Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1861-07-12
BEDFORD INQUIRER.

I
be violatedF Even in such case, would not
the official oath be broken if the Government
! should be oyerthrown. when IL was believed
that disregarding the single law would tend
to preserve ito But it was not believed that
this question was presented. It was not be-
lieveo that any law was violated. The pro-
vision OF the Constitution, that the privilege
of the writ of habeas cetpus shall not be sus-
pended unless when, iD case of rebelliou or
invasion, the public safety may require it, Is
equivalent to provision that such privilege
may be suspended when, iu cases of rebellion
or invasion, the putlic safety does require it.
| Ii was decided that we have case OF rebel
lion, and that the public safety does require
the qualified suspension OF the privilege OF tie
| writ, which was authorized to be made.
Now 1t is insisted that Congress, aud not
the Executive, 10 vested with this power. tut
the Constitution itself is silent as to which or
who is to exercise the power, and as the
provision was plainly made for dangerous
emergency, II cannot be believed that the fra
mers Of the instrument intended that in every
case the danger should run its course until
Congress could be sailed together, the very
assembling of which might be prevented, as
was intended in this case by the rebellion. -
No more extended argument is now offered, as
an opioion at some length will probably be
| presented by the Attorney General. Wheih.
er tLero shall be any legislation upon the sub
jeet, aud il any, what, is submitted entirely to
the better judgment of Congress.
The forbearance of this Government lad
been 80 extraordinary and so long continued
as to lead some foreign nations to shape their
action as if they supposed the eatly destruction
of National Union wss probable. While
this, on discovery, gave the Executive some
concern, be is now happy to say that the soy.
ereignty and rights of the United States are
now everywhere practically respected by for
| eign Powers. and general sympathy With the
country is manifested throughout The world
The reports of the Secretaries of the
| Treasury, War, and the Navy, will give the
| information 10 detail deemed necessary and
convenient for your doliberaton aud action
! while the Executive aud all the departments
will stand ready 20 supply omissions, or to
| communicate new facts considered important
for you to know.
| II is now recommended that you give the
| legal means for making this contest short and
decisive one; that you place at the control
of the Government, for the work, at least
400, 200 men, aud 100000, 600. That mum.
| Der Of men is about oneStenth of those of prop
er ages within the regions where apparently all
are wiling to engage, and the sum is less than
twenty third part of the money value owned
| by tie men who seem ready to devote the
whole.
A debt of S600,000o0O now is less
sum per head than was the debt of our own.
| Revolution, when we came out of that struggle:
aud the money value Ia the country now bears
even greater proportion to what il was then
than does the population. Surely each man
has as strong motive now TO preserve our
lbeEties as each had then to establish them.
right result ct this time will be worth
! more TO the world than ten tunes the men and
ten times the money. The evidence reaching
| US from the country leaves no doubt that the
material for the work is abundant, and that
1t needs only the hand of legislation to give
| 1t legal sanction, and the band of the Exeeus
tive to give it practical shape and eficiency-
One OF the greatest perplexittes of the Gov
| ernmenti Is to avoid receiving troops faster than
| providing for them. In word, the people
will save TIE Government if the Government
itself will do its part only indifferently WE'LL
1t might seem, at first thought, to be of
little difference whether the present saovement
at the South be called secession or rebellion.
Tbe movers, however, we'll understand the
difference. At the beginning they knew
they could never raise their treason to any
respectable magnitude by any name which i'm
plies violation OF law. They knew their peo-
pie possessed as much of moral sense, as much
OF devotion to law and order, aud as muon
pride IN, and reverence for, the history aud
Governments OF their common country as auy
other civilized and patriotic people. They
knew they could make no advancement direct
ly in the teeth of these strong aud noble sem
timents. Accordingly, they commenced by an
iuslduous debauchiug of the public mind
They Invented an Ingenious sophism which, if
conceded, was followed by perfectly logical
steps through all the incidents to the complete
destruction Of The Union.
The sophism itselfis that any State Of the
Union may, consistently with the National
Constitution, aud therefore lawfully aud
peacefully, withdraw from the Union, without
the conseut of the Union or of any other
State. The little disguise, that the supposed
right is to be exercised ohly for Just cause,
because they themselves are to be the sole
judges of its justice, is too thin to merit auy
notice.
With rebellion thus sugar coated, they bave
been drugging the public mind of their section
for more than thirty years, and until at length
they haqe brought many good men 10 willing
ness to take up arms against the Governments the
day sfter some assemblage of men have enact
ed the farcieal pretence of taking their State
out of the Union, who could have been brought
to no such thing the day before.
This sophism derives much, perhaps the
whole of its currency, from the assumption
that there is some omnpotcnt aud sacred SUI
premacy pertaining to State, to each State of
our Federal Union. Our States have neither