Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1862-04-16
Impressment Of Arms.

rei gun or rlne, which can be used against tpe
enemy, and which he can spare, should not hesitate
q moment to sell or give it to the government Gov
Clarke has had agents all over theState, collecting
such arms as the people could spare and it is said
that agents of other States and of the Confederate
government have been doing the same thing. But
We utterly deny the right Of President Davis to
request" Maj. Ashe, any one else, to enter the
houses Of our people and impress their arms against
their will. The 18th and 18th clauses Of section
9th OF the Confederate Constitution are as follows:
"lS. A we'll regulated militia being necessary to
the security of free State the right of the people
to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. q.
10. The right of the people to be secure in their
persons houses papers and effects, against unrea-
sonable searches and seizures shall not De violated
and no warrants shall issue but on probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched and the persons
or things to be seized"
The above clauses contain principles as ancient
asberty itself These principles ought never to be
violated From the beginning of free government until
now, no people ever parted with liberty as means
OF achieving liberty, without finding themselves in
the end the subjects of despotsm. The world has
seen but one Washington Clothed at one time
With supreme military power, he hastened as soon
as he had performed the work of liberating his
country, meeky to lay down that power at the feet
Of civil rnle. Jefferson Davis is not George Wash.
ington. He is scarcely warm in his seat, to which
tie was called by the general acclaim Of the whole
people, before he requests" one of his agents to
violate material portions of the Constitution which
he has sworn to support The government over
which4ae presides is one Of delegated powers. The
powerswhich he claims, Of search and seizure, and
which he has assumed to delegate to Maj. Ashe, is
expressly forbidden by the Constitution to be
csed by him, but is preserved to the States respec
lively or to the people," The "rig ght of the people
to Keep and bear arms shall not be infrnged and
"the right of the people to be secure in their per-
sons houses, papers, and effects against unressona.
BILE searches and seizures shall not be Violated
But MAJ Ashe says, "by request" that if the arms
are not forthcoming he will seize them by force;
and the Major furthermore declares in advance "by
request" that those who do not promptly obey his
CALL are "cravens" and "disloyalsts that is,
couards and traitors Maj. Ashe expects the true
patriots to send in their arms at once, but the
arms of the towards and traitors he will forcibly
seize. Now We repeat that every double barrel
gun and rife which can be spared, should be prompt
ly sold or given to the government; but there are
instances and there are localities in which tho peo.
pie ought to retain their arms; and even if this
were not So and if all the guns and rifles could be
spared Mr.. Davis mast not attempt by force to dis
arm our people. We charge no improper motive, OH
Mr.. Davis or his agent but we tell the people that
they should not only protest against violation of
their Constitution but resist the very beginnings of
despotic rule. people Jealous Of their liberties
and fighting as ours are against tyranny from with
out should vigilantly guard against the posst ty,
not to say probability. of tyranny within. With
sixty thousand Of our troops as conscripts, under
the control Of the President and with our homc
population disarmed we should be at the mercy Of
any movement which radical and dangerous leaders
ernmcut might be changed and. though our people
might protes: against it. they would be powercss
to prevent it. Orders to oisarm the people have
always been the forerunners of despotic military
rule. Macaulay states that favorite project with
James the Second, was the disarming the popua-
ton Of ireland, rather that portion Of them who
disagreed with him in his peculiar vie~s Dick
Talbot Earl Of Tyrconnel, who was given no'e to
"wine and wassal" !" then he was to truth, justice.
and Judgment and who was charged with the mill.
tary administration in Ireland executed the "royal
order which came from Whitehall for disarning the
population" This order was "strictly executed as
respected the English; and though the country was
infested by predatory bands, Protestant gentle
man could scarcely obtain permission to keep a
brace of pistols" We leave it with our readers to
say if there are not suspected persons in this State
suspected only because they did not prefer to break
up the old government, and because they insist on
better administration of Confederate and State af
fairs as essential to the achievementof indepen
dence who are not regarded as "true PATRIOTS
and the disarming of whom, whatever might he the
indulgence shown to others, would be undertaken
and accomplished with peculiar pleasure by certain
persons. But however this may he, we protest
against this order of the President to impress pri
vate property, unnecessary, as insulting to oui
people, as detrimental to the cause and also as
violation of the Constitution. Our people have
evnced no backwardness in this war. They hav.
rushed to it as men crowd to festival. They have
given their money their arms, and their blood with
out stint to the But they still free. ant
they will do nothing on compulsion. In the glow
ing account given by Mr.. Bancroft, of the early set
tiers Of North Carolina, he says" careless of reli
gious sects or colleges or lawyers or absolute scs
the early settlers enjoyed liberty of conscience
personal independence, freedom of the forest and
the river: and, he adds" North Carolina ssa
settled by tho treest of the frss" The descendant
of these settlers are just free they They
regarded secession at will the parent Of anarchy
aud coercion by the federal government as the "a
rent Of dsspotism; and they sought to aycid both
But they resisted and are resisting cue!eion not 81
much on their own account as on that of others
Mr.. Davis should remember this. We fought ast
offered Mr. DaYis all our treasure aud blood as sool
as, and BECAUSE HI. Stats was threatened. Thi
consideration should induce him to treat US justly
if not generously.
We have nothing to say against Maj she per
sonally. He is good d-natured and clever to In
ftiend and publicspirited and active in the South
ern cause; but it seems to us he might have exc
cuted bis dcspotic mission with less Of denuncatoI
and threatening in advance than we find in his card