The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-11-13

L
and of the press.
They have arrested and imprisoned peace
ful and unoffending citizens, without due
process of law, and suspended the writ Of
habeas corpus
They have recklessly disregarded the will
ofthe people to abide by the compact of the
National Union, as repeatedly declared in
public meetings throughout the State, and
by the emphatic and overwhelming vote Of
the qualified electors of the Commonwealth
in February last.
They haye Sc; aside the solemn and de-
liberate lisapproval Of the Vaccinations of
the Disunionists, pronounced by majority
Of the people, in refusing to authorize the
calling of State Convention.
They have prostituted their official posi-
ton to the purposes of a secret and infamous
conspiracy, which had predetermined the
destruction of the Union, regardless of popu-
lar dissent, and, in the unscrupulous zeal of
their treason, they have assumed powers
without warrant, either express or implied,
in the Constitution.
They have arrogated the authority, thro'h
a convention summoned with indecent haste,
and acting in fragrant violation of the wishes
of the people, and therefore without effect or
force, in decreeing the Secession of this
Commonwealth from the Federal Union
The ordinances ofthis convention have never
been submitted to the people for their ratifi.
cation or rejection.
They have commissioned ten men as Rep
resentatives of the State in body called the
Confederate Congress, unknown to and un-
authorized by the laws, and occupying an
attitude of hostility to that Constitution
which North Carolina has formally and def
nitively ratified and accepted as the supreme
law of the land. And as ITO admit no in
cident of complete disfranchisement, they
have withheld from the electors the poor
privilege Of designating such Representa-
tives.
They have raised and kept up armies to
crush the liberties and waste the substance
Of the people, and have subordinated the
civil to the military power. -
They haye deprived the people of. the
right to bear arms in their own defense, but
have obliged them to assist in the nnhollowed
work ftheir own enslavement.
They have required excessive bail, imposed
excessive fnes, and inflicted cruel and unu-
sual punishmcnts.
They have instituted system Of illegal
searches, in granting general warrants,
whereby officers and messengers have been
commanded to search suspected places with
out evidence of the fact committed and to
seize persons not named, and when offences
were not particularly described and supported
by evidence.
They have restrained the people Of their
right to assemble together to consult for the
common good.
They have taken and imprisoned freemen,
and deprived them of their freeholds, liber-
ties and privileges, and outlawed and exiled
them, and destroyed and deprived them of
thei, life, liberty and property, contrary to
the laws of the land.
They have delayed and denied, to freemen
restrained of their liberty, the remedy guar
antced by the Bill Of Rights to inquire into
the layfulncss of such restraints, and to
remove it if unlawful, a
They have allowed the people ofthis State
to be made subject to the payment Of exor-
bi,ant and illegal taxes and imposts without
their consent.
They have denied our citizens the sacred
and inviolable right of trial by jury in ques-
tions respecting property.
They have put freemen to answer crimi-
nal charges without presehtment, indictment
or impeachment
They have convicted freemen Of crime
without the unanimous verdict of a jury of
good and lawful men, in open court, as here
tofore used
They have disregarded the right Of every
man, in criminal prosecutions, to be inform
ed Of the accusation against him, and to con-
front the accusers and witnesses with other
testimony compelled freemen to give evil
dence against themselves, and refused them
a speedy and impartial trial.
They have suspended the laws and their
execution without warrant or necessity, and
permitted the prevalence Of anarchy and
They have confounded the legislative, ex-
ecutive and Supreme judicial powers of Gov
ernment, which ought to be forever Sc parate
and distinct.
They have permitted the interference Of
persoas from outside our boundaries in reg.
ulatng our internal government and police,
the right Of which belongs solely and exclu-
svely to the people of this State. They have
welcomed armed invaders from other States
to assist in the subjugation Of our citizens.
They have secretly promulgated, and III
some instances openly proclaimed, their pur-
pose to confer official honors and emolumer IS
and peculiar privileges, upon certain set
of men separate from the community ito re-
strict the right Of suffrage to few, and to
substitute life tenure of public Office for
the term fixed by law.
They have practically annu'led the cardi-
nal axiom of popular government and initial
postulate OF our Bill of Rights, that all politi-
cal power is vested in and derived from the