The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-01-23
How the Rebellion is Sustained.


II the Journals Of the South truly refiec,
the state of society, and the condition Of az
fairs generally, i'll the American Dahomey
then the rebellion is in It's last throes. The
death rattle is in its throat, and the time is
not far distant when the huge monster
must give its last kick. and sink, with all
its chief props, down irto the gull Of dam
nation. II has been a stupendous fraud
and lie from the beginning. The gascon-
ad,ng homilies thrown out from time 70
time in the shape OF proclamations from
King Jeff, have been mere shamS full OF
deception. The war agains. the govern
ment was commenced by people run mad
with passion. The scheyGe of secession " as
concocted when the brains of the conspira-
tors were filled with whisky, and it has to
this day been upheld and sustained by the
distilleries Of the South. Excessive indul-
gence produces a wild delirium, and the
votaries Of treason have committed excess
es which men in their sober senses certain
ly would never have been guilty Of One
o. the most fatal indications of the decay OF
the rebellion is the announcement recently
made in Richmond paper, that whisk y
was selling for one dollar and fifty cents
per dram. When it is disposed of at such
an enormous price, the supply must be
short, and when It gives out, up goes jeff.
and his brotherhood of traitors. Under
the elevating influence Of frequent drains,
the loafer begins TO imagine himself a lord.
Hence the growth of the belief down South
in the theory of ruling race" and the
denunciatiOn OF PUritanical soberness as a
badge of servitude. Hence the wild idea OF
getting the powers Of the Old World to
yield to leading strings of cotton, and per-
suading Christen0Om that whips, manacles
auction blocks and the denominations of
breeding blacks for the market were SYM
bols OF true liberty and q higher civiliza-
ton. Hence the insane assumption that
the millions Of the North would not ven-
Slavery furnished the motive for rebel
lion; corn juice and ignorance were the
ready agencies Of conspiracy. Numerous
columns written by eye-witnesses, have
told the world how the sage cOunsels OF So
Der men in Dixie were disregarded, as the
bowls and rawlings Of Infatuated mobs
frightened bare majority of various Con-
ventions into the passage of ordinances of
secession. The mobs consisted of poor
whites, marshalled and maddened by
cross-road politicians, and whisky was
burning the brains of them all. Richmond
was furiously drunk when the ordinance
of secession was passed, and those men,
bers OF the Convention who, true to the
pledges Of their election, voted to stand by
the old flag were forced to flee for their
lives. The liberal flow Of whisky recruit
has consoled the rebel soldier under the
hardships and perils of many q campaign.
Short rations and ragged clothing might
be endured, provided the flow Of grog was
regular and abundant. And now the pre-
cious liquor-the inspiring JUICES one
dollar and half per drink. Can the Com
sederacy sGrvice this calamitous drought?
II will never do to allow the delnded
masses to become entirely sober, or to suf-
fer from the reaction after protracted
spree. Either might be fatal to the leaders
Of the revolt. Talk Of tho nitre, coal and
wheat Of East Tennessee being ofvital inn
portance to the Confederacy! These things
are Injuries compared with whisky.
Without the regular supply of grog, the
soldier will disband himself.
the Richmond editors will cease to brag,
swagger and threaten, and there will be
soberness" to penetrate every hamlet in
Dixie. How can an editor in the rebel
Capital continue to maintain the delusion
that the South has gained all the Victories
without the stimulant that gives such con-
lor-wings to imagination? How can the
Of the tripod, while our armies
are graphing the throat, and in the ele-
CANT language Of Southern journal ARE
erking the ''guts out OF the Confederacy,"
write with the imperial air of a conqueror
he terms upon which the poor Yankee
nay enjoy the boon of peace, ifthe aftlatus
20 wanting? How can the loss of cities
md territory be shown to strengthen the |
of a Confederate triumph, i'll
he spiritual consolation which makes the |
oeggar as happy as king on his throne be |
lenied.
Prentice, although to all intents and pur-