Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1862-05-21
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The Standard.
WHITTIER ARE We TGNDINGt

alder to be of greak interest," not Of vital impor
lance to the peoples These questions recur to on
mind as they cestaily do to every one Of ofdinar,
observation: Whittier Are We tendbgs What nc
of the government is next TO follow in the train
constitutional violations md nsutpation Of power
Have the States any rights Of their owhf Have W
arepublican form Of governpent, or have we NIL
itary consolidated despotismf
Now, it does seem to us that the gosernment,
Richmond, wthou: regard 10 any thing besides .:
own Supreme power, has, in one act alter announcer
been guilty of snsurpation Of power broken eos'
all constitutional guarantees disregsrded .es .nue
pendence Of the States and trauped under 1901 Tue
rights of the people. ..ana.,;o,n
The first act we will notice IS reconnaissance
BY the President to Congress requesting 10 pass
law prescribing the rights Of citizens OF the o.a'es
clear nsurpation of power. The next is, that Con
Dress should resolve itself into kind OF papal oig
n;tv and sbsolve our paroled prisoners taken 81
Roanoke from the obligations of their oaths; an act
which. if it had passed, would have sunk us IN the
ayes Of the whole civilized world Next We see
town after town, city after city closed in upon WIN
martial law, which is an entire suspension OF All
civil law, under which man has the CONSTITUTIONAL
right 20 confront his accusers With witnesses
and places him under military despot VINO Is gov
erned by no rule Of action but By his own caprice
II
order from this same Richmond government to DIS
arm the people This order is to be executed I'M
der menace of treason pronounced against every
man who is not willing to submit to this outrage,
and to purchase his loyalty to the government by
surrendering up his rights. Though this agent Is
not to stop with this wanton insult, offered to tho
citizen who is disposed to maintain his rights, bus
the Constitution, which guarantees to every man
the right to keep and bear arms is to be trampled
under foot, and his house plsged, or his arms
wrested from his hands. But the Governor OF TINS
State has issued his proclamation assuring his ct-
zens that they shall have protection against the last
named usurpaton-"a step in the right direction"
and one that will be heartily sustained by the peo
ple After this comes another fragrant act Of usur-
patton, disregarding alike the rights of the people
and of the States-placing an oyerseer under gov
eminent pay and instructions upon the various rail-
roads OF the Confederacy. But, as if not gone al
ready sufficiently far IN its acts of usurpation, the
President comes out with another proposition which
has passed Congress, more obnoxious in principle
and dangerous in policy than any which preceded it
Wemean Conscription-ab bill which would have been
more properly headed "An act 10 dlsorganize the
army and Cypress the people" This act besides
being at with all ideas of civil and constitution
al liberty, makes unjust determinations between
persons of different ages-disregards all the rights
of the States and State authorities and in judg
ment will greatly tend to disorganize the army
We say, at with civil and constitutional liberty,
because these do not prefer to make citizen do
thing which he is willing to do without making
1t makes unjust determinations between persons of
different ages because there is no good reason Why
= IS years Of age should be forced into service,
in exclusion to those SO or As it disregards States
rights and State authorities, because the States all
have laws BY which they raise and furnish troops
to the Confederacy-which are all repealed by this
law. 1t will tend to disorganize the army, because
according to the Examiner whose pet it is it will
take at least onethird of the equipped and trained
soldiers who are now in the SERVICE out of it. and
leave their places to be supplied by raw, dissatisfied
conscriptS
But desire to notice further the effec. of this
law upon North Carolina, and We suppose it will
affect other States very much in the same way
North Carolina has some fifty OF sixty thousand
volunteers now, who have enlisted under State laws
and State authority, (most of them are now in Or
gsnized reconnaissance are not) At least one
third of this number is over s35 and under Is,
making probably twenty thousand men. The most
OF these men have or will receive Jfty dollars boun-
ty each, from the State for Volunteering over and
above their regular monthly pay. However, to be
safe, We will put this number down to 10 900, who
will receive this bounty if the State keeps her prom
Use, which we think she will most certainly do. -
The bounty paid this number will amount to secen
hundred and Jfty thousand dollars, and will sink
our State Treasury just to that amount This def
cheney IN our Treasury will have to be supplied by
money raised by tax levied ad ralorem on the
whole property Of the State That Of the conscrpts
who are filling the places Of the released volunteers
whohave received their bounty will have to pay the
same as that Of the released men, treating the whole
State authority with rdcule, and working the great
in1ncfIcn hn 1ndi
But before we close this communication we desire
to quote paragraph from DR.. Russell's History
OF Modern Europe" vol. vi, page 117-1s: "But Of
aii the enormlties Of Bonaparte's government the
military conscription was the most fagitious. It
held the rod of terror the bulk Of the male pop
ulation, from the age of twenty to that of twenty
five years, rendering young men liable to be called
into the pretended service of their country when
ever war was declared by the government to be
just ana necessary. 1t was proposed by General
Jourdan before the erection of the Consulate-ard
being then sanctioned by the Legislature it became
q iavorlte part of the usurper's system. He occa.
sionally extended its provisions and carried it into
effect with merciless rigor. 1t was de-
termned by lot whether the conscripts should be in
the class Immediately required or in the reserve
out both classes were occasionally called out, and
even the supplies of q future year were sometimes
called out Substitutes were allowed but the char.
ges tor this exchange of service were generally
swelled to sum which few were able to pay, with.
out serious Inconvenience. It may be supposed
tnat many OF the new soldiers were tempted to de.
sert VI these, the majority were substitutes, on
.hosealssppearanceth the consGipts who had brought
tnem forward, were obliged to find others, or to
serve 10 person Refractory individuals were either
forced into the service by menace Of death. or de.
ciased unworthy Of the military name and sent in
chains to different for:resses to be employed n uub
lie works" sao'
We will leave it with the reader to make the com.
parlson between the governments one here de
scrlbed and our own-and decide between the enor
mites and usurpations Of the two, and say which
nas gone the farthest-this or that. But again: al
TINS portion Of our population between the ages o
10 ana %, are placed in state of suspense, no
showing what moment they may be dragged away
non .nelr homes and their families They hay,
no eneCoragsment TO plant their crops, and to pur
sue their ordinary industry, ast may ali be in vain
having no Will Of their own or control of themselyes
1t must De recoected that this immense srmv Il +
be supported, and that from bur own resource
and if many more moves like,tbis ia m.ds ~s =
gone. We will not offer to- saw oh. 49,, Me =. -
Convention should take in relation to ,h;s =.
but will say surely it viii not pass by v.ho,, SUI,
attention being given it by ths body which l. ' w.
in sessions r.. EoNSNn1s, nov
x