The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1861-07-11


now reinforce Fort Pickens before the crisis would
DC reached at Sumpter was impossible, rendered
so by the mere exhaustion of provisions In the lat
| ter named Fort In precaution against such con-
| urgency, the Government had few days before,
commenced preparing an expedition as well adapt
ed as might be to relieve Fort Sumpter which ex.
pedition was intended to be ultimately used or
according to circumstances. The strongest antic-
lpated case for using it now presented and it
was resolved to send it forward as had been in
tended. In this contingency, it was resolved to
notify the Governor of South Carolina that he
might expect that an attempt would be made to
provision the Fort and that if the attempt should
not be resisted there would be attempt to throw
III men, arms or ammunition, without further no.
tice or in case of an attack upon the Fort. This
notice was accordingly given, whereupon the
Fort was attacked and bombarded to its fall, not
even awaiting the arrival of the provision expedi
tion. It's thus that the assault upon and re-
duction of the Fort were in no sense matter of
defence ON thespart Of the assailauts, They well
knew that the garrison in the Fort could by no
possibility commit aggression upon them. They
knew they were expressly notified that giving
bread TO the few brave and hungry men of the gar
rison all that would on that occasion be at
tempted, unless themselves by resisting so much
should provoke more. They knew that this Gov
eminent desired to keep the garrison in the fort,
not to assaii them, but merely to maintain visible
possession, and thus to preserve the Union from
actual aud immediate dissolution, trusting, as
herein before stated, to time, discussion and the
and reduced the Fort for precisely the reverse OBJ
ject-to drive out the visible authority of the Fed
eral Union, and thus force it to immediate dssolu
ton. That this was their object the Executive
well understood, and having said to them in the
inaugural address, C You can have no conflict
without being yourselves the aggressors,' he took
pains not only to keep this declaration good but
also TO keep tie so far from ingenious sophis-
try that the world should understand it. By
the affair at Forc Sumpter, with its surrounding
circumstances, that point w1s reached. Then and
there, by the ASSISTANTS of the Government. began
the fight without gun in sight or expectancy to
return the firing, save only the few In the Fort,
sent to that harbor years before for their pro-
tecton and still ready to give that protection in
whatever was loyal. In this act, dlscarding all
else, they have forced upon the country the dis
tnct issue of immediate dissolution or blood, and
this embraces more than the fate of these United
States. 1t presents to the whole family of man
the question whether constitutional Republic or
Democracy. Government OF the people, the same
people can cannot maintain its territorial integ-
rity against its own domestic foes. 1t presents
the question whether discontinued persons, too
few in number to control the Administration &c.
cording to the organic law in any case, can always
upon the pretenCes made in this case or any other
pIetences, or arbitrarily, without any pretenses
break up their Government, and thus practically
put an end to free government upon earth. 1t
forces to ask is there in all Republics this in
herent and fatal weakness Must Government
of necessity be too strong for the liberties of the
people or too weak to maintain its own existence
SO, viewing the issues, no choice was LETT but to
call out the wer power ofthe Government, and
to resist the force employed for its destruction by
force for its preserV alton. The call was made and
the response of the country was most gratifying
surprising in unanimity and spirit the most san
guine expectation. Yet none of the States com
monty called slave States, except Delaware, gave
q regiment through the regular State organiZa-
ton. a few regiments have been organized with
in some other of those States by individual enter
prise and received into the Government service of
course. The seeded States, called and to
which Texas had been Joined about the time of
the Inauguration, gave no troops to the cause OF
the UuiUn. The Border States, so called, were
net uniform in their action, some of them being
almost Tor the Union, while in others, as in Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas,
the Union sentiment was nearly repressed and 81
fenced. The course taken in Virginia was the
most remarkable, perhaps the most important. A
convention elected by the people OF that State to
consider this very question OF disrupting the Fed
eral Union in session at the capital of Virgin
ia when Fort Sumpter fell To this body the peo-
pie had chosen large majority of professed Un-
ion men, Almost Immediately after the fall of
Sumptar numbers Of that majority went over to
the original minority and with them adopted an
ordinance for Withdrawing the Statetrom this I'm
ion.
Whether this change was wrought by their great
approval of the assault On Sumter or their great
resentment TO the Governments resistance TO that
assault, is not definitely known. Although thew
submitted the ordinance for ratification 70 a voice
OF the people, to Do taken somewhat more than d
month distant the Convention and Legislatures
which was also IN session at the same time and
place, with leading men of the State, Immediately
action as if the State already out
OF the Union They pushed military preparations
vigorously forward al over the State. They seiZ-
ed the United States amory at Harpers Ferry and
the Nav ard at GOsp0rt near Norfolk. They
received, perhaps invited into their State, lurgo
bodies of troops, with their warke appointments
from the 50 called seeded States They formally
q mi Il with nE.In
ate States, and sent members to their Congress at
Montgomery, and finally they permitted the in
government to be transferred to their
Capital at Richmond. ] lie people of Virginia have
thus allowed this giant instruction to make lis
nest within their borders, ana this Government has
no choice left but 10 deal with it whore it finds it.
and 1t mas the less to regret as the loyal citizens
have i'll due form claimed its protection. Those
nlze and project being III Virginia. In the
Border States, 20 oaled, in fact the Middle States
there are those who favor policy which they call
armed neutrality, that is an arnng OF those states
to prevent the Union forces passing one way, or
the dlsunlOn the other, over their soil This would
be disunion completelyj fgoratively speaking, it
would be the building of an impaysible wall uong
the line of separation and YET, not quite an i'm
passibl6 one. for under the guse of Neutrality, it
would tie the hands Of the Union men and freely
pass supplies from among them to the insurrec.
tonists, winch it could not do as an open enemy
At stroke it would take all the trouble off tile
the external blockade. 1t would do for the disun-
ionlss that which OF all things they most desire,
feed them well and give them disunion without u
Struggle of their own 1t recognises fidelity to
the Constitution, no obligation to maintain the
Union. While very many who have favored it are
doubtless loyal citizens ii is neyerth eless very in
juroas in effect.
Recurring to the action of the Government it
may be statod that at first q call was made for7J,
0O0 militia, and rapidly following this "a procoma-
ton was issued for closing the ports of the insur
rectlonary districts by blockade. So far all was
believed to be strictly legal
At this point the insurrectionists announced
their purpose ofenterng upon the practice of pri-
watering. Other calls were made for volunteers
to serve three years ueess sooner discharged, and
also large additions to the regular army aud navy
These measures whether strictly legal or not, were
yenturcd upon what appeared 10 be a popular de-
mand for public necessity trusting then, AS now,
that Congress would ratity them. 1t is believed
that nothing has been done beyond the constitu-
tonal competency OF Congress. Soon after the
first call for milnia it was considered duty TO
authorize the commanding General, in proper
cases, according to his discretion to suspend the
privilege Of the ha6eaS corpus or in other words TO
arrest and detain without resort to ordinary pro
cess and forms flaw such individuals as he might
deem dangerous to the public safety. This
tkority has purposey been exercised but very spar
ngy; nevertheless, the legality and prOpriety of
what has been done under 1t are questions, and
the attention Of the country has been called to the
proposition that one who has sworn to take care
that the laws be faithfully executed should not
himself violate them. Ofcourse some consdera-
ton was given to the questions of the power and
propriety before this matter acted upon. The
whole Of the laws which were required to be faith
fully executed, were being resisted and failing of
execution in nearly third Of the States. Must
they be allowed to finally fail of execution oven
1t had been perfectly clear that by the ofthe
means necessary to their execution some single law
made in such extreme tenderness of the citizens
liberty that practically relieves of the guilty
than the innocent, should to n limited extent, be
violated? TO state the question more directly,are
all the laws but one to 90 unexecuted, the Govern
ment itself to 90 to pieces lest that one be violated!
Even in such case would not the official oath be
broken if the Government should be Overthrown
when il was believed that disregarding the single
law would tend to preseryeit? But was not be.
Geyed that this question was presented. 1t was
: y. lntal ILn