American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1851-1863, 1863-10-24

IupREsS5ITgTs.


20 make some amendment OF the impress.
meul laws. Us action, however viii be
limited TO a modification OF those laws,
and will not extend to 40 abandonment
Of the principle Of impressment In some
form or other, jmpressment is necessary
to tho prosecution Of The WAT; and the
objections which have been urged agsins!
il apply to the harshness Of some Of the
provisions Of the existing law, aud the
manner in which it is executed, rather
than the principle Of impressment, We
remarked that the war could not be car
ried on without the exercises Of the pow
er which unquestonaby belongs to the
Government, OF impressing private pro- I
perry for the use Of the army. To illus
tra,e: the government is compelled to.
employ negro labor in the construction OF
/ Notifications. 1t has been demonstrated
I 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 a
case to say that the Government should
go into the market and hire laborers, for
if it 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 90
into the market as any other hlrer, aud
that i, 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 mus! aban-
don the artillery and cavalry for trans
portation Can the number Of horses re-
quired for these purposes be obtained by
purchase? 1t is 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-
quires Under certain circumstances
these things must be impressed, because
they cannot otherwise be procured in
such quantities. and at such times as
they are needed
But while the Government unquestion-
ably has the power, there are certain
principles which ought to control all i'm.
pre@menis, and these principles are foun-
ded not only in right and Justice, but in
sound public policy The law should be
enforced with d proper regard for the
feelings and rights of the owner, This
1 has notbeen done in every instance, and
Il has been one Of the most prolific sour-
ces of the discomfort to which the law
has given rise. We have known instan-
ces in which negroes have been impress.
ed without the knowledge, even, of theiI
owners much less without receipt given
by the officer Such a proceeding ia ar
outrage, and the officer guilty of it should
te severely punished. We have hearC
OF cases, too, in which government officials
nsoleDt because they are clad in author
ty, to which they are unused. have seizeC
the necessary Supplies Of families, ant
insuIted the propretors because they dar
- FL to demonstrate. Men who thus exsr
else their Office, are unfit for them ant
should be promptly reduced TO the IeYe
from which they were unwiseIY elevated
- Again, the officer who impresses
should always be provided with his war
rant for making the impreSsment, show
INK The raturc and extent Of his authori
ty; and he should be required to exhib
= 1t to those upon whom be exercises i
Instances have occurred in which propert
has been impressed by those who had n
'' right to do so. Those instances hav
" Justly excited Indignation and suspicion
;" and it is the right Of the property hold,
49, to know that those who claim TO take b
possessions for government use have Il
ee authority of the government for doing S
Of If this authority is not exhibited. the pc
e. pie have the right to resist and the
II. ought to do So
st Another necessary feature Of the la
'r, Of impressment is, that Just compensate
should, in every instance, be given f
~ property impressed. 1t is manifest tn
..' no uniform and permanent rates Of valu
80, 80 ton can be fixed, because the value
nd every commodity is different in one loc'
ity from what it is in another, and the
lay values are constantly fuctuating in t
Of same locality. We think. therefore, III
to that feature Of the present Impressive
law which undertakes to fix The rates
eb- which government will seize csrti
on commodities, is an unwise one, and shot
rd, ba renesled Tho low ouobt s;,,,lu