Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1863-03-27
sTAUNToN, VA, FRIDAY, MARCH 81, 1868.


they do not hide their treasure; on the
contrary. parade and advertise it-not
drcading impressment. apparently. We
shail not investigate the value Of grievances,
because we do not use the article. when we
can possibly help it. AS Mr. Henry, Of
Tennessee, remarks, when King Richard,
in his sore extremely. made the bid Of his
Kingdom for horse, that did not precisely
settle what would have been the just COM
pensation for horse at that moment in case
Of impressment but we have learned politi-
cal economists here, who. in their ardent
pursuit Of grievances, declare that the i'm
pressment Of provisions for our troops and
artillery horses, in this great emergency
and stress of war. is a grievance, unless the
army pay for it at the highest rate that sud
den demand and extreme need can run up
the price to. The Hon j. B Baldwin. Of
Virginia, is che of these learned political
economists, as We perceive from his pub
lished letter to the Secretary Of War. He
informs the Secretary that officers who i'm
press produce under orders Of Government
are liable to damages; that the Government
must pay those damages that those dam
ages are ''the value of the property with
interest,"" that the value means the hig hest
market value at the time, &C.: and for all
this he quotes the authority Of a law book.
(Sedyuick's Measure Dan,.)
The Secretary of War is a lawyer, and it
might have occurred to Mr. Baldwin that,
u the course Of his study and practice. the
Secretary might have seen something of
this Sedgwick Surely it cannot be possi-
bic that the array of legal learning was not
$. much addressed to the Secretary as in
tended to stimulate and encourage that
wide spread and bitter dissatisfaction
which Mr. Baldwin knows Of, but which is
unknown to us. We are far from attrib-
uting such an intention to gentleman who
has served rhe Confederacy in the field. and
who possesses the respect even of those who
differ from him. but he will admit that such
is the eject calculated to be produced when
member of Congress thus proclaims that
great grievance exists that the farmers
c,n remedy this grievanc: BY bringing the
Government Into court, aud making the
army pay ''full market value aud interest, !"
yith costs. for every morsel it eats and,
lastly, assures al his neighbors that there
is a wide spread and ..bitter dissatisfaction. !"
Indeed, Mr.. Baldwin goes farther for
he iufurms the Secretary of very startling
fact-tAat impressment, as now practlced
for the army, renders the government hate
full. We thought the reverse was the case;
but shall not contradict Mr.. Baldwin. His
letter says:
1.-The present practice is exciting a very
wide spread aud bitter dissatisfaction. The
seizure i's.lf, under the best management,
is very distasteful to the people but VII Ell
it is accompanied BY what they feel to be a
refusal of just compensation, it renders the
policy Of the government, and ultimately
the government itself. hateful"
We hope not. AS to Mr.. Baldwin's sug-
gestion, that Congress should authorize by
law and regulate impressmcnts for the army,
weconcur with him entirely. and have urged
the very same thing in the Enquirer. >
The Secretary agrees with him also, as we
see in his reply.
Until the imprcssment Act shall have
passed, however. we fear Mr.. Baldwin $
grievances viii remain. The army must be
fed The chief use Of our government is at
this moment to feed the army. IfCougress
were starved out, we might perhaps bear
the loss, though not without regret; but if
the army be not sustained, We all fall back
into the power of the Federal enemy; all
our lofty aspirations to national indepen-
dence sink and vanish forever, and we cub
side again, whipped rebels. into the hate
full old Union. A patriotic Virginiau, like
Mr. Baldwin, can never think, without hor-
ror, of such a destiny for his country.
It is the Yankee Governmet, not our
own, that is hateful to this people. THIS
Government they have created to help
them to save themselves from the other !;
and, we think that on the whole, they still
prefer this Government, or aug Govern
ment Of their own. before renewal Of the
odious connexion with such hateful foe.
Sacrifices, indeed must be made to support
this CONVENIENTLY the other demands
too great sacrifice of our manhood name
~, and self-rcspect, of our property. of our
pledges, oaths, hopes, memories. all. This
Government. it istrue, takes our young
men and makes them serve at eleven dollars
a month takes our corn aud bacon to feed
them on at somewhat less than some Jew
would offer; may even 60 the length of
taking our horses without paying King
Richards price for them; bat the other
would wipe out our very name and nation,
and make of Virginia ian Kissing" for ever
moro.
This being the case, if Mr.. Baldwin be-
lievcs, as we feel sure he does believe, that
tue President aud the Heads of the Admin
lstration are conscientiously, striving to do
the best they can nnder circumstances Of
such extreme trial and trouble as never vet
tested a young Government, then we would
appeal to his patriotism, to part with his
stock ofgrievances, cheap. and to see in
this country something much nobler than
bitter dissatisfaction and hatred -Enquirer.
From Port IIu dsOn.
MOBILE, March l9-Tne appeal Of the