Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-04-20

Governor uOrtOn i'm New York-WhO
responsible for the ConscripI Act.

Governor Horton i'm New ork-whO
responsible for the ConscripI Act.
His Excellency, O. P. MoRroN. has been feast
ed and toasted in New York. The Herald of
Friday saws:
A complimentary dinner was given last even
ing at the Maison Dorce. 20 Governor Morton. of
Indiana, by some gentlemen of the Republican
party of this city. = = The dinner was
laid with thirty nee coUers. and was gotten up in
the highest style OF the culinary art.
1t must have been a recherche affair-only
thirty five covers, and we suppose they must have
been the elite Of the Republican party.
The remarks of the Governor upon the occa-
sion were 4 rehash of his old speeches, with one
or two exceptions. He has got one new idea at
least. In referring to the means which he
thought necessary for the suppression of the re
bellion, he said:
That must be done by the army and the navy,
and to DO it the ranks of the army should be re-
CT uited. How was that to be done Ii could
only be done by CONSUMPTION. (Applause) Con
sequently the enforcement of the cOnscription
law became AN absolute necessity. III any man
was opposed to the enforcement of that law it
u nCldhCC liz uh nOb MuIb tut IdlhS VI Tic
army to be recruited. 1t was because he want
ed the wal to fail on our part for want of an ar
my. (Applause) There were "A good many
persons opposed to the CONSUMPTION act but
who were the authors of that law Who were
the men who had brought it on the country p
They were the men who had engendered a state
of public opinion which had suspended volun
teering The Government did not want TO re-
sort to that policy; bur IA party had arisen East
and West attempting to make the war odious to
the people, by representing the President as
standing with his foot on a broken constitution,
declaring that the war was being waged for the
purpose of promoting negro equality. and thus
creating a state OF feeling in the community
which had effectually prevented all volunteering.
These mel were the au hOrs of the CONSUMPTION
act, AID these were the men who should be held
responsible for it. Applause Desertion had
been encouraged. Thousands of letters had
been written To the army encouraging men to
desert. and Tor every deserter some man had to
be drafted Those men who encouraged desertion
were also the authors Of the CONSUMPTION act,
and should be held responsible for it.
Who are 1.-THE men who engendered a state of
public opinion which had suspended volunteer
ingI" And while we condemn, equally with the
Governor, any encouragement of d~esertion, who
has engendered the %state'of public opinion which
has encouraged soldiers to desertY The Presi-
dent. the Administration and Congress, at the
commencement Of the war. solemnly assured the
people that " this war is not waged on their part in
any spirit OF oppression, or for any purpose of
conquest or subjugation. or purpose of overthrow
institutions of those States, but to defend and
maintain the supremacy Of the constitution, and
to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equal
ity and rights of the several States unimpaired;
and that as soon as these objects are accom-
plished, the war ought to cease"
Upon that platform and for those objects, thus
solemnly and distinctly set forth, the people raj
lied with an u%nanimity and good will to the sup
port OF the administrator that has no paral-
lei il history. The calls OF the President for
men and money were promptly complied with.
Immense armies were raised by volunteering, and
in response to the first two calls more men offer
ed their services than were asked for. But, as
the Governor says, a charge took place, and
why? The policy of the Administration chang
ed. The President yielded to the radical pres
sure, anu tue programme iOr tue conuucb oi tue
war. and the spirit and purposes for which it was
to be waged, as declared in July 1861 by Con-
gress, and which met the approval of the people,
were disregarded and reversed This cannot be
denied 1t was the President abolition proclama.
ton =" which engendered a state of public opinion
which had suspended volunteering" This every
body knows. If the war had been continued in
the spirit of the CRITTENDEN resolution It would
have been ended ere this and by a volunteer ar
my. Who, then, are the authors of the conscript
act? Is is not clearly those who brought about
and who sustain the present policy and objects
for which the war is wagedl Volunteering was
uspended when the President issued his first
proclamation threatening emancipation. That
act united the South. and caused IA division of SEN
timent in the North. Hence, for the present
condition affairs and the necessity OF a c~onscript
act. the sole responsibility rests with the Repub-
lican party, or those of them who iniriated or
approved the present radical measures of the
party in power,
The best means for the suppression Of the
rebellion is to return to the policy which had the
approval of the entire North. and wage the war
hereafter in the spirit and for the purposes set
forth in the CRIrrESDES resolution.