The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-02-20

The CRISIS IN DIxIE.-The FOLLOWING i.
an extract from Chattanooga letter Of n.
7th inst. to the Cincinnati Commercial y
Is good commentary on the Proc!amatan,
ofJeff. Davis which we printed yesterd.,
Here in the army, where we have dali,
opportunities Tor cOnversinK with deser;
ers and prisoners from all command; y
the rebel service, contrasting the tals.
told by all, and deducting conclusions. ~
one questions for Il moment that withth
enemy, the crisis is at hand, and that nos
has come the winter Of their discomfort,
when they must pass through an ordaa,
that Will try their souls in fire. Thera 4.
no longer any doubt that the desperate ~
forts OF the rebels to replenish their arms.
by wholesale CONSUMPTION, the deprecs'
ton OF their currency, the universal devs.
tition and suffering in the Confeder.
acy, with the Amnesty Proclamation o.
the finishing argument, have wrought
state OF feeling antagonistic to war. and
the demand for peace comes up in deen
gutterals from men who, so long az thes
could avoid conscriptlon by substituts,
were anxious for war. The address TO ths
rebel soGiery, just published by you Is.
genuine article, that has been the theme ~
conversation in the rebel army for weaks
l. .. n
intelligence, who had been conscrioied
who assert that the address has received
general circulation; that il emanated from
a secret society styled .'the Samaritan
but who, TO avoid detection, have no print.
ed ritual. They have, however, few
simple signs, by which one member
knows another. They further state thai
the following verbal oath istaker BY every
member:
| "In the presence Of God affirm that
will not divulge the secrets OF the Samari.
tans; that will assist them, to the utmos,
, of my ability, to escape from the oppres
sion heaped upon them by the Confederat4
authorities; that, when on picket will not
prevent a brother from deserving, or betrav
him to the authorities. ! further solemnv
affirm that l will not remain in the servr
OF the Confederate States after my term ~
enlistment expires, and that will unin
with the decision Of the majority to pr
vent impressed service, whether il be Nv
desertiOn or by force of arms; so helm ma
God"
Other authorities confirm the above. and |
pronounce 1t genuine in substance. Bu |
some say that the society has no regulars
adopted name by which it is known. d. /
serters who claim to be members, agree i |
the statement that q large majority OF IL,
| Army OF the Tennessee are memberS
The large number of deserters daily arr.
wing give these facts an air of plausbity
II any thing were wanting to convince u
Of their correctness. While this is the case
| we must not for moment jump at The /
another fight. The Generals and leader
| are bending all their energies for ina /
effort. They see that u desperate disease |
requires desperate treatment; hence the, J
desperate resort to wholesale conscription +
Like the gambler who, in y moment oil
desperation, stakes his AL in the hope Of 1
change OF luck, the Confederate author
ties will make the final struggle one of Lila
or death.
! JUSTICE TO OFFICERS CALLED FORE.
cry reader otfhe war news must hayeiuc. |
| iced the frequent mention OF officers al
the army restored to service because nG
| found guilty of charges upon which thg
had been summariIy dismissed. If sny
| reliance can be placed upon the Statements
OF dismissed officers and their friends ths
| number unjustly dismissed who try in vain
| to get hearing at the War Department i'll
still larger. In the orders restoring sud
as have obtained Il reversal Of the sentence
against them is generally found this cur.
Gus qualification: the officer is restored
his command provided the vacancy caus
ed by his dismissal is not filed" As in
most cases the places vacated have bevn
filled, the pretense of justice to the ds
placed officer is an aggravatng mocker
SO great has the abuse become, and the dis
satisfaction in the army on account of lh
80 general, that Henry Winter Davis, I'll
Maryland, has introduced bill into Con.
Sress prohibiting tho President from dis,
missing any officer Of the army and navy
unless upon the finding Of court martiLI
he may suspend an officer until he is trel,
but not dismiss him, and he must knEi
his offence within q fixed time.
The President is named in the bill, h
cause the power of dismissal noninaL,|
rests with him, but it has been exerciseiI
by the Secretary Of War in the Presidents
name in hundreds Of cases, and even III
subalterrs Of the War Department, actYI
upon their individual judgment or capnal
The process Of removal is often something
like this an officer known to the SecrenI
ry OF War, or to whom he happens to tsld
fancy mt the moment, makes some conf
plant against another ofiicer-it may be
alleged breach Of military discipline, or
mere political offense, such as ''conditior-
al Unionism''-and the ever prompt Sc
| rotary seizes his pen and orders the accEI
ed out of service at once: then there Is
long and vexatious effort Of the disgrpcN
officer TO ascertain the reason OF his I'LL
missal, in which there is small chance
success; but if he is obstinate enough N
may ascertain at last, and proceed to cerl
he will get the show Of justice in an ordd
replacing him in his command, provided
nobody else holds it, that fact not BENG
supposed to be discoverable in any record
| Of the army kept by the Department.
this same defect in the statistics of the D1
partnent is to be charged also the fac; of1
many dislnissals for alleged absence Of d
ticers from the service, when in nine cas
out Of ten it turns out that they have he
promoted to other commands or are in hos
pital or on furlough. We may well
lieve the assertion Of the Army and Nay
Journal that these abuses, growing out
the caprice and want Of system III the WIZ
Office, tend to lower the tone of the arn0
by depreciating the value Of com missio1
It is to be hoped that Mr.. Davis's bill VI
pass, and that Congress will also take sop
means to perfect the Army record.
-SPrsna6eId RepnbtecA
DIVORCE OVER A WAsHBOwL. -Connuba
lp0r Of nGshbowl is thus shown to be feal
full, by the New York correspondent Of
Boston EUeniag Gazette:
A fashionable couple, up town, msrrI
not mated, SO the story goes, quarrelay
few mornings since, and the irate wife,
advice Of her parents, has sued for adiyofs1
The case is only noteworthy from the!