The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-01-03
PROM TIBD OAPITOE,
tcsrespondenee Of the Hsvk-Eye.l
DIS MoInss, Dec. "a, laso.

reH u
EDiroR OF HAwK-EYE.
Tear Sir-Thick darkness overspresds N.
political heavens. Not the PARTY prospect
VI that, this is no time to speak. Its a mat
ger OF smali moment that the shadow Of an bo,.
restsupon the ever varying hopes of parties
~ is'tde country that se:s in darkness; darkpes.
relieved only by the ba,efuI Gree of a feroo;o,.
asd formidable rebellion. As if to dee,en Ii.
gloom OF the temporary reverse that hos ina.
overtaken our arms at Fredericksburg the do
'usipe schemes Of desperate faction, asraves
against the present administration and In. ,;,.
oious prosecution of the war, are deriyina, no,
strength from apparent divisions in the cor,
seis Of that Administration. Seward is .s,...
because OF supposed leaning in favor Of Gen
Mcclellan, and q want Of devotion to tbe.oo,,.,
of the President. Welles is abused became -,
Naval inactivity. Blex is berated becs,ss h.
holds back in the traces and ia supposed to have
sinister purposes in vis~. The maliguaa. enc
mics of the Union atthe North seek to cr;ool.
the Administration AID give moral aid. to sbe
rebellion, by decryina every earnest prosecution
OF the war. And, as-if there was not enough Of
peril and evil 10 suo,ns course, Republicans are
found sowing discorA in their own r.nas. Be-
tween the two, every member of the Cabinet il
under ban, half the sbe leading Generals are
suspected of disloyslsy or imbeciIity, add the
President himself ia. in danger of losiug all re.
putation for wisdom and rectitude and persist
|ency of purpose.
would not wiss to add my huu,S:e voice to
the Babel-like confusion, but would .faiu utter
few words in toe ears Of your readers, upon
national matters, N the absence of incidents Of
local and State interest
utter the sassiMents of all srosnd me. of nv
own political school, when say that this seems
to be most unhappily chosen time for family
quarrels, for disssntions in the Cabinet and in
the ranks of the. Administration. feel like
thanking the President if be has so said to bis
friends in and oat of Congress. There is no
evidence in the state papers of Gov. Seward
that be faiIs, to second the via.s and purposes
of the President. There is no public evidence
OF want Of harmony between the President
and the rest of his Cabinet aGuisera The coun
try is taught to abate much ef it's respect for
the President himself, by the constantly reiter~
ased limitations that be is hestating upon mo-
mentous questions, or is unduly svayed BY this
or that outside influence Z the President ia
the man bis friends supposed him to be. be il
not vasallasing in bis purposes, and will not al
low himself to.be trammelled'in any fully formed
purpose. If he acts upon inisaa,ur purposes
he is an unsafe leader and If he is a nose of
wax in the hands Of his advisers or his military
suboedinates, the sooner he Is placed in the
care of an advisory committee the better for
the country. He is Commander in Chief of the
Amy, can direct all its movements, and no man
dases to ask him, "why DO ye so." As com.
msnder in chief, and az. President, he makes and
unmakes General and Cabinet advisers. and the
country will hold him responsible for the right
exercise of this power He knows this if he
knows anything, and it 10 worse than folly to.
suppose that where sach vital interests are al
stake and bis own good name for all time tn,
come ia imperilled, that be will allow bimself t.
be duped or tri6ed with
Discord in our National counsels and amo,s,
the friends of the Administration at this tims
is worse than dozen defeats in the field N
is sign Of weakness that will do more to in
spirit the enemies of the Union than score Of
victories at the ballot box, achieved in the ali.
sence OF the Union soldiery. If the President
is equal to his position. the Cabinet, as now
constituted, cannot possibly do US harm. n
he is not equal to his position, the na4sos.l
peri! cannot he remedied by change 10 the
Cabinet that shall estrange tens of thousands.
wounded through the retiring chiefs.
With regard to our military chieGSai,s Il
would seem TO be the part of wisdom AMONG
the friends Of the Union, to avail. tho f,II dc
velopmens Of facts before passing nsdsment.
Already n the teeth Of Gen. Burnsiae's own
declarations, Gen. Halleck has bees charged
with thu miscarriage Of the reoeus movement
of the Army Of the Potomac. TIE friends AZ
Mcclellan charged upon Stanton and Halleck
the failures Of the retired chief We IGNORED
aud denounced the false accusation in fiat
case; why shall We be more swift TO condemn
in the case before US? Burnside acouits The
President and Hslleck, and asssmes the vbo,a
responsibility Of the recent advance and no
pslse. Would he do so if h. had been viok,
eddy trammelled, as is alleged! His own ex
plantation OF defeat is trs1sr aren't. A slisAt
delay In the erection of the bridges, did The
mischief Who shall say that this delav Wa
not the cause of our disasters? We css. At
least, afford to wait the pending investigation
before We throw tide Of obloquy upon the
head OF Halleck or the Commander of the
Potomac
There is point back of all this upon which
would seem to hinge the recent disaster. The
Committee of the Senate will, if they can con.
sisteut!y do so. tell Us why the Army of the
to'omae remained in their camps, inactive,
three or four weeks after Sumner demanded
the surrender of Fredericksburgh, It is per-
fectly well known that then there was but .
single division of Rebels (Longstreets) 1t
Fredericksburgh. If Sumner did not mean to
take the city and the heights beyond, vbv did
he demand surrender Why did he make a
forced march to reach the river! Whv. After
making that demand and giving few hours
TOR the removal Of the women and children.
was the army kept waiting until the enemy
concentrated his whole force and intrencbed
himself in another Sevastopol! The answer