The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1861-05-24

and however hostile to the Government,
can not be made the foundation of a Grim
lnal prosecution but secret information,
furnished in aid of the enemy, would amount
to an overt act. Y on must, therefore, should
your deliberation embrace questions of such
be careful to distinguish between
what is crime and what is merely ground of
suspicion. There is always danger in times
OF great popular excitement, of doing I'M u.s.
tice to those whose opinions do not happen
to conform to the prevailing sentiment.
The spirit of intolerance whether in mat
tiers of religion, morals, or politics. always
delights in injustice, and generally in viO-
lence. The people Of Indiana are made up
of emigrants from all parts Of the United
States and of Europe, and perhaps one-half
of our entire native born population have
blood relatives in the South, and it would
be strange if they, with all their loyalty to
the Government do not sometimes express
in strong terms, their horror of a war that
will bring into deadly conflict those who
are bound together by the powerful ties of
consanguinity and marriage. Had this
revolution flor such it ISL been confined to
a single State, it would have been compare
tive harmless, and in such a case, the Gov
eminent of the United States might have
safely waited until the spirit of nsubordin-
alton had exhausted itself But ten or
eleven States, bound together by common
ties of blood, and institutions, whose whole
social structure is based upon the institu-
ton of African slavery, are now united as
confederates in support of the new govern
ment, and the question at issue between the
belligerents is one of startling magnitude,
and especially when the three remaining
border slave States are in danger of being
dragged or driven into the same vortex of
disunion. And | can not suffer this occa-
sion to pass without saying that every at
tempt on our part to force the States Of Mis-
souri, or Kentucky from the position that
the Union men of these States are strug-
Cling to maintain is in the highest degree
impolitic and unjust.
If, under a feigned neutrality, they gave
aid and comfort to the enemy, they should
of course be held to a strict responsibility.
In both these States, the State governments
are in the hands of secessionists, and those
who, under such circumstances, are strug-
Cling to preserve the Union from utter de.
molition, should be allowed to do it in their
own way. The leading statesmen of Ken
lucky have always been national men-far
more so than some of the Northern states
men in times past-and at this moment her
greatest and best men are struggling hero
ically to preserve their noble State to the
Union. The attitude of Kentucky is a sub
lime one, and if she is driven from it by an
excited and exacting spirit of war, or the
taunts and Vaccinations of the hostile sec
tions, she will not go where the ties Of blood
and common institutions will carry her, and
with her secession will expire the last hope
of a re-establishment of the Federal Union.
The detection of hundred thousand troops
of the United States now in the field, would
be nothing compared to the secession of
Kentucky at this crisis
There Is another offense kindred to the
crime of treason, which we call misprision
of treason. 1t consists in withholding from
the Government information of the treason
of others, when such knowledge is in pos
session of a person owing allegiance to the
United States. The act of Congress is, "ii
any person owing allegiance TO the Govern
ment has knowledge of acts of treason,
committed by others, within the jurisdic-
ton of the Court, and does not make il
known to the President of the United States
or the Governor of the State, or a Judge or
Magistrate thereof, be shall be deemed gull
ty of misprisOn of treason, and shall be sub
ject to seven years imprisonment and a fine
of ono thousaad dSIlars-" need sey
to you that in the present state of the coun-
try, it is of the utmost Importance that per-
sons amenable to any of the penalties re-
ferred to should be brought before this Court
for trial. In all enlightened nations, he
who plots the destruction of this Govern
ment is held to be the most atrocious of all
criminals.
Before closing my remarks l wish to refer
very briefly to the effect of this war upon
our commercial relations with citizens of the
Confederate States. These have established
government, and although it is not recog-
nized as a foreign power, it is nevertheless
a government de fact0.
According to the law of nations, no pacific
dealings or commercial Intercourse can law
fully subsist between citizens of States at
war, except under special license or the ex-
press sanction of the Government for a state
of war puts the citizens of the two Govern
ments in hostility to each other. To allow
individuals of the two Governments to carry
on a commercial intercourse under such cir
cumstances would be to place the acts of
the Government and the acts of individuals
in contradiction to each other. Contracts
made prior to the war are not made void by
the act Of war, but are suspended, as there
is no mode by which they can be enforced
in an enemy's jurisdiction. Indeed, l see
that already the plea OF the " alien enemy ;"
has been allowed in one of the Southern
Courts. This doctrine of the invalidity of
contracts made between citizens of the e nj
ted States and citizens of the Confederate
States during war, is subject to the consid-
Grafton that the United States does not re-
cognize the Confederate States as a Govern
ment, but as yet, hold them to be part of
the United States and subject to our Con-
stitution.
The opinions of this Court on the doe
trine of secession, claimed a constitutional
right by most of the seeding States were
fully expressed at the last term of this
Court. such a doctrine is at war with the
very existence of the Government. While
no Government of which I have any knowl-
edge has ever made provision for its own
destruction, so no Government can be es-
tablished which is proof against rebellion or
treason. Secession is revolution, and the
independence of the Government of the Con-
federate States will depend upon its power
to maintain it by force of arms until it is
recognized by the Government of the United
States.
In ten or eleven States of the Union the
Federal authority has been abolished-the
civil machinery by which the laws of the
limited States couId he enfOrced within