The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1861-04-17
CtEctsSATf.. April IA. NIGHT.


Editor Joatrnal:-A distinguished General
once said to his army, on the eve OF battle
Seventeen centuries are looking down up
on you from the battlements of the past"
To-day, eighteen centuries Of the past, and
the world of nations for the present, are
looking upon America. A strange phe-
nomenon greets their gaze. An unparallel-
ed controversy comes before the nation. Not
whether fugitives shall be returned to their
owners; not whether all citizens shall be
protected in all their Constitutional rights
not q personal dispute between the Chief
Magistrate and a portion of his subjects but
a controversy with the government itself.
A resistance to the Constitution and laws Of
the Countrywide Constitution and laws that
protect our homes and hearth-stones, our
property and persons, our wives and chll-
dren. President, Cabinet, and all dignitaries,
are lost sight Of 1t is the Government of
the United States that is assailed.
The question now comes to us Invested of
all its distractions, and becomes a plain,
practical question. Have we now, and
shall we continue to have, Government
1t is too late to pause and ask after all the
causes and occasions of the present state Of
affairs, or to blame the pusillanimity and
imbecility of men in authority who allowed
treason mot to leap full grown in a mo-
ment from the head of some tabled political
deity but to slowly and gradually grow
and develope into the enormous and wicked
proportions of secession, or resistance to es-
tablished government.
This question must and win be decided,
and in its decision are the fortunes, happi-
ness and lives of thousands
We must decide, not merely whether the
Cotton States shall have their qCay-but
shall the government of the United States
be preserved, or shall it be brought to a
speedy and complete destruction The
theory that allows the fight of secession,
| would authorize New York, Cincinnati, or
| Evansville, to become free cities; Maine and
| Minnesota, Kentucky and California, to be-
come separate governments. In this gen.
eral break up we all have a right to be
/ heard. AS to the various domestic ques-
tons mixed up in the controversy that have
preceded the present state of affairs, the peo-
| pie, in their own accredited and tine honoTed
democratic mannerI the ballot box, have
| spoken repeatedly, and the voice and SEN
timent of a majority of the American peo-
pie are we'll understood.
Shall the voice of the people be regard
ed--shall the constitution and government
be sustained2 This is question not mere
| ~ for the President and his Cabinet to de-
eide. He has already indicated what he
proposes, and he has done this in a manner
alike creditable to himself and respectful to
the enemies of the government. 1t now
remains for the people to say whether the
| men and the money are ready. w hat will
| the people say
The excitement here is intense-I know
not how to describe it. Hundreds and
thousands throng the streets, and from
! hundreds of windows, and steeples and
streets corners, the Stars and Stripes may
be seen indicating the sentiments of men,
women, and children. Even the Enquirer,
that indescribable sheet, offers indications OF
| attachment to the Union. But this will
neither atone for, or recall its deep, dark,
| damnable, and reasonable misrepresen-
tations, by which it has deceived our South
| ern friends in regard to the true position OF
| the North.
This is a moment of interest, in the history
of our country, the value of which cannot
! be expressed by words or indicated by fg-
ures The character, socially, financially Y, and
politically, of long future is TO be deter
mined by the counsels, decisions and firm
ness of this hour.
The elements that form the materials of
this controversy must be disposed of some
! time by US or our children. For one, pre-
| fer settling it now. If we must and will be
two governments, nothing can be gained by
| postponing for any considerable time, the
rupture. If We are "many in one" and
design to remain So let it be so under
stood, and that promptly.
| The suspense is painful and disastrous to
! all interests Every man, woman and child
in the Government, North, South, East and
| West, is interested in a speedy settlement OF
| the question. In any event the growth and
| prosperity of the country everywhere is re-
tarded by the presence of these troubles.
May the God of Nations guide our Ship
of State. YERITAs.