The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1864-06-09
9asMhd. ,so+ cur ,so.dis Dr.
G assrrsoni Br psiw1. . ALLISON

gress from our third district had not been at
WashinstOu long before gaining lan snvia.
bledistinction asa hard working, infuen.
tial member. We could not help observing
this much when, we were at the national
metropolis in NE early part Of the session.
He was looked upon as an able, but withal
a quiet, modest man, and as clever per-
son, besides, as one would find in q long
joarnsy. & sE a3AsRs 83s 'Sas ss
I Henow comes out with flying colors az
a speaker also. On the 4th of May he
made speech on, Mr.. Jnlian's excellent
bill granting homesteads to our soldiers and
sailors from. the ,oonfiscated and forfeited
estates or rebels. We wish we had room
fcsthe whole of this sdmirable effort, but
can find space! only for the following ex-
tracts; .9L ,s5g0sb afsfsleiFgTN
RERELs korH PUBLIC ENEMIES AND, TRAITORS.
Neither let it be said that because we
have tyated them as pnblie enemieswe can
not punish the individuals as traitors.-
JUDGE 6risfs in:his able opinion in tAe prize
cases ssys:R aaA sLaezIoHw
THE lave Of nations, contains no such
anomalous doctrine as that Insurgents who
haaerisen rint rebellion against. their Isou-
ereign, expelled hr courts, established a
revolutionary government. organized armies,
and commenced hostilities are not enemies
because they are traitors, and war levied
on the Government by traitors in order 10
dspember and destroy it Is not war be-
cause it is an insurrection."
Ut followsthst they- can. ibe punished Fas
traitors though public enemies. =
But it is claimed BY the Opposition that
If we treat them as srevolutionists, as public
enemies, we cannot complain if other ma
tons, recognize them ,.as an independent
power This does not follow. For while
they are to, US public! enemies, organized
and :confederated as States, yet they are
upon or territory; they are within our in.
risdiction. They are seeking tn establish
an independent government out of a part Of
our territory, and until we acknowledge
them 1t IS the established rule Of interna-
t'onal law that. the recognition Of them by
a foreign Power would be an act of war. By
act Of Parliament Of Great Britain Of 16
George III. l7f6. all trade and commerce
with the thirteen colonies was interdicted,
and all ships and carsoes belonging TO the
inhabitants subjected to forfeiture assifthe
same were the ships and effects Of open en-
en,es. From this time the war became
territorial civil war between tue con.ending
parties. with all the rights of war known
to the law of nations. Yet years after she
held the recognition by France Of our indie.
pendence TO he an act of war, and declared
war accordinglv. Therefore. in the light
of congressional legislation, Executive pts,c-
lamation, and judicial Interpretation. we
have properly regarded those in arms against
us as public enemies. liable to an the pen.
alties imposed by the laws of war, having
no rights under the Constitution, and at
\ J.
have at times by our legislation been in
conflict with this view. bnt Congress-, the
courts and the people Xe rapidly correcting
the errors of the past
| SOLDIERS NOT sPEcuLAToRs SHOULD HAVE
TIE LANDS
The Dictates of justice and humanity
alike require that the fomenters of this re-
bcllion. thnse who infused into it organiza.
ton and life. blood shall he punished to the
extent permissible by the laws ofwar. The
great body of the people Of he South are
entitled to be treated with leniency, and
should be SO treated Those who, from
Ignorance, were induced to enlist. those who
by force we're conscfiated. should 10 the
end receive the clemency of the Govern
ment; but for the leaders expatriation, 40
initiation, or death is the only remedy. It
has been truly said that this is a iandhold.
ers as we'll as Shareholders rebellion. 1t
isestimated, by careful computations from
the census tables u 1860, that fur iths of
all the lands 10 the rebe.lius States are
owned by shareholders, and that one third
of :he. Stockholders own, two thirds Of these
lacds.t >Abost one IA fity of:sthe whole
population Of the South holds slaves. So
that if the lands Of the leading conspirators
we're seized by the Government and wrest
ed from them, not more than one out OF ev.
cry hundred in the South would be affected
by it. | ask Representatives. shall every
thing else be q Destroyer that thess tfew
thousand slavshoiders With their immense
plantations Shall live? Justice demands
that the ediabolicai spirit which famed in
to flame this revolution and now keeps it
burning shall expfate its crime by forfeit
pre Of all ithas to the Government II seeks
to overthrow. These estates az malignant
and unrepenting rebels, confscated to the
Government under theiaws Of war. or seized
under the revenue laws because abandoned
by their owners, becoming tho property Of
the. United States. what shall be done with,
them? We are entitled to use them so as
to best promote the interests eft whole
country. We should not sell them, be
cause they would be purchased in large
tracts by spectators who have grown rich
by the war, and who would use them as
did the masters who have abandon ID them.
They are the righlful inheritance of those
who have fought our battles and reclaimed