The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-02-21
From the springfield Republican. j
The MisslsslDpi.

uneasy glances.
81
sl From the springfield Republican,
3, sfi The MississIppi.
The reluctance that would be felt at allowing
| the lower Mississippi to pass under the control
of foreign power, has been understood at the
South; and it is given out that the Confederacy
will be ready to guarantee it's freedom to all
traffic from its upper waters. They could not
we'll propose to do otherwise, for the terms of
international law give claim to as much as this.
II the offer has fair sound, it is of no value at
ALL The guarantee would be, and, in the nature
OF the case, could be, no more than permission.
Ii would be an allowance, valid during the good
pleasure of the party guarding it. 1t would
cease, as of course, upon the breaking out OF
war. The risk Of its Withdrawal would hang
over US as sperpetual menace. Half the com
! merce of the Republic rould be foated upon a
stream lined with hostile batteries on all its
bluffs, and swept with level cannon from every
bend. To all that, extent, we should have put
ourselves into the power of a rival patton. Are
wo so far subdued as to- be ready TO seriously de.
libeIate upon such humiliation? Shall we give
bonds to our rebel enemy to keep the peace
with him? Are We about to exchange owner
ship for bis permission? The capricious consent
of revolted neighbor will not serve any but a
degraded people in the stead of authority and
natural right. 800 ".'' , !. ..st =. {.
f The manner in which we acquired the terri
tory through which the Mississippi passes into
the Gulf will contribute to increase the sense of
wrong in it's surrender! It belongs, if possible,
even more thoroughly to the Union than do any
of the States that were brought together at the
FIRST to form 1t. The original colonies may be
supposed by some TO have still within them the
/ roots Of that independence, in the exercise Of
which they joined themselves and grew intoon
| stock. But there can be no such claim in re-
gard to this district 1t was purchased in be-
half of Union already formed. 1t was acquired
that are known to nations.s 1t was thus at
tached to the national domain, and it belongs
now not to itself, not to one section Of the coun.
try, but to the country in it's Wilderness 1t will
be remembered, also, that the possession Of the
outlet Of the Mississippi was reckohed a matter
of such vast importance to the nation, that Mr..
jefferson, under whose leadership the negotia-
ton was carried, did not hesitate TO press it even
while he allowed that the constitution itself did
not authorize such q proceeding. In writing to
Levi Lincoln, he remarks: ''The less that is said
about any CONSTITUTIONAL difficulty, the better:
it will be desirable for Congress to do what is
necessary in silence" Mr.. JefEerson's plan, as
is we'll known, was to secure the requisite legis.
lation, and afterwards get the authority for do
ing it from the people by special amendment to
the constitution. This course, he judged, the
urgency Of the case would Justify. History has
approved the wisdom of the act ,ays g@ga
And now, when questions of constitutional
rights are again arising, it cannot but appear
significant that the founders themselves OF the
republic and the trainers of it's ifundamen tai
law, should have furnished u.s. in the very trans
4 actions that first gave the territory for the
security of awhich7we are now struggling, with
their judgment upon the fitness Of constitutions
al rules to withstand those imperious considera-
lions of public safety which great emergencies
of state may suggest. We need not be more
scrupulous than they. Powers that we're stretch.
ed to gain may be stretched once more to hold.
The lite is more than law the body is more
precious than the forms of constitutions which
4 are only its raiment. If we we're to 90 beyond
the constitution our defense would indeed be
more clear than theirs. More of violence may
be allowed in maintaining that which we have
once possessed, than can fairly be used in
the effort for new acquisitions Their motives
were mainly prospective; ours rest upon expert
ence and certain knowledge The great valley
is worth all they ever anticipated, and more.
Such q combination of circumstances az that
which gave Louisiana to ms could scarcely re-
cur again in the life time of nation. 1t was
during the short peace in Europe that followed
the treaty of Amiens. Louisiana had three
years before been coded to France by Spain,
though the fact had only just become known in
the United States. The French were not in ac-
tual occupation. Bonapsrte was first consul
We owe our western empire not more to the
prudent craftsmanship of our fathers, than to
bis sagacity. Hindrance had been thrown in
| the way of commerce on the lower Mississippi;
the people of the West were growing uneasy,
and many wished that the government would &C.
cupy New Orleans by force. EARLY in 1908,
Monroe was dispatched to France to aid Robert
Livingston, the resident minister, in negotia-
lions for the purchase, not of the whole terri
tory, but of New Orleans only. Before Monroe
had crossed the Atlantic, Napoleon offered for
sale to the United States, not New Orleans
merely, but the whole vast region from the Mis-.
sissippi to the Pacific ocean. The American
ENJOYS were astenished |; and deliberations were
delayed little, while they wondered at an offer
of 90 much beyond what they had come TO ask
II know" said Napoleon, ''the price Of what
abandon. If I should regulate my terms &C.
cording to the value of those vast regions to
the United States, the indemnity would have no
limits But new wars we're before him. He
needed thelpurcbase money. He feared that
England might seize..the province. And most
| Of all-with policy that wasnot wholly ungen.
erous-he meant that there should grow up upon
this continent great commercial and naval
power, that might be Get against the maritime
supremacy of England. ''This accession of
territory" said the FIRST consul, Strengthens
forever the power of the United States and I
have just given to England maratime rival
that viii sooner or later humble her pride."-
He fastened to ratify the treaty. And the pro.
ceedings we're watched with such interest on
our part that Congress was called together be-
fore the usual time, for the assent of the Senate,
and for such legislation as was required to carry
the treaty into effect The entire transac tion
was creditable to the governments Of both ma
tons. The benefits that have accrued from it
to US are beyond all reckoning.
He is ptiable man who in the light of this
history, as well as lin view of the obvious facts
of the present time, can propose to surrender
that region, except in the last extremity Of ma
tional weakness. 1t belongs to US now by the
right Of nature, and by virtue of an honorable
Il