St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1862-07-03

ing vigorous reply to the constant yclping
of Northern defenders Of slavery: :1i ~
Whenever i vigorous military measure ID
proposed there is q cry from certain people
and papers that the war is for the maintenance
Of the Constitution and tho Union-as.it-waa
Certainly it is; but what then? What is the
living ip thirty four States under one supreme
national government, which BY the Constitution
-ss-it is is empowered to secure obedience to
it's authority from every citizen in theland, by
military force il, necessary. .,,,.1 i. ;:,, -.
That is what the Government is doing
This war is the effort Of the Government to re-
duce armed rebels to its authority BY the
Constitution the President is made Commander
-in-C Chief, and to use military power to suppress
insurrection., When that military force is
counted by hundreds of thousands, and con-
fronted by hundreds of thousands, of armed
rebels, when bloody battles are fought, cities
besieged, and = stern blockade established,
there is war between the Government and the
insurgents, who are at once traitors and enc
mics, and who are to be subdued by every
means known to war.
When the Government acts under the clause
Of the Constitution which authorizes the militia
~ suppression of the rebellion, all constitu-
tienal rights inconsistent with, a state, of war
are suspended. For instance, every citizen Of
the United States has q constitutional immun-
ity against the taking Of his life by the Gov
meaning Indictment, trial, etc. But the Gov
ernment took the life of Sidney Johnston, at
Shiloh, without any indictment or trial what
ever. Was it IN unconstitutional act p? Not
at all! It was just as constitutional as the
hanging of Gordon. For the constitution-as-
it:is authorizes the use Of military measures,
after due warning, as much as it guarantees
individual life and liberty, and when the
Union as-it-was is restored, every citizen who
has rot lost his LIE by military neceesity will
enjoy all tho civil guarantees for tta&% s
And SO with Whatever else may fall within
the scope Of military necessity. By the hate
law passed in the House our army is to be fed
at tho expense Of the. rebels. Every citizen
has right to his own property, but the grain
and cattle of every rebel will be peremptorily
seixed and appropriated to the use Of the Gov
vernment wherever the army needs it. Does
that iRtefere with the Union as-it-was? No !;
it is simply ON integral part of the necessary
military operations to restore the Union. .as-it
was. In like manner, the slaves of every reb-
el who have been used against the Government
are liberated. Does that lntefere with the Un-
Ou.dSc1I.W80. ANOI 0t uAs ~ 40 VHAy pdAC "a
the constitutional means to restore the Union
as-it-was. 50
By-and-by it may become clearly necessarily to
summon all loyal people to the defense Of the
Government, and to that end the slaves may be
freed. Will that intefere with the Union it
was? Not ata1l; it win be only another blow
which may be constitutionally struck at the reb-
el-lion. It is true that in the Union-as-it-Was
there were slaves lawfully held in many States.
So there were in the District of Columbia. But
when the war ie over, if it ends tomorrow,
there will be no slaves lawfully held there.
Must the District Slave Law be re-enacted, lest
otherwise we shall not have the Union -as-it-
was! If hereafter the American Government
clearly ful6lls the purposes for which it was
expressly created, and every man subject ia
that government enjoys the full liberty which
the Declaration of Independence declares to be
given by Gcd-lf upon the continent, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, the crack of the
slave whip is heard no more, and universal
peace and prosperity bloom from Justice. like
red and white roses from these bright trees Of
June, will it be the wreck and chaos of the
nation?
No, and forever no! It will be the Uuion- as
it-was in the very intent and words Of the
fathers; the Union-as-it-was meant to be;
and the Union, by Gods blessing, as the child
rem Of those fathers mean it shall be.