The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-05-09

The CHICAGO ORGAN OF JEFF. DAVIS.
AND THE INTRODUCTION AGAINST SELLING
ARMS AND POWDER TO REBEL AGENTS.
1t has come to the knowledge of the au-
thorities at Washington that certain secret
spies and agents of the JEFF. Davis junto in
the South are perambulating the loyal
States of the West and buying up all the
arms and gunpowder they can find, with
the view of forwarding the same into the
Southern Confederacy," the War Depart
ment has recently notified all dealers i'm
firearms and gunpowde- in this city to sell
no articles of this kind to any person I'M
less he furnishes permit from Major Pot
ter or Captain Pcmeroy, who are stationed
here as quartermaster, and commissary Of
ficers of the Government. All loyal and
patriotic citizens, under the peculiar cir
cumstances, appreciate and acquiese in the
necessity and propriety of this regulation.
:, SO much as to the justification of the au-
thoritles of the Government in this matter.
Now let us see to what base uses the organ
OF the jeff. Davis junto in this city-the dis
loyal 1fmes-is trying to pervert the order
of the War Department. We quote in full
an editorial that appears in that infamous
sheet this morning, as follows:
The orders which have been issued for
bidding the sale of arms in this military de-
partment without permit were intended to
operate to prevent Democrats from arming
themselves, while the Administrationists
were supplied through the agency of the
Governors of the several States. The arms
being under the direction of the Governors,
will, of course be distributed only among
their partisans. Evidently it is feared that
there will be resistance to some of the nox-
ious and obnoxious measures of the last
Congress, or else it is intended to enforce,
under the guise of a military order, des-
potism more infamous than has vet been
attempted. The idea of forcible resistance
to law has never been entertained by DEM
ocrats, nor have they ever entertained the
idea OF passive obedience to military orders
that were in defiance oflaw and subversiye
of their liberties. If the Administration sup
poses it can practice here coup a. etat sim
liar to that of Louis Napolean, it will find
two unsurmountabled difficulties in the way.
In the first place it is not Napoleon; and in
the second place, Americans are not
Frenchmen. 1t is because they are not
trenchmen, but law abiding citizens, capa-
Die OF enforcing law and determined to do
it, that these orders are foolish and wicked.
Taken in connection with the distribution
OF arms to the Governors, they are more
foolish and wicked than the ordinary run
of our military orders,'
Ihls is Infamous in the extreme. It is
an attempt to turn to party account q regl-
iation that was made without a thought of
farming" anybody here. ''Administra-
tionists' are as much prevented from pur-
chasing arms without apermit as are Dem
ocrats. A loyal Democrat, by giving salts
factory assurances that he will not permit
the arms he purchases to go into the hands
OF our common enemy, will find no more
difficulty in making such purchase than
wan the most enthusiastic supporter of the
Administration, who would be Obliged to
give assurances to the same effect.
This is the simple truth of the case, and
| the editor of the Times understands it as
| well as we do. But in the comments we
quote from his paper, he utterly ignores the
most excellent reason why the Federal au-
thorities have interdlcted the sale Of arms
and ammunition in this military depart
ment, and hypocritically-n treasona-
6Iy-pretends that the Administrations
lsts'' have some grand scheme on foot for
armlng themselves against the Democrats
Could reckless, partisan wickedness 90
farther? Could more conclusive proof be
cited that the Chicago Times is in the inter
est of the rebels, and ready and willing to do
anything in its power to embarrass or frus-
trate the efforts of the Government to
checkmate the Schemes of the Southern
traitors? The Times cannot hide its cloyen
foot of treason. So anxious is it to render
laid and comfort" to the enemy, and to en-
broil the loyal Northwest in civil war. for
the benefit of the rebels, that it occasional
~, as in this instance, allows its motive to
| pecoue SO transparent CnaG even blind
man or fool can perceive its foul disloyalty
/ Should it ever become necessary-as ii
never will, unless traitors in our midst
should, by violent acts of resistance to the
national authority, make it Imperative
arm any of our people, the disloyal Time.
would find that there would be Democrats
as ellas Observation-Disclosures who would
bear those arms, and use them with thor.
ough effect against either an invading enc.
my or an internal foe of the State or Nation:
and the editor of that reckless sheet, and
from whom he receives his inspiration snd