The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1861-12-14

Oengrsss - . CoaFt MARITAL.
n JEFF. Davis receives the proceedings OF
,onsrese. Is be doubtless does before they are
70 days old, 10 must derive great satssiacoon
ron then. Now, for the Arst time, e!nce snc
~. .orssneuced are there signs Of serious dIvi.
~ anon, the lovsl supporters Of the Govern.
nent. and be knows enough Of human nature
nj IL intimate connection Of the Government
nd people. 20 understand that these divisions
NO full or promise TO his reasonable enterprise
md that II they are persisted in they will do more
10 procure his success than any means now WIN
in his reach. We hope he Is doomed TO disap-
IN this respect, and that sfter the rst
ventilation Of their wild schemes, the uneasy
members will cool Of and get into q state OF
mind for reasonable and safe legislation. Il
. portion Of the members to turn Congress into |
1 grand court martial. It ID proposed to inves-
tisats al the faulty moves Of the campaign, with
4 view TO bring home to each individual COM
mander the mistakes he nay have committed.-
What supreme folly is this! To say nothing Of
the arrogance of Congress- in sssumiag 70 sit in
Judgment upon military matters and to arraign
and try the officers Of the army, what shall We
say Of the madness that proposes to judge and
denounce the officers upon whom the defense OF
the country rests, and without whose services
there would be slight prospect Of maintaining
the Union. 1t is ture that mistakes have been
made; and 1t is true that many of our officers
we're inexperienced and have made that fact ev-
ident; it is true also that some Of our most OK.
perienced officers have blundered badly, and that
the national cause has lost sadly thereby. But
the best military officers we have or are likely
70 have are inexperienced, compared with tho
veteran generals Of Europe, and there is no alb
solute perfection in military science moro than
in any other branch Of human effort, and the
ablest and bravest generals the world has seen,
have committed errors and lost battles. We be-
gan the war with raw troops and inexperienced
commanders. It is one Of the inevitable neces
stiles Of the case that our armies and command
ers be educated in the service, and errors we're to
be expected. But is it worth while to de-
grade and drive from the service the best men we
have because they are imperfect?. And yet that
would be the inevitable effect of the course that
Congress is asked to pursue, and no course that
could be taken would SO rapidly demoralize and
destroy our armies as this.
If members Of Congress have charges to make
against any of our generals, let them lay their
complaints before the Con. mander-in-Chief, and
If there 10 apparent grounds for it they will
doubtless be contaminated and punished or &C.
quilted by their peers in the service, who alone
are competent to Judge of the facts and princi-
Piles involved and to reach an intelligent and just
decision. A congressional inquest on the Bull
Run and Balls Bluff disasters, and half dozen
others that have been mentioned in Congress,
would be just as appropriate as an inquest of
editors on the subject, and that has already been
held, fortunately with such variety Of decisions
that none of our generals have been seriously
damaged in the war of words. II Mr. Sumner
thinks Gen. Halleck's course in Missouri is bad
policy and inhuman and shameful, let him say so
to the President, to the Secretary Of War, to
Gen. Mcclellan, and give his reasons But it ia
something worse than bad taste to denounce him
before Congress and the country, and then if the
Senate is so far msled as to undertake to arraign
or censure Gen. Halleck or any other command.
| er, it will find that serious blunder has been
committed and that mischief has been done that
| cannot be easily repaired. There is no more d.
| fieult military position than that now occupied
| by Gen. Halleck, and ne is certainly manifesiing
comprehensiveness and energy in his plans, and
vigOr and earnestness in his declarations. He
deserves at least ordinary forbearance and can
dor. So do all our generals. They have work
of the greatest difficulty in hand, such as must
| task the highest powers. No war against for
eign nation can be compared with this in the
skill and energy required for its successful pro-
| secution. 1t is work Of exposure and selfsac
riice, too, such as those who sit comfortably q,
home, or make severe and pretty speeches in ly
ceums and the halls of Congress- have little con
| ception of. Shall those upon whom We chiefly
rely for the salvation of the country in this hour
OF its peril be disarmed at the outset9 Shall
we destroy and throw aside the Commanders we
have because they are not perfect in the judg
ment of civilians and according to the standards
OF those who know war only as it is seen in rhe
1 tnrIn ofPuS M IL 3, "a: :.
perilous is little lees than Infamous -GSpring
field Republican.
The Southern People Sick Of Secession.
/ Robbery of the Planterp.
LOUISVILLE, Nov. 80.
Did you ever put large lump of lead in
ladle, and place the ladle over hot fire?
you were not sure the lead must ultimately yielt
to the heat, when the ladle became red hot ant
the stubborn lump looked as far from fusion a!
when you held it in your hand, you might hav.
despaired. But you waited, like manifest des
tinist, few seconds longer, and then little
bright stream of liquid metal began to stea
from under the cool looking gray mass. 70,
pressed the top gently with the poker, and al
tumbled into glistening molten metal, except thu
dross. That lump OF lead, which would no
melt-its out-given stubbornness said it wouldn'
was fit emblem of the great rebellion, as i
now lies in the hot ladle Of loyal wrath. Thu
infusable-looking political hypocrites and thieves
at Richmond, the eddy-driven, time-serving poll
ticians who are striving to fatten themselves OF
the spoils OF grooming, oppressed people, ant
the subsidized and brutalized writer's who live
dissipated life by lying for the usurping conspira
tors, are the coating Of dross which proclaims
"You cannot melt the lump" But a bligh
stream has stolea from under them at Hatteras
another at Port Royal, and another through tn,
mountains of East Tennessee. The drcssy sur
| face begins to move. They are anxious to slid,
off before the mass becomes lake of fused
metal, and they find themselves floating light,
on the top to be brushed off and thrown into
the ashes of infamy.
All accounts show that the people are sick o.
secession throughout the South. But none dart
speak their minds. lest their liberty of locomo
ton should be taken away, or their property con
tiscated after they have been driven into exile
In the boosted cotton States, when wealthy
Planters-planters who ,oere wealthy-sre an
preached by impudent Migrants endeavoring te
raise, clothe and equip military companies. they
dare not refuse subscription or donation. But
to such penury have they been reduced by tax
alton and the high prices Of all things necessa
ry for the subsistence of their families and thei
slaves, that in many instances they are forced te
give their notes for ten or twenty dollars. The
subsidizer then takes the note aad searche.
among the money changers for some one who il
able to cash such heavy paper-ISpecial Cor
of the Chicago Times.
I TERRIBLE ExPLoIr.OF RIyLED CANNON BALL
The Boston Courier publishes letter of 4
i correspondent on board the United States steam
er Massachusetts, OF Ship Island, October 26
giving an account Of the affair between the yes
sci and rebel steamer, in which the following
extraordinary exploit Of rifed cannon ball il
chronicled:
During the action think we hit her fou,
times, and know she hit US once with sc
pound riaed shell Chat is the WY we got the
exact size of her riAed gum Tho shell entered
on our starboard quarter Just above the iron
part of the hnll Il anne fhronnh tho aiao =. =.