Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1864-08-26
PROCLAMATION BY TINE GOVERNOR.

COLUMBUS, Ang. % 1864.

To the People of the State Of Ohio:
| Under the recent call of the President for
FIVE hundred thousand men, a draft is ordered
to take place on the 5th day of September
next, for any deficit that may then exist iu
the quota of troops assigned to the State of
Ohio The draft is fixed by the provisions of
the act of Congress, and must follow in fifty
| days after the date of the call of the Presi-
dent. Present indications are, that portion
| of the quota of this State, will be deficient,
and that, in at least some districts a draft
must take place to cover such de6ciencies.-
| This need not, and should not, have been the
| case. The exertion that has been made to
discourage and prevent enistments, il other
| wise directed, would have 6lled the quotas of
those localities, or left the deficiency very
| light.
| However unwilling to believe that any con-
siderable portion of the people of this State
would array themselves in spirit of EactiOus,
if not treasonabl, OPPOSITION to the execu-
tion of the laws of the land, there are indica-
| tions OF such spirit in the Stale, which as
Chief Magistrate, may rot disregard. In
! appealing TO the people to discard the coun-
/ sells of wicked and uuprincipled leaders that
| invite them to factious and forcible resistance
| to the draft or any other legal requirement Of
! the Government, am actuated solely by
desire to preserve, if practica BILE. the peace Of
| the State, and the welfare of the erring por-
tion of our people, and not from any appre
hension OF either the determination or abilf-
| ty of the Government to maintain the suprem-
acy of its laws.
no ms hn hat tIo
tional or State Government is unadvised of,
or unprepared for the threatened emergency,
is following the deception of his leaders to
consequences OF the most serious character
Let me advise you, who countenance this nsur-
rection, to look carefully at the civel and mil
/ irary penalties you are mourning. The act of
Congress, approved July 31st, 1861, To de-
fine and punish certain Conspirdcies, is as
| follows
''Be 1t enacted By the Senate and House of Repre-
SentGtiUes Of the United States Of america in Con-
| 0ress assembled, That if two or more persons
within any State or Territory of the United
| States shall conspire together to overtime
or to put down, or to destroy by force, the
Government of the United States, or to levy
war against the United States, or to oppose
! by force the authority of the Government of
the United States I; or by force to prevent,
the United States or by force to seize, take
or possess any property of the United States
against the will or contrary to the authority
of the United States or by force, intimd-
alton, or threat to prevent any person from
accepting or holding any Office of trust, or
place of confidence, under the United States !;
each and every person SO offending shall be
guilty of high crime, and upon conviction
thereof IN any district or circuit court of the
United States, having jurisdiction thereof, or
district or supreme court of any Territory OF
the United States having jurisdiction thereof
shall be punished by fine not less than FIVE
hundred dollars aud not more than five thous-
and dollars by imprisonment, with or
without hard labor, as the court shall de-
termine, for period not less than six months
nor greater than six years, or by both such
fine and Imprisonment
This is merely the punishment for conspira-
cy yet its penalties are not light, and should
not be thoughtlessly incurred. This follows
too, a mere combinations or agreement of men
TO do no unlawful act, and is complete with
out a resort to arms. Resistance TO the law
by bodies of armed men constitutes the owe IT
act of treason, the punishment of which is
cath. These are the civil penalties; the
military results are to be found in the power
OF the Government by armed forces to deal
with every species of insurrection against the
enforcement of its legal enactments.
1t is unnecessary 10 argue the duty of ev-
cry citizen to yield obedience TO laws cousti-
tutioDally enacted, so long as they remain in
force. If men may take up arms to resist
laws in the policy or effect of which they do
not concur, then all government is at an end,
and we are resolved into anarchy. This state
OF things is not to be tolerated. 4 Govern.
ment may as well perish in bold and Wig
orous effort to maintain it's integrity, as to
suffer an iDsurrection to ueuteralize it's laws
and defy its powers.
Most earnestly do appeal to the people of
the State not to engage in this forcible resist
snce to the laws, to which evil counsellors and
bad men are leading them. 1t cannot, and
will not, succeed. Its triumph, if it achieve
any, must be of mere temporary character.
The Government is not weak. 1t is strong
and powerful. 1t cannot, and will not, permit
an armed iusurrection to impeach its strength,
or impair its power, while contending with the
Southern rebellion. do not say this to you |
in any spirit of intimidation, or in any threat
ening tone. speak il to you as a warning
and with an implOring voice to hear and heed
it. l know what the determination of your
Government Is, and l fully comprehend the |
power at hand to enforce it.
What can you, who contemplate armed re-
Histance, reasonably expect to gain by such
movement? You can not effectua!y or perma-
nenty prevent the enforcement of the laws
You can not in anywise improve your own
condition in the present, and must seriously
injure it in the future Judicious and conser-
vative men, who look to the supremacy of gov.
ernmeut for the protection and safety of their
persons and property, will not sympathize or
cooperate with you. You may commit crime;
you may shed blood; you may destroy proper
ty; you may spread ruin and devastation over
some localities of the State; you may give aid
and comfort for a season to the rebels already
IN arms against the country; you may transfer,
'or brief time, the horrors Of war from the
ields of the South TO those of the State OF
ohio; you may paralyze prosperity, and create