The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1861-01-23
A Republican on Coercion.
We clip the following bundle of truth

We clip the following bundle of truth
from the Tcrre Haute Journal:
Hon. John VS. Dawson, editor of the
Fort Wayne Daily Times, a leading Repub-
lican paper in northern Indiana, in his issue
of the Oath uit,, addressed lengthy, able,
and patriotic article, over his own signature,
to the people Of that region, on the sui ct
Of Secession, Compromise, vr Coercion"
Mr.. Dawson, like every other true lover Of
his country, is opposed to secession, favors
a just compromise, and deprecates coercion.
AS the Republican organ of this city,
through its blood and thunder editor, has
raped the Journal over the knuckles, sew
eral times Of late, for not favoring coercion,
or, in other words, civil war, we have con.
cluded to give Mr.. Dawson's opinion Of that
subject. 1t is a vivid and true picture of
the fatal policy advocated by the Express ::
But If compromise shall fail by blind
| adherence to party ties, and coercion shall
be adopted, what will then come? Did the
evils Of such an attempt ever appear, in
their proper light, % those who talk about
coerring the cooperating States Of the South?
| think not. Bear in mind, ana not speak.
ing of a difficulty between the people Of a
single State and the rest but Of nearly one.
half against the other. am not speaking
Of the notification of single act of Con-
gress like that Of South Carolina in 1882.
| am not speaking of case where Gen.
Jackson's proclamation met an emergency.
and whore Henry Clay's tariff bill allayed
the rebellion. remember, too, that Gen.
jackson is dead-that there is no Clay in
Congress. There was never but one Clay
and one Webster, and not more than one or
two men ever appear in a single century,
were statesmen, and not politicians.
In case Of coercion what is to become of
trade North and South? Who would pay
the national debt? What would be the
condition Of revenue at the north to begin
such a war, and what our ability to keep it
up! The national expense in prosecuting
war on the feeble Republic of Mexico was
enormous; but, multiply it by fifty, with a
distracted people to pay it-then add da-
mage to trade-then add to the wreck the
condition of that serving thousands at the
North-all produced because Of the war of
one section against another arising out of
the claim Of the south that slavery is right
and divinely instituted and ought to be snp
ported in the common territories of the Unit
ed States, by decision Of the Supreme
Court. Then when all shall be done
that can be; when the best blood
Of the land -fraternal blood shall have
crimsoned our southern waters, and south
erh sun is bleaching the bones of our kin
dred and neighbors; when every breeze
from the south watts to our ears the soul
melting moan of the widows broken heart,
and the cries of orphans whose fathers we
have slain; when the land shall be devasta-
ble-millions of slaves set free temporarily
! lree-with no homes-no masters, and in
capable of elt-govrrnment-abhor and
brutal-what then have you? Isit Union
you have? is there any any unity of feel
ing or interest? No! your Union is gone
your trade is gone--yeu have won mil
lions Of slaves in game Of blood, and
pray what will you ever do with them?
After your coercloniSt, have answered.
these questions, then tell me, if you please,
have you changed the minds of those who
shall have survived the bloody carnival? p
Or make them feel more kindly towards
you? Make them any more loyal to the
Constitution, if you please? Will they
by any such tenebrosity of yours have for
gotten their oppressors? Will they not
remember but to cry out, "Vengeance is
mine"-be unchristian enough to use it
instead Of the Lord
My countrymcn! war has not, then,
brought peace-a thousand years will not
suffice to wipe out its traces. The wound
may have cicatrized, but there will yet re-
main purulent matter to cause inhamma-
ton, and then suppuration. The descen-
dants of the oppressed and slain will never
accord to you supernal position or judg-
ment over them. And then we shall see
that We have destroyed Union-deSigned
to be held together by the moral convic-
tons of the people-by the very attempt to
preserve it by force. Peace and moral con-
viction and public intelligence and virtue
the punctuns saliaes of our national exis-
tence. The sword settles nothing here
The moment we use it, we destroy what We
would save-just as
"Seekipg life in animals we dissect,
We lose it the moment We detect"
Fellow patriots! am ,evotedly attach
ed to this Union. My ancestral relations
go far back, and do not make me blush,
and | would sacrifice all to save the Union.
But after the combination Of so many
States having exhausted the spirit of com.
promise, would even then for while pa
c'fically maintain federal authority, but
whom - cbop1l ho Jnv,, - tb;.,