The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-11-01
;TaE 2sd OF sEPTRMBER.'

nav hang upon . single act, We owe frank
sreech. above all other men, to him who Is high.
set in authority. shall speak to you as man to
Harsh opinions have been formed of you |;
.ven honest men doubling the probity of your
attentions. do not share their doubts. l be-
iieye you to be upright, sngle-hesrted in your
des;re to rescue the country in the hour of her
utmost need without after-thought of the per-
sonsl consequences to yourself.
rs amid the multitude OF contending counsel,
vow have heeitated and doubted /; if, when great
measure suggested itself, you have skrunk from
the vast responsibility, afraid to 60 forward lest
,ou should 20 wrong, what wonder How few,
s;uce the foundation OF the world. have found
.hsmselves in position environed with public
nerils go numerous, oppressed with responsible
tea 80 high and solemn, as yourselfI
NJ man ever escaped from such-so reads the
i...on of History-without bold heart and .
h;eh faith. Wisdom, prudence, f0rethought,-
.bsse are essential. But not second to these is
that noble courage which adventures the Right,
and leaves the consequences to God.
Men ever follow willingly daring leader ::
most willingly of all, in great emergencies
Roldness and decision command, often even iH
.v;I the resnect and concurrence of mankind.
How much more in good
There is a measure needing courage to adopt
and enforce it. which believe to be Of virtue
suficept to redeem the nation in this its dark
est hour: one only; know of no other to which
10 NAV nationally trust for relief from impend.
ing dangers without and within.
The dangers which threaten US are two fold:
First. from the Confederate forces, composed Of
men whose earnest convictions and reckless
bravery it is idle to deny. Secondly, from our
selves, compelled to make use Of q military pow.
or of proportions so gigantic that no nation ever
nermitted the existence of such without more or
leas risk to the people who employed it If We
think lightly of this latter danger, We slight the
teachings Of all past time.
As to the 6rst: Have you not had your mo-
ments of doubt whether we are to succeed at oil!
whether the Union. once so glorious, will ev-
or be reunited:-whether peace, which We used
70 enioy with a. little gratitude as we do the
sunlight or the air We breathe, will ever again
settle down over our distracted country.
III have doubts Of all this, it is only because
/ do not know what your action will be. We
have at our Disposal the means of certain sue
cess; but cannot tell whether, while there il
vet time, you will decide to employ them.
Our enemies, like the Grecian hero, have one
vuntrable point You have not touched it yet
What should have been their element of weak
ness has been suffered to remain their element Of
strength. 4.q..,.... .4-.,.... . ~. /.
They have nearly million of able-bodied
men of fit age for war or for labor. Holding
these men in bondage, and employing them t.
till the soil, they are enabled to send to the bat
tie field almost their entire male adult popula-
ton, yet preserve their commissariat sufficiently
supplied. d ~
1t has always been great wrong that these
men and their families should be held in bond
in it, lest, in the endeavor to redress it in vio-
lstion of the Constitution, greater evils might
euSne.
But the time has come when it is coustitu-
tionsl to redress it. The Rebellion has made il
, %. Property in man, always morally unjust,
has become nationally dangerous. Property
that endangers the safety of nation should NOT
be suffered to remain in the hands of it's citi-
sens A Chief Magistrate who permits it so to
remain becomes responsible for the consequeR-
ces For he has the right, under the law and
the Constitution, to take private property, with
just compensation offered, for public use, when
ever it is apparent that any public exigency de-
maDds such appropriation. .y a.. :
Forgive what may seem curt speech If say
that, in my judgment, President with a jus,
sense of duty has no option in such case.
j In the due exercise of your official power il
strictest accordance with Law and the Consttu-
ton, you can deprive the enemy OF that which
above all else, has given, and still gives him
aid and comfort. You can declare emancipate,
his slaves, the suppliers of his commissariat-
Gradually, you can deprive him of these, an,
for every hundred thousand productive laborer
be loses, you may have hundred thousand sol
diers. With their aid you can reach the rest
What then remains for him? He must thin hi
ranks to cultivate his plantations He mus
labor for his own food, or must perish for tn
lack Of it. ".aa 900 Q1
The people are forbidden to give aid and CON
fort to Rebels. What Of Government ths
has the power to cut off from aid and comfor
all the rebels of the South and fails to exercis
it! -'' ~" sE ~ ~
81 We ought to do that which is right. even
the recompense be distant and uncertain: bu
We add folly to injustice if we neglect . gres
act of benefcence that 10 to be rewarded. eve
now, by our own preservation. Yet again. Ca
you look forward to the future of our countr
and imagine any state Of things in which. wit
Slavery still existing, We should be assured q
permanent peace? cannot We can constj
tutionaily extirpate slavery at this time. But /
We Iaii W 10 THIS, tuen, unless We intend hereaj
ter to violate the Constitution, We shall have
fugitive slave law ir operation whene yer the Va
is over. Shall the North have sacrificed bur
dred thousand lives and two thousand million
Of treasure to come to that at last? Not even
guaranty Of peace purchased At 60 enormous
cost? After voluntary exertions on the part q
our people to which the history Of the worl
furnishes no parallel, is the old root of bite,
ness still to remain in the ground to sprout an
bear fruit in the future as it has borne fruit i
the past?
The questions are addressed to you. For ur
on you and upon your action more than upo
any other one thing does the answer depend
You have at this time, more power than any cor
sttutional monarch in the world. The Englis
Government always acts according to the polio
approved by the constitutional advisers Of tn
Grown. You would violate usage only if 70
should act without the advice, or even contrar
,othe opinions, of your constitutional adviser:
DO not mean that you could continue to do thi
with propriety or even with safety; merely az
sest that the power is, in point of fact, in you
bands And for such power, what RESPONSE
plLlty to God and man.
1t is within your power at this very momen
not only to consummste an act of enlightene,
Statesmanship Init fha ;pofr,,,o.< ~ A. A