Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1864-01-15


ys1SesfISs - Us11uv.
under Him, established on this Continent
by our fathers, which arc staked upoa ths
issue Of the struggle.
il needs no words Of mine to show that
tbe vigorous add successful prosecution Of
this var il We to the Republic. while 70
hesitate for single hour, upon any pre-
text whatever, or stop short OF the uncon-
dticnai recognition oi Federal authority BY
eli the revolteJ Stsssa, would b but . boi.
Iow truce, and lssab % our uoisy end Ne.
ttonslisy.
Great and holy interests srs involved In the
contest There 10 no longer any hope Of their
preservation By the ordinary modes Of adjust
ment They are, therefore, TO be saved or lost
by the arbitrament Of battle. Ia the terrible
ordeal through which re are passing, many old
conditions are likely to be rejected, and some
things which have been, may not be ag ain ;
but the patriotic heart may find reasons for its
faith, that all such IS are good and sub tantial
will be retained and consecrated in the new
life Of the Nation Let US hope that enemie I.
in the disguise of friends, will never again &C.
cupy the high places Of power; that the peo-
pies Treasury will not again be robbed BY OH.
cial hands their arms, their arsenals and for
tifcatons turned againss their own Govern
ment; that the biighting curse Of Human Sla-
very will no longer receive protection BY the
statutes Of the land nor exist in any form un-
der the National Flag and that traitors may
never again sit in the Council Chambers Of the
Nation, nor plot their treason beneath the
dome of its Capitol. Let US pray to a righteous
God that such scenes may never stain the
coming annals Of the Republic, and II need be,
that the havoc of bloody, desolating war, may
abate not until the day Of regeneration shall
come.
The events Of the hour grand and irresisti.
BILE in their course, are rapidly Fastening to
their legitimate results. He pho dispo-cs, while
man struggles, and propoaei, has pronounced
His imperial decree.
Those who hesitate now to yield an unre-
served support to the Federal Government, r.
fail to sustain its constituted authorities, un-
mistakab,y array themselves on the side of its
enemies, aud will be 80 recorded in the history
of the times. If treason is crime. to sympa.
thize with traitors is also cl arly criminal.
While there is treason in the heart, the man
cannot be truly loyal and VIC know not how
soon his hesitating courage may nerve him to
commit the overt act. The line Of denmark al ton
between loyalty and treason, is plainly defined,
and exceedingly narrow.
Obvious as these considerable are to all
discerning minds, it is painful reflection, that
there exists a faction in the Northern States,
| which has persistently opposed the action of
our Government in it's efforts to subdue the
Rebellion, aud clamored for peace upon anv
terms While protesting to be loyal, the men,
bers of this faction have given strength and
courage 10 traitors, and by their conduct prov
ed themselves the most insidious aud dangerous
foes of the Union. Recent events, however.
have demonstrated the continued attachment
of the patriotic masses of all parties, to the
perpetuity Of our free institutions; and shown
that they cannot be deceived BY mere pretences
of loyalty, or misled BY the cry of peace,
when there is no honorable or permanent peace,
short of vigorous and successful war;
Systematically opposing every measure yet
devised for successful prosecution Of the war,
and having no mode Of their own for an hon.
| orable solution Of existing troubles, these NAL
contents seek 70 justify their course by Great.
| ing distinction between the Government and
| its Administration confronting US with the
novel doctrine that the Government is the Con
! stitution and the institutions founded thereon.
while the Administration is merely the agents
| Oh sen by the people, and responsible to them.
| Assuming to act upon this theory, they claim
the right to oppose the latter, while pretending
| to support and maintain the former.
Tnis dangerous paradox is fit companion OF
the doctrine of +" State Rights" which held the
| American Union TO be only a league between
| sovereign States, diss0lvable ct their will; and
| that the citizen owed . paramount allegiance to
his State, and only q subordinate one to the
Federal Governments doctrine which, al.
though denounced by the stern old leaders Of
democracy, as destructive Of the Union, vet
i Al "a. A.
the Southern mind and, finally, eliminated in
| the crime Of treason.
1t needs but word of refutation. do but
adopt the idea of great writer, when saw,
that our free, written Constitution is not gov.
ernment, but the warrant and representative oil
Government. 1t is not power, but the symbol
OF power, and will in any emergency, prove
altogether uspless, unless the power for which
it sta, DIS be forthcoming Where does this
power reside Not in e Constitution, nor in
any OF he coordinate del artments created BY
it nor in the people, but in all combined.
These constituent elements cOmpose the Gov
ernracnt. the powers Of which are exercised
| through its constitutionaly agents, the legisa.
| tive, executive and judicial departments,
Without these, the powers defined in the Con
slitution could not be appropriately exercised
and without them, it is obvious, we should
have no government. Therefore, to strike at
any OF these is to injure the Government itself
to the full extent of the blow.
The President Of the United States, Tor the
time being, is the Supreme Executive of the
Nation. the chosen agent Of the people, the
| pilot who guides the ship Of State The ID.
| erty of speech, and Of the press, guaranteed by
the Constitution, is formidable only to the en-.
mics of liberty, in its broader and more extend.
ed sense. The right to freely discuss the af
fairs of Government, and critcise the acts OF
its agents is fundamental to liberty, and cannot
| safely be denied
To all this fully subscribe. But the right
| claimed by some, to oppose the execution Of
the laws, and, by factious opposition, to thwart
the President in the discharge of his high du-
| ties, at SO important a juncture. is subversive
of all liberty, and RICH: which belongs to trea-
son only.
Again. the war policy Of the Government
has been continuously denounced. as subversive
| of the rights of the South, and in violation of
the Federal Constitution. 1t is reasonable to
presume that these men have either forgotten,
or never known, that Abraham Lincoln is not
only President of the United States, charged
with the execution Of ci,il power, but also
COMMANDMENT Chief Of the Amy and Navy of
the Union, aud thereby clothed with the Uav
power Of the Government. In the exercise of
his civil functions, he is guided by the plain
language of the Constitution, which defines the
limits Of his power, and beyond this he cannot
go; but in the discharge Of his duties as CON-
mander-in-chief in time Of war, he is governed
only by the laws Of war, as recognized among
civilized nations, and such other restrictions us
Congress and the people may impose. Deriv-
ing his authority by appointment Of the Con.
stitution, lie is thereby vested with all the