Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-08-02
For the Daily State Sentinel.


Constitution 70 designate slavery. When there
fore rnen are conscripted and forced to serve il
she ranks of an army, they are reduced TO a state
OF slavery: for the service eSacted Is iaTolun-f
tary. Here the gross Inconsistency : manifest
Of those who are jealous agaiDs; African slave.
~, but who can see nothing wrong in conscript-
ing and reducing white men in the North. who
have always been free, 10 far worse form OF sla-
very than domestic seryitude;-wOrse, because
conscTiption ensaves lot only the bodies, but /
the condolences OF men, by attempting 10 com
pei them to take human lives in wars which they
may not believe 20 be right. Aud ali must adj
mt that both Congress and a majority Of the /
peaplc may err IN deciding whether war Is s i
righteous one OF not. ConscFipti0n j. the most +
severe also OF the two forms Of slavery: for the /
conscript who fails to serve i threatened with +
death, while the African slave for a similar Of i
fence receives a lighter punishment.
But IL - said that the government require
this. and must be Obeyed. Now il is the govern
ment the State government, in a slave State
that requires the African slave To obey his
ter, and the State government is the only power
authorized to regulate its domestic affairs. Why
then is it held that the command Of a govern
ment In the former case is mere sacred than ,in
the latter Aud which is the worst, that man
should be compelled to give up the proceeds OF
bis labor. or that he should be required both to
endure involuntary servitude of his BODY, aud to
incur the danger OF eternal perdition by shedding
human blood in a war which he believes TO be
wrong. or by employing a substitute to do SOL
BIgoted rulers who tyranize over the con-
sciences OF men, hate nothing much a. that
men should really have consciences. 1t a man
saws tina. be will submit TO fines, imprisonment
| or to be placed at some harmless work. ii a gov
eminent requires it; but that he cannot, contrary
to his sense of right, take human life in this war,
/ nor employ substitute 20 DO so; such mar j
threatened with death as deserter; whereas, II
he commits an Infamous crime he is only sent to
penitentiary for few years And it i eS
| pressy provided IN the cOnscriptiOn law that II
| man is convicted of an infamous crime, he shat
| be exempted from military service The great
e., ohense in the sight Of the present Admins
traiOn would seem to be that of having a cor
! science The eonscTiption law addresses Itself
| thus 10 those whose consc!ences Gsapprove oi
| the wsr:--f you will violate Your conscience by
engaging ia the war. by employing 4 substi-
tute 10 do so. yOu shall not be punished; Or IL
| you will only commit some Infamous crime, thus
abandoning conscience. yOnT life shall be spared;
| but ii Won are determined 10 keep YOUR cOnsc
ence pure IN this matter, YOU shall suffer death
| Or whatever penalty court martial orders II
| i evident that Sstau rules Ihe hour; lor neither
| the Almighty. nor b.y V'',i> Of his. would en-
| ac, - spfrevc of -uch laws these permitting
honest persons "a 20 oar ., !es'I tor fesrin.
| him more than they tepr Iaau
| 1t caunoi be forgotten hat NAM 80 The lead
| ers of the Administration par once advocate!
the higher lsw' 81 conscience. Lpt it tleir ere
sent doctrines are correct, they might II n an the
whole duty Oi in these few word--.Obe,
| the government ia all thing: yon are only al
lowed to heed The checks OF conscience when the
government permits YOU Ia 70 so;' or. in Other
| words, Tie government i God or rather,
| There i no God > for the legitimate result OF
such principles is 1fheism the war clergy in
stead oi employing themselves in attempting To-
| save souls, use, directly or indirectly, the
machinery 1T human governments TO destroy
souls
II i NJ rev slug tor prosecutors 10 shield
themselve- behind governments First, their 10.
tolerance causes permits governments To per
secutc honest men, and then they attempt 10 re-
I move the responsibility from their own shoulders
and place il upon government, whereas it Is
only their agent and instrument. In all ages
prosecutors have claimed that they were only
! supporting the government When the Sa
yi0ur Of mankind wac cruciel, those mo cru
CITED him only supporting the govern
ment'--only executing the sentence given by
I Plate, who was TIC representative of the Roman
government.
! Ii government" were necessarily, according
u the theory and practice of the administration
party. blind, inhuman, unreasOnng, conscience
less. remOrseiess, destructive machines. more dan
gerous to upright men than To the di,hoest, then
II would toe far better that We had no general
government 1T all. Where the territory of a
State Is not 0f unreasonable extent, these evil
qualities 10 not often manifest themselves, for
States have usually some natural regard for their
own children; and the intimate relations existing
between their inhabitants render forbearance ex-
pedent on the par: of all. But the power now
exercised by the administration party over the
United States, call il by whatever name you will
is more dangerous to honest hearted men than to
dishonest ones, Tor the latter always ready to
profess any opinions, or To do ANYTHING that will
secure their own safety.
The idea that the present is wrong cannot
be considered absurd. because many OF the lead
ing administration papers, before the beginning
of the war, condemned any attempt to continae
the Union by force of Upon this point,
their logic good then and Is good now. Some
of them contended that the principle in the Dec
lnratiOn of Independence OF the thirteen colonies
OF Great Britain, in 1916, was correct one
that governments derive their just powers only
from the consent of the governed--and that il
three millions of people were entitled TO the ben.
eft OF this principle Of natural equity in 1916,
greater number of people IN the Southern States
were entitled to il in 1860, no matter whether the
cause of their revolution, in moral point of
view. Was sufficient or insufficient: and that as
they had natural right to a separate govern
ment if they wished it. il was not right To subju
I eaee tuein, although tney uu not ADMIT tnat ~
was morally proper for them 10 exercise thar nat
ural right in the present instance
We have in addition. aso. the opinions of the
wisest statesmen, of different parties, that Amer
lea has produced. expressed from time TO time.
since the revolution of l1.6, against the propr-
ETY. and against the prsc,icability of such wars AZ
the present one. But men are how sentenced to
death by the United States authorities because
they couscentously adhere a doctrine which,
not majority merely, but every one of the
founders of the American Republic declared to
be not only truth, bat self evident truth
THAT governments derive their Just towers from
the consent OF the governed
\ FEtE>D o. LIBERTY
atR .xNS COHRE~P0> DENtE