Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1864-01-23
Gov. seymour on National Affair.".
From the New York Times

syn1pathies are stu with the rebellion n
discusses national affairs at length and w;tL
ea1nes tness; but-a1l his zeal, all his rhetor;o
All bis arguments, are aimed at the Cove
fne1it of the q nited States. His whole SOIL
IS enlisted in the effort to degrade that Coz
eminent in the estimation Of the world =
representa- as unpatriotic, ignorant. reeklasS
selfish and tyrannical; to alarm the count
by exaggerated pictures of the ruin il i
bringing upon-it; to array public passion
against its action--and thus to cripple and
paralyze its endeavors to suppress the rebaI
lion, and conquer just and permanent peace
In this as In his previous message Gov. Ser.
mour has nothing whatever to say in ~
demnation of the rebellion, nor does he taI-o
into account in a single instance those acts &c
the rebel authorities which have comneIls5
our Governments TO persevere in the exeTt;o15
of force for the restoration of peace IT.
charges the Government with prolonginv tbo
war for selfish, partisan and vindictiye mr..
poses-and with refusing to,avail itself of a.
alleged readiness, on the part of the rebels
to lay down their arms and resume their ~
legiance to the Constitution 1t would 10
difficult to believe Gov. Seymour serions i,
these allegations, if his whole official caraor
had not proved his readiness to act upon Then,
Gov. Seymour arraigns the authorities for
the most high-handed acts of usurpation nc
which any Government can be guilty. n
enumerates the measures it has adopted nm
der the pressure of. the terrible emeroeDc,.
which the rebellion forced upon it. He Gov.
cedes that they have been sustained bv Tho
army, and acquiesced in by the peonle
"This revolution" he adds, "if perIaoneo9.
accepted, must be recognized as an overthrox
of the established and cherished princinIos
of government" Why does Gov. Sevmors
studiously and steadily ignore what he kpnw,
to be the fact, that all these measures ba,a
been adopted avowedly and only as excar
tional measures, justified solely by an ovar
whelming emergency for which nevertheless
the Constitution made distinct provision
Does he .believe-or does he hope To male
anybody else belieye-that our Government
has ever dreamed for a single instant Of NAL
| ing these measures "permanent," of per.
manently suspending the privilege of haJeas
corpus, or introducing into the regular and
ordinary administration of affairs the system
| of arbitrary arrests, of imposing test oatbs or
any of the other extraordinary acts to which
| the necessities of the nation have comneled
it for the moment to resort? Unless bis
| judgment has been strangely warped BY the
pressure upon him of responsibilities IN
/ l
| sible that he should entertain any such ideas
He knows that all these things have been
| done in the interest of the nation and for it,
salvation from those who sought its destruc-
| ton. And if he does not know, every sepsi.
/ bic person does know, that the moment peace
| is restored and the supremacy of the Consti.
tuition re-established, the personal rights of
| individuals and the local rights of conmupi.
ties viii again be sacredIy and rigidIy main
tanned. r
Gov. Seymour looks to a different process
| for'attaining this result He saws:
elf these measures of military, political
and financial consolidation break dom, their
| failure will show the wisdom Of the constitu
| ton in withholding from the General Govern
ment powers it cannot exercise wisely and
| well and Il WW establish tie rights Of States
upon bases firm and uldtsp1ded, and Will make
the General Government strong by combining
it to its proper jurisdiction. In the end We
shall return to the principles from which we
have been drifting
Gov Seymour seeks to Establish the
rights of the States by ''Jreaking dom, the
measures Of the Government. 1t is sher
Z" failure" which is to restore the country to
| the enjoyment of constitutional liberty. This
is an Ineligible and, for Gov. Seymour
| frank, avowal of his wish and purpose to
"break down the government in the meas
ures it adopts for suppressing the rebellion.
But suppose he succeeds what is TO become
| of the Union II ne breaks down the Gov
eminent, what effect will that have on the
rebel Confederacy? Either Gov. Seymour is
quite Indifferent TO this aspect of the case, or
else he is under some strange haIlucination as
to the effect of his cherished project 1t
seems quite evident to common sense that if
the rebellion is to be crushed at all il must
be done by the General Government, and
that the effort of the Government to crush it
is to be aided by supporting its measures
rather than by breaking them down.
Gov. Seymour utters Il great many true md
sensible sentiments on the general subject of
government, and on the temper and spirit
which should preside over all attempts to re-
construct the Union. We agree with him in
deprecating the performance of personal or
party passion, and in the absolute necessity
for awise, temperate and magnanimous states
manship for the successful close of this great
contest. But we see neither wisdom nor JUS
tice,-neither principle nor pohey,-in the
application which he would make of these
maxims TO the present condition of our public
affairs. We see, no warrant for his implied
assumption that the war is over, and that no
further exercise of force, or of moral and
material pressure is necessary for quelling the
rebellion. We do not believe in the Wisdem
of breaking down the Government just as it
is beginning to succeed in breaking down the
instruction. Nor have we the slightest faith
in the sentimentalism by which Gov. Sey-
mour would WOO men who are putting forth
every possible effort to sever the Union and
overthrow the Constitution. The time may
come when this treatment will be appropriate,
but it has not come yet, nor will it be fastened
by such action as Gov. Seymour advises.