Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1861-08-02

our government, IN the most powerful cOun
tries of the world, and shall our citizens, gull
ty of no other crime than an ardent love fo
our country and her glorious flag, be hunted
from their homes like wild beasts, and robbed
and beat, and murdered, without mercy, upoI
our own soil, and our government stand idl
, and look upon the work Of immolation an(
death with indifference? Our government
must protect its loyal citizens, for protection
in equal rights and citizenship, is the chief of
flee of our government. You are much mis-
taken to think that the crushing of this gi-
gantic rebellion will be the precursor of thu
decay of the government" 10 allow the re-
bellon to triumph in the permanent dissolu-
ton of the Union, as you propose, would per
haps be forcible "percurser of the decay o
the government if not an occular evidence
of its eternal destruction But to crush th'
rebellion, so far from showing an evidence o
decay, will, show, not only to monarchists o
the South, but to those of the world, that oul
government, founded as it is upon the immu
table basis of selfgovernment, and of equa
individual and collective rights, is the strong
est government on earth Yes sir, the crush
ing Of this rebellion will prove to your ener
waited nabobs of the South, and to their sym
pathisers in Europe, that the great Repub
lican bubble has "not" burst twill prove
to the world that republicansm and democra
cy are not bubbles, but that they form ma
terial compact which the whole artillery OF
despotism cannot burst 1t will prove that
our government has not been a vapor that
would vanish at the first gentle zephyr, but a
substantial reality, mighty to save and strong
to deliver! No other government on earth
could have withstood the shock of treason and
rebellion as ours has DONE Even the most
conspicuous officers of the government were
in the conspiracy for years, laying their plans
deep and broad for the overthrow of the gov
ernment, and for the subversion of the rights
and liberties of the people But the people,
all the while, confident in their inherent rights,
and conscious of their power to preserve their
government, did not take immediate steps to
| hurl these traitors into their merited inEamy,
but suffered them to so on in their work of
destruction, until at last they made actual yar
on the people, on their government, and on
their world-renowned flag. The people could
no longer stand still, but they rushed like a
mighty avalanche to the rescue. But as | do
not wish to make this communication too long,
proceed to examine the series of inteIroga-
tories which you put to Mr. Ewing, editor Of
the Whig:
You ask, 1st Have''we constitution? l
answer, we have constitution, and it has al =
ways been, since itsadoption, the supreme law
of the land.
You ask ID Can its integrity be best Sc
cured by its palpable violation? l answer
emphaticaAy, No! | say no, because the
g yiolation" of thing is the rererse of its
security" That is plain enough, aint it
| 70 violate the constitution is, therefore, not to
secure ITS 6 integrity"
| You ask, 3d. Is not the raising of a stand
ing army, by the Executive, without the au-
| thority of Congress, violation Of the consti-
| tuition? | ans rer, under ordinary circum-
stances, yes; under extraordinary circum-
stances, no. At a time when national peace
and concord prevailed, and there was no hos
| tile foe menacng our Threshold, such a pro-
| ceedng would evidently be unconstitutional,
| because there would be no excuse for it but
when threatened with invasion or insurrec-
ton, it is the constitutional ,iuty of the Exec
| tive to call out sufficient force to repel the
one, and put down the other If it were not
so we would be at the mercy of every foreign
| and domestic foe
| You ask, 4th. Is not the waging of a war
of conquest, or eXterminaton violation of
the constitution? l answer, war of conquest
on the South is violation of the consti
| tuition, but the g extcrmnation'' of traitors
| is not.
You ask, 5th. Is the subjugation of the
Southern States the object of the government? ?
| answer, no. Its object is to subjugate
| traitors.
You ask, 9th. Can they (thc Southern
States) be conquered? l answer, yes; but
| that it is not necessary or desired. 1t is to
| saue and protect the Southern States from the
bloody hands of bad men that the govern
nent is now putting forth its mighty energies.
1t can and aoiH conquer treason and toryism.
| You ask, 7th. Will tpay to conquer them !?
l answer, it aoiU pay cery soeu to put down
treason and rebellion against the best govern
ment on earth, and to establish upon an i'm
mutable basis, the ability of the people to
govern themselves, by the sovereign express
sion of their will l pass over the picture of
" beggary, starvation, famine, family desola-
ton, private ruin and national bankruptcy"
and leave all these precious fruits for the
enjoyment of those who have raised and are
now carrying on this most diabolical rebel
lion.
You ask, 10th. Having conquered, how
shall we hold the rebellious States? I answer,
having put wnrebellion thousands and tens
of thousands of loyal men will come up in
those States, with their hearts in their hands,
ready to join in one grand national family, as
we always have been. That is the way we
will hold them.
You ask, 18th. Will they the seeded
States) be received into the family of States
| answer, they have never been excluded
They have never been out of the family of
States
| L ~ C%ok1
in revolution imply the right of secession
| answer, treaty with States in revolution
would not only imply the right of secession,
but would be an actual acknowledgement Of
the disruption and overthrow of the govern
ment.
You ask, Goth. Is not this question of
policy and political sagacity, rather than ju-
dicial right? l answer, sound policy and po-
litical sagacity, no less than judicial right, de-
mand that the constitution and laws shall be
enforced against all delinquents.
You ask, 2lst. Is it not the wisest policy
of governments to deal with things as they
are and not as they ought to b.? l answer,
the wisest policy Of a government is to deal
with things b9th as they a'eand as they ought
10 be. If things are wrong now, they must
be corrected in order that they may be, IN the
future, what they Hought to be-" Such a
thing as treason-of which we have so much
now-must be dealt with as it is, and as it
ought to be. Let me ask you question, be-
fore forget it. How will you deal with 1t ?
Will you make " treaty of peace" with 1t?
But you ask, 22d. Is it treason to differ
with an Administrl ion respecting its line OF
policy? Was Lord Chatham less patriot
than Lord Mansfield? 1t is not treason to
differ with an Administration in a line Of pol
j icy; but i. is treason to make war on the
United States, and it is treason to aid and
give comfort to the enemies thereof; at least
the constitution says so. cannot see, there
fore, how man can have any sympathy with
traitors, without giving them laid and com
, fort' to the extent Of their sympathies, at
: least And if man gives "aid and comfort
!, | ha is r1liltv of treasnn both morally and le: