Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-09-18

| tiun be called colnP'1' -. 80
pant, and whethc- the parties 10 "e o',
States, in their sovereign capacity OF 'no Pe'.
ple Of the United States as individuals.
bans;llc rs it would be mischievous. y pup
lie enemr cannot lawfully claim the rlsht ol
entering Congress and voting down'the meas
ures taken to subdue him.
why not? Because he is pubic enemy
Because by becoming o public enemy nc mns
annullcd and lost his riSh IN Tue ~ ax
mcnt, AMI can never regain them 'o"'''
cept By our consent. rf ,Lo
r,i,n have by becoming public encmieS, sur
r.ndcrod and annullcd their former rights, the
amns,;nn arises. can they recover them =
Su,b r;rbts cannot be regaincd by reason OF
,hn;r having ceased to fight. The character oi
, rublic enemy having once been stamped
md, them hy the laws of war, remains fAed
u5tiI it shall have been, by our consent, re-
moved.
ITO stop fighting does not make them cease
70 he nubiic enemies, because they may have
laid down. their arms. for want OF powder, not
for want of will. Peace does not restore the
noble dead who have fallen 4 sacrlhce
70 treason. Nor docs it revive thc rights once
extinsuished by civil, territorial war. lie
land of the Union belongs to the people OF the
United States, subject the rights OF indiVld-
ual ownership. =
eff we were in war with England, every
Enslishman would become public enemy,
irrespective of his personal feeling towards
America. However friendly he might be to-
wards America, his ships on the sea would be
II liable 10 capture himself would be liable to
be killed in battle, or his property situated IN
this country would be subject to contscatlon.
BY similar rule of the law Of nations,
whenever two nations are ut war, every SUBJ
iect of one .belligerent nation is public enc
my of the other.
IAN individual may he personal friend,
and at the same time public enemy TO the
United States. The law Of war defines inter
national relations.
when the civil war in America. became q
territorial war, every citizen residing in the
belligerent districts became y public enemy
irrespective Of his private sentiments. uhethcr
loyM or diIoyay, friendly or hostile, CnioniSt
or Secessionist, guilty or innocent"
Accordingly Mr.. Whiting concludes his let
ter thus:
"Orc Of two things should be done in order
to keep faith with the country and saTe US Oh
vious peril:
ALLOW the inhabitants of conquered terri
tory to t6rm themselves into States, only adopt
ing constitutions such as will forever remove
all cause Of collision with the United States,
nv excluding slavery therefrom, or continue
military government over the conquered dis
trct until there shall appear therein sutii-
cieut number of loyal inhabitants to form a
republican government, which, by guarantee.
ING freedom to all, shall be in accordance with
the true spirit of the Constitution OF the United
States. These safeguards Of freedom are re-
quisite to render permanent the domestic
tranquility Of the country, which the Constl-
tuition itself was formed to secure, and which
i, is the legitimate object of this war to main
tain"
Well Mr.. Whiting is entirely right in his
definitions OF the laws Of war and OF hclliger-
cnts under those laws. Any possible reunion
with the Yankee nation would be the ''union
Of the shark with its prey
But perhaps some readers may say, what
of Mr.. Whiting? Who minds what he says:
Then take the Minnesota political platform
just adopted by the "Repnblicans" Of that
State, which We have already laid before cuI
readers here it is agaiN:
"These rebel States have forfeited all claim
upon the PEOPLE, and their rights to rule them.
The people thereof owe no allegiance to any
EXCEPT the Government of the United States.
Their political situation is precisely that the
- u, I'D n
therefore uadnr 10 legal or constitutional obi ga
ton to recognize the existence of the rebeliouS
States, nor extend to them any political rights
whatever. In fact, they have committed pollt'
ical suicide"
In short, the Yankee nation goes for All or
Nothing; and Meretore 50 must We. Il is I'M
possible to save part of our sovereignty and
our land, and give up the rest; if we admit
that they have conquered one square mile oft,
they will soon have it all, and US along with
1T.
And they have not conquered one square
mile oft. What? NotMissouri? Not Ken.
lucky? Not the Panhandle of Virginia.
No, no. one yard of them. Nothing is either
lost or won till the war is over. And now, this
moment when the fcrociouS armies Of our en-
cmics are advancing deeper and deeper into
the heart of our country, and coolly marking
down on their maps all the ground they have
passed over as 50 much territory conquered
back to the Union, this is the very time to
impress it upon all our minds that those coun-
tries which their armies have travcrsed and
ravagcd are Confederate ground, and that the
safety, nav; the existence Of all the rest of the
Confcderacy requires the enemy to be driven
out of it at every point. Now, above all, we
should keep before our eyes and lay to hesrt
the grandeur of our cause, the magnificence of
It's success, the unspeakable misery Of its fail
ure, Our enemy is playing great game, and
for grand stake. We have the heart to play
rs high, and for stake dearer and noblcr
still.
We need to keep this lofty aim before US,
even for the purpose of inspiring US to play
ont the game at all hazards. Men will not be
fred with the sacrod passion to dare. and
fight, and endure, all that men may, for a
mean stake or to avoid certain degree Of
loss, where something is saved-but where it is
All or Nothing! Where the alternative is, to
found majestic free and famous empire, or
to become generation of vassals to the greed
lest and basest of all the white races OF this
earth.
It is right, then, and inspiring, and now
especially ncedful and cxpcdient, that our
public men and leaders of the people should