Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-10-17

rebellion, and the seceders and their abettors
as traitors We wish it to prove that it has
'he courage and the disposition to treat them
as traitors wherever it meets them or is able to
| seize them. We desire it to understand thar
1,le i Is war, real war, downright earnest war.
anu war TO be conducted not on the princi.
| PIE Oh respecting the feelings of the enemy
anu OF DONG him no harm, but on tho nripf;
! pie OF striking him where he is waakest aud
sorest ana awaiting ourselves OF every advar
tage against him allowed by the laws of civil
lied warfare The rebels offer mo odv,nta,.,
to us they avail themselves OF every edoan.
tage against US in their power, respect none uf
our susceptibilities, and take no pains not to
wound our feelings we must mete them
the measure they mete. They allow in their
states, where they have the power, the utter
ance OF no Union sentiments, of no Union
speeches, or Union harangues and they
hang, Imprson, or Danish every Union man
they can lay their hands on, who keeps not
his Union sentiments to himself We must
mete out like measure to every rebel or Sc
cessionist we find in the loyal states, and ST.
lehce every voice raised against the right of
tne government to vndicate and preserve the
Union by force of arms. 1t is madness TO semi
our sons and brothers to fight rebels in Vir.
gina, tennessee, or Missouri, while we suffer
thelr friends, alders and abettors to spout their
treason ami disl0yal sentiments here at home.
II Is not only madness il is a moral wrong
u IS as some would say, worse still--it is a
blunder
DO not tell us that this would be contrary
TO the constitution and the free EXPRESSION of
opinion. Traitors aud friends of traitors have
no constitutional rights, for they are in rebel
non against the constitution itself, and no man
can stand on his own wrong. Free expression
of ODIOiOn Inst
lawful authority aud rebels wer, Il question on
winch there could be two honest opinions Is
IL question ct opinion, when a nation is en-.
gagged IN struggle for its vefv eXistences
whether its children shall support it or not q
is 1t n matter ct opinion whether the nation
shall be preserved or not Is it a matter of
opinion, when | am assaulted by an assassin.
whether | have the right to resist him or not ;
whether | shall quietly submit to he assassin.
ated, or snatch the dagger from his hand and
plunS 1t into his own heart? Have men lost
their senses Are we to argue the question
whether the sun shines in the heavens or not
when we see it with onr own eyes? Down
with such intolerable cant about constitution
al liberty" and "ircedom of speech or opin-
ION g How, if the constitution is gone, tram.
pied under loot by rebels, do You expect to
malntaIn constitutional liberty, or any other
kind of liberty worth having? Understand at
preservation OF the constitution, for the pres
ervaiion OF liberty, political, moral, mental.
civil and social, and that it is never permitted
TO plead the constitution aud liberty against
the measures necessary tor their maintenance.
DO understand, if understanding YOU have.
that we are in war for the very existence of
the nation, aud that, if the nation goes, consti.
tutlons and liberty go with it. 1t IS only by
preserving the nation in its integrity and mai
pStV that thp constitution H.,
and the liberty ii secures enjoyed. Neither
the nation nor the constitution canatInrl protec,
ton to those who would only use their liberty
and the constitution to destroy them.
Inc measure we suggest mgY he severe,
ana such as III ordinary cases OF rebellion
ought not to be resorted to by free govern
ment' But we are engaged in suppressing no
ordinary rebellion; we are engaged in sup.
pressing rebellion of vast proportions of vast
resources, and of strength hardly inferior to
that OF the loyal states themselves We can
put 1t down, and, God helping we shall nut il
down but not without exerting all our strength
n tii9ion but by the recog nized laws 81 war
War has its own laws, and while It lasts II
u . '''~- - laws and. il need be, places
the constitution Itsell, SO tar as 1t wOud be
barrier to its success, in allegiance. SalaS pop
Ill lea supreme est is universally received
maxim, and the safety of the nation is the only
law which can control military operations or
determine the measures necessary or proper
in the prosecution of the war.
y X
In state of war everything has to give
way to military necessity, private property,
liberty, and even life itself. The state may
take if its necessities demand it, the private
property of its citzena to the last cent, and it
can command any citizen it sees proper to
march to meet the enemy, and, il need be, and
the fate OF war so decide, TO lay down his lite,
and, what is dearer than life, his liberty, for
his country. On this principle the federal
government now calls for troops, and imposes
heavy taxes on our property for the support
of the WIZ and loyal citizens cheerlully re-
spond to its call because they know it has the
right to do it, and because they know that, if
the country he lost, all is lost--liie, liberty,
property, and themselves.
A heavy tax is imposed by the present war
on the citizens of the loyal states, although the
war has been brought about without any fault
of theirs or any act of theirs having rendered
it necessary. Are they to bear the whole bur-
den it imposes, without any decentralization,
or without any attempt, at least, TO make the
rebelliOus states whose treachery has created
the necessity for it, bear any portion of il?
Shall not they TINT dance pay the piper? In
preserving the Union, do we not do it for the
benefit Of the dsloyal, no less than for the
benefit of the loyal states; and must we, be-
cause we are loyal, bear the whole burden of
preserving it? The Union has as much right
to tax disoyal as loyal citizens, aud to collect
the tax from the dsloyal i'll the most ready
and practicable way possible. Hence congress
at its last session. passed an act contiscating
the property of disoyal citizens of the states
now in rebellion, and authorizing its seizure
wherever it can be found. This is only SIM
pie justice. They whose misconduct has Great
ed the war should be made, as far as possible,
to bear its burden, or to indemnify the loyal
states for the expenses it compels them to in
cur
But military necessity may requires us to
go even further than this late act of congress.
The laws of war aud military prudence au-
thorize US to strike the enemy where he is
most vulnerable, and where the blow will in
flict on him the greatest damage. No Just war
is ever prosecuted for the sake of war War,
for the sake of war, is in all cases uniustifable.
War is justifable, and can be engaged in by
christian people only when it looks to peace
for its end, or, which is the same thing, the
removal of the causes which have rendered it
necessary. Ii it may be justly resorled to, it
is always lawful SO to conduct it as in the
speediest and most effectual manner possible
to remove those causes, 10 redress the wrongs
for which 1t is waged, and to bring about the
desired peace. We are ne yer morally obliged
to meet the enemy on his own chosen ground,
or to fight him with an equality of forces or
weapons We have the right to choose our
own time, place, and mode OF attack, and
to choose such time place, and mode as