The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-01-29

and the rendering of faithful service make
up the duty Of all true men.
The war has brought on US severe trials,
and others are yet to come. Many of our
best and bravest men have died upon the
battlefield or in the Hospital, and many
more must die. Our business operations
have been interrupted, our markets have
been closed, the prices Of the products of
our industry have been lessened, we have
been compelled to wholly forego. or mate
rally to purtsil the use Of some luxuries
which, by use, had become to us comforts
Of life, and these things must continue to
be. They are the inevitable attendants Of
war, and must be borne as they have been
borne, bravely, unfinchingly, and cheerful
| ly. Life is valuable, but it Is intended to
be useful; and how can any one make his
life useful than by giving it, for his coun-
try? Could our own brave men who died
at Wilson's Greek, Blue Mills, and Bel
mont have used their lives in any other way
to better purpose than by losing them
on those bloody but glorious battle held'?-
Their names will live after then, ,embalmed
in the hearts of our children and our
children's children, as the names Of men
who died for their country, and their exam
pie viii fire the hearts Of generations yet
to come to deeds Of equal and as noble dar-
ing.
We are eminently peaceful and peace
loving people, and the interruption of our
peaceful avocations by War and its incidents
bears hardly upon us; but we must re
member that the only way to bring back
and make permanently secure to US that
peace we love so we'll, is to convince those
who have thrust this war upon us and to
convince others that although we love
peace much, We love our country's honor
and the perpetuity Of the Union more.
But do we not exaggerate the evils Of
our condition I am we'll convinced that
there is not In the world people of equal
numbers, all of whom enjoy to-day so
many Of the necessaries and Of the com.
forts Of life as are enjoyed by our people.
In our own State our cause of complaint
is not that we have not enough Of the
necessaries of life, but that we canno. get
high enough prices for what we can spare
of our superabundance; not that We have
not food, but, that we cannot sell to ad-
vantage food we do not need!
But We will have to pay heavy taxes
True. we will and it is equally true we can
We have to do but one thing. and that
thing we must do. We must give up the
idea of money making to a great extent
until this war is over. We must be con-
tent to devote to the preservation Of the
country portion or all of the surplus we
have been accustomed to lay up In years
gone by. We may be required to return
to customs and expedients for many years
abandoned. We may be compelled to do
as our fathers and mothers did, clothe our
selves as they did with the products of
their own farms and their own hands,
What then? Our men will be none the
less brave, loyal, and loving; our women
none the less true hearted, lovely and be,
loved. We may be required to and may
do all these things and yet suffering and
want will still be far away from us. We
may be required to do and may do all
these things and yet will not have done
nearly 80 much as our fathers did to hand
down to US the rich inheritance we are
now striving to transmit unimpaired to
our children. And if required will we
not do it promptly and cheerfally
There may he amongst US a few men
who know no impulse of patriotism, have
no love of country, and can see nothing
but sordid gain! There may be amongst
us few Others who, blinded by prejudice
engcndered by former political strife, can
not forget that the Government is guided
in this struggle for its life by the hands
of political opponents and who would
rather see it perish than have it saved by
their hands, who will ory peace when there
is no peace, and who will endeavor to turn
MS from the prosecution of this war by
continually dwelling upon and exaggera-
ting the misfortuqes it has brought and
will bring upon us. But these men are
few In number and weak in influence. The
great mass Of our people see clearly and
know well that no peace can be perma.
nent which is made by compromising with
armed rebels, and which will leave our
present territory divided between jealous
and hostile nations by such boundaries as
it must be if not preserved in its integ>
rity.
cannot close this address without pay
ing we'll deserved tribute to the brave
men who represent our State in the great
army collected to do battle for our coun-
try. We may we'll be proud of them. We
here ~ officers and all ous people as citi.