Weekly Trinity journal., 1861-01-26
THE journal.
8. shasta Courier'' Critiquc.

- Suus"
-, ;sspe OF Jan. 10th the Shasta Courier
-. This paper to task for msinterpreting"
'a a1 " misrepresenting" the position assumed by
u1 1obn C. Burch in his letter recommending
.,,obisbment of Pacific Republic, in the
Of secession. We have re-read our edito-
comments, and also the &C letter." and cannot
for the life of us, in what single particular
have misrepresented" the position" of cur
,,ooorable Congressman. Says the Courier
= IN the first place. then, the assertion of the
,.,.oy,t that Mr.. Burch advocates a Pacific
Coufpderacy in case of secession of any of the
SU",bern States is without the slightest founda-
ro @ Nowhere in bis letter has he taken any
s"oh uv nosition He simply suggests the wisdom
s1'~ ,, establishing Pacific Republic in the event of
" do.truction of the existing Republic-but no
,Sore does he intimate the silly idea that the
.ocession of any one of the Southern States or
E - onv half dozen OF them, would be the de-
. strnetion of the existing Republic"
E II is not our wish to write an essay on the use
# words, much less to quibble upon the peculiar
shraseology of particular sentence, but we in
sist there is a i" foundation" clear, palpable and
"a ,,eoitc on which to base the construction that
n, Burch is in favor of forming Pacific Re-
nolc. g in case of secession of any of the
soubeya States" The greater portion of his
,otter is lachrymose lamentation over the evi-
dent certainty OF secession, an expression of his
& dovotion to the Union, and the duty he owes to
Z bis constituents.
n The idea is clearly conveyed that the South
cannot be reconcilcd to the administration Of
B lincoln and, per consequence, Southern States
will secede, and civil war necessarily follow
From the language Of Mr.. Burch we are led to
believe that secession means disunion that it
cannot be accomplished pcaceably, and conse-
ouently the secession Of" any of the States' will
result in " fraternal war" Wequote from the
letter
"But it is premature, in the present condition
OF affairs, when this struggle is in its incipency;
when, perhaps in a very short time, despite our
earnest and unceasing exertions, fraternal war
be waged with all the ferocty which characterl-
zes civil war alone, for us to begin to look to our
own safety-to draw counsel from the first law
Of nations self preservation and to determine
whether it is not better for lis to cease our con-
nection with a people bent on self destruction
and political annhlation, into which we must be
drawn if our political relations continue"
That paragraph cannot be misintcrpreted'' or
~ misreprcsented," especially when taken in con
nection with the following sentence near the
close of the letter referred to:
"And further, that there is an urgent necessity
for action on our part, in one direction anoth-
rr no matter with what reluctance. nor however
much such necessary action may initiate with
our patriotism"
The proposition is bold and clear that we had
better cease our connection with people bent
on self d, struction and political annhilation."
than, as Mr. Burch thinks share the same fate
L" if our present relations continue ;" "and fur
thcr that there is argent necessity for action"
IL seems, then friend Dosh, in truth and reality,
that onr Congressmans "postion" is in favor of
a Pacific Republic without even waiting for the
secession of any of the Southern Statrs''
But the Couritr misquotes the Objectionable
words from the JOURNAL, as follows" secession
of any one Of the Southern States" Our words
were, secession of any of the Southern States"
The sentence was used general term, but we
never wrote the word "one." as the editor Will
see by referring to the article However, as we
said at the outset, we have no desire to quibble
about the use of wOrds-the intelligent reader
will Judge for himself.
As to our correspondents, the columns of the
Journal are ever open to them when we Judge
their productions fitted to appear. For their pc
culiar views or statements we do not claim to be
responsible
1t will be remembered that in the same number
which appeared the editorial which the courier
fays " misrepresented" Mr. Burch. also was prn-
ted his letter. in full His words and sentences
we're there to explain aud defend his meaning
and purpose.
Tuu has al stall lnn