Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1862-11-04
The War Once.

What Gtaulty there may be between Law and var, or
What in the studies or occupations Of q barrister tia. quail
l3ss him above others 10 administer the afAln Of the
Wsr onice, We do no. know but the President who IN
derstAnds the matter far better than ourselves, seems to
b Of opinion that only gentleman Of the legal Profession
are suited for The duties Of this al important department
of tbs GovsrnmsnL The three Secretaries that We
have bad are lawyers, and their ASSISTANTS and ohiss Of
bureaus with perhaps, one or two exceptions In favor
Of Cousrs Professors, have been Of the same calling
The Ates. appointment in this way % that Of q Jutgs
John A. Campbell, ave Of the Supreme Court Of the
Uoited States. It was . fair presumption that il q sim.
ps Attorney possessed special hneSs for the war ofiOe,
a JcdSs, and be Of The Supreme Ccurt, would exhibit
auperaboundipg qualification. Such doubtless was the
reasoning Of the Executive mind. Nor do We undertake
TO e~onlrover. Il We only wonder that any one should
question IT, and especially 90 thoughtful 9 reasoner ss
the Montgomery Advertiser, from whom We learn that
Toe appointment Of Judge John A. Campbell to tie
important and responsible position Of Assistant Secre-
tnry OF War excites both surprise and indignation on
the part of the people Of ALBANIA They hsve before
bad reason TO complain because OF the failure OF the
Government TO recogriEs the juss claims Of the State to
appointments within the gift Of the President, but In
ths present instance there IL such IN utter disregard Of
thGir sentiments and WLhss, suoa an evident intention
% iRoorS fdefs e~xf.ence, that they cannot avoid afsel
iuR Of surprise. The Government must have known
that there was nothing in the history Of Judge Camp
ball during q few years past to commend him to the es.
pecial favor of the Southern public; it must have known
that there are good and sufficient reasons Why the peo-
MA Of Alabama should be Averse to his promotion, aud
Il aid know fromr the very best authority In the State
that public sentiment here was unAlterahly opposed to
hs appointment
The main reason assigned BY the Adsytisr for this
general and strong dissatisfaction Is that Judge O. Gd.
bered to the Rump cone months after ths secession Of
his State and until the beginning Of Gc:uL h~ostilldss,
performing duties for, and receiving wrees from, the
Lincoln Administration, permitting himself (innocenuy,
there can be no doubt). to be used BY that slippery fellow,
s ward, to play CD bis tricks on the Southern 0omm's-
sioners who we're in Washington, ard threatening to
have the Governor Of Alabama impeSched for takirg
possession cf the fortI, srsenals, and anna In his State.
We can understand bow tho remembrance ofthese thing
may be unpslAsAble and irritating 10 the people Of Ai.
bsms; bu; Ia a charitable confederation Of the reasons
the President in selecting Judge O., they
ought to attach grea: weight to tho fact that all the
s;udies ard em2!Oyments Of ths Judges long life have
b,su In tse ciossE and the court, where the "rude
lrums' Of war, il theories and practice, we're entirely
u unknown. and stli more weight 10 the additional ard
reas,a stated ia the nnst sentence Of the iol
loving paragraph, With which the AGsTsiIsr closes its
We Understand ;hst this appointment was conferred
IN opposition to he expressed wishes Of q majority OF
he d litigation 10 CIGgress from this SAte. We do not
Know that hS uss by even one member Of
tie dslsgsioo, bul. It. he Wss, We do not believe that one
I'll have tho courage TO acknowledge the fact and 90
oetore his constituents on the Issue. The fact is, there
VS. no jJsics In tee appointment and no reason, OK
that the Appointee bo'og ged TO o cert lin class q
v l~shlDg'on tn 4 ael3srs, whom the Government AP
lrs to iesl bouli 10 iu-nisa with places.