-
membered that soldier not only produces no
thing and il, for his entire maintenance of cloth
ing, food, lodging and wages, charge upon the
nation, but also, that he is an able bodied young
man, taken away from the productive forces OF
the nation, which make up its wealth. Reckon
ed in this way it has been estimated that every
soldier in the army costs the nation about one
thousand dollars per annum. Now France keeps
up in time of peace an establishment of not less
than five hundred thousand men. Austria, GOV
cred with debt, and unable even to pay the in
terest on her national debt, cannot exist without
an army of six hundred thousand Russia has
never less than seven hundred and fifty thou
sand men in her peace army and navy; and
Great Britain contributes, from population no,
SO great as our own, not less than two hundred
| thousand, and at present over two hundred and
fwenfv five fhnuSand 0f her hast man
Had Davis and his fellow-conspirators sue
ceeded in dividing this nation, we should also
have fallen under the yoke. Thenceforth we
should have been burdened with vast standing
armies in times of peace thenceforth our peace
full industry would have existed only at the will Of
an inscriptions and ambitious neighbor; thence.
forth our finest young men would have been an
nually drawn from the fields, the FORCES, the
workshops which produce nations wealth and
makes its greatness, to the barracks and the
battle fields, where nations too often bury their
liberties.
1t is to avoid this bad fate that we are in arms
for our national existence. War for the Union
because only in the Union can we have peace
and safety. We put down rebellion, because,
with rebellion triumphant fatal blow is struck
at all that has made our condition, as people,
different from, and happier than the condition
VI hhC ONei-thAeu, Oftf "pTheu, dHu ullleT-ieu
nations Of Europe.-lN Y. Evening Post
A MTsslssIPPIAN's OPINION OF JEFF DAVIS
DR.. D. +. Bacon publishes in the New York Sun
day Mercury some incidents in the life of the
President Of the Southern Confedcracy, and ac-
cuses him Of cowardice and incompetency in the
Mexican campaign. He relates conversation
with Col. A K. McClung of Mississippi, in ls4S,
who said of Davis -
81 am very sorry ever fought duel It
not pleasant business; and yet would like to
fight one more, witt one man, and that is ,Iefey.
son Darts, because think the United States will
be better without him. He will not fight me, he
is too great a coward. In fact, he is not now,
never was. and never will be, brave man, in
the true sense Of the word He is a dangerous
and willy politician, loaded down with vanity and
selfconceit wishing only for his own agerand-
izeBent, and he cares not at what expense or
how many desolate households. He thinks of
himself, and himself only, and should not be
surprised to find him, one of these days, taking
such n step in public as will place his neck in a
halter; for he is bad man and a scoundrel, and
frequently denounced him as such before the
people of Mississippi; and the dirty patroon and
artfu villain never had the courage to resent it,