American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1851-1863, 1863-10-31

t8 make some amendment 0i NE impress d
mpgt laws lts action, however vii b.
limited 20 modification OF those laws,
and vi.l not extend 10 an abandonment
Of ths principle Of imPressmsn1. 10 some /
form Or other, impressment Is necessary
TO the prosecution OF the war; and Tie
objections which have been urged Agalnsi
Il apply to the harshne's Of some Of The
provisions Of the existing Law, aud the
manner in which il is executed, rather
than the principle Of impressment, We
remarked that the war could not be car
red on without The exercises Of the 20"
er which unquestionably belongs to the
Government, Of impressing private pro-
perry for the use Of the army. To illus
trale. the government is compelled to
employ negro labor in the construction OF
Notifications. II has been demonstrated
1 that if it is left to rely on hiring this la
Dor, the amount of labor required cannot
be obtained. 1t would be folly in such
case to say that the Government should
90 into the market and hire Iaborers, Tor
if il did, it would get no laborer at all;
for as a general thing, the compensation
which owners receive for the employment
, OF their negroes on works OF defense, IS
! no inducement to send them. To insist,
. therefore, that the Government shall 60
4 into the market as any other hirer, and
that il shall employ no negroes except
those whom it cotracted for, is practically
to deny TO the Government the right to
employ negro labor on its public works.
!, So in relation to horses, or it must aban-
: don the artillery and cavalry for trans
" portalion. Can the number Of horses re-
CURED for these purposes be obtained by
d purchase? It's manifest that they can
not, and the Government is, therefore,
forced to impress them. And SO of food
and anything else which the army re-
qures. Under certain circumstances
J these things must be impressed, because
l. they cannot otherwise be procured 10
b. such quantities. and at such times as
l. they are needed.
s. But while the Government unqueston'
:, ably has the power, there are certain
n principles which ought to control all I'm
pre,smens, and these principles are foan
% ded not only in right and justice. but II
Or sound public policy, The law should b'
- enforced with a proper regard for th'
er feelings and rights Of the owner. Tb
~ has notbecn done in every instance, anl
70 i las been one OF the most prolific sour
NJ ces of the discomfort to which the lay
n has given rise. We have known nstan
~ ccs in which negroes have been impress
~ ed without the knowledge, even, of thel
Is owners much less without a receipt give
ng by the officer. Such proceeding ia a
outrage, and the officer guilty of it shout
be severely punished. We have hear
or eases, too, in which government official
insolent because they are clad in author
ty, to which they are unused, have seize
the necessary supplies Of families, an
~ nsulted the proprieors because they da
i" ed to demonstrate. Men who thus exc
''' else their office, are unfit for them al
H. should be promptly reduced to the lev
)" from which they were unwjselY elevate
,nn Again. the officer who impreSse
should always be provided with his wa
rant for making the impressment, sho'
ing The nature and extent OF his author
/ tv; and he should be required to exhI|
40 it to those upon whom he exercises
Instances have occurred in which proper
has been impressed by those who had
cePt right to do so. Those instances ha
'oa' Justly excited Indignation and suspicic
'0" and it is the right Of the property hoi(
.i.. to know that those who claim to take
possessions for government use have
bree authority of the government for doing
ty Of If this authority is not exhibited, the p
E re. pie have the right to resist and Il
hun, ought to do so.
last Another necessary feature Of the
erior, Of impressment is, that Just compensat
should, in every instance, be given
ready property impressed. 1t is manifest
n o'n' no uniform and permanent rates OF val
l''s' ton can be fixed because the value
, and every commodity is different in one 10
w ity from what it is in another, and Il
r,dav values are constantly auctuating in
on of same locality. We think, therefore,
ps to that feature of the present impressn
law which undertakes to fix the rate
9 reb which government will seize csr
Iron commodities. is an unwise one, and sh
board, be repealed. The law ought simpl
0wSrd prescribe the mode Of impressment