The Hillsborough recorder., 1864-10-19

cry possible po~er Of 4 national centralized
military despotisms Suppose there were
no States, only provinces, and unlimited
power was conferred upon you and Con-
gress, what greater powers would you ex-
ereise than you now do? Have we not
carried conseription to its last limitsf Is
not. every man in the country between II
and SO subject TO military authorityi None
are exempt except upon considerations Of
public interest. Have we not been COM
pelled to lay direct taxes in the very teeth
Of the theory OF the Consiitutions Have
we not issued such vast amounts Of paper
money as to unsettle oil valuesf Have we
not compelled the holders Of our paper
money TO fund il, or lose one-thirdf Have
we not seized all the railroadsi Have we
not destroyed railroads aud built others?
Have we not established an universal sys-
TEN Of impressment OF property, at our
swn prices, in our own money! Have We
not established government monopoly of
the expectations OF the great staples Of the
countrys Have We not forbidden the i'm
portation OF uxurlesf Have we not com.
PEELED those whom we permit to remain at
home, To execute bonds TO furnish their
products to US at our .pricess Have we
not suspended the writ OF habeas corpus !?
Have we not introduced the passport sys.
TEN, which, we used TO think. belonged
exclusively to the irsn despotisms OF Eu-
ropes In short, has not our Federal 20
yernment done every thing that central,
lied military despetism coald do? Indeed
Eif you were appointed Military Dictator,
what greater powers wsuld you exercise
than you new des Iallude to these things
not 10 complain Of them, but 10 lament
them. II ysu tell me they are necessary,
| reply that is precisely my argument. My
argument assumes and requires that neces.
sity. Ii is plain that our government ex-
ercises the powers OF a central despotism.
il blame no enc for il. am sure those who
ara at the head OF the government would
gladly have Il otherwise. but necessity
compels the course they have taken. But
shall be told. perhaps. this necessity is
limited to the war. and when peace returns
we will 20 back to our old state of liberty.
That depends upon the kind of peace. A
peace without reconciliation carries in its
bosom the seeds of new wars. This armed
peace and its offspring war would iasten
upon US permanently . central military
despotism. II is common to hsar il said
tina. the United States have gone ints des-
, potism. II 50, then il is very sad truth
for Us, for that would develop their maxi
mum military power, and would, Of course,
necessitate the same thing in the sane
| way on our part. The truth is. we are vi.
tally interested in the preservation Of free
institutions in the Northern States. be-
cause the people Of the United States will
. not make their own institutions. but they
will make ours. If they acquire their
| maximum military strength by going into
despotism, we must do the same, just ss II
they we're TO originate new and overpow-
: eringly destructive medes Of warfare, We
. would have 10 resort to the same or be-
] overwhelmed. Some persons Of intelli-
, sence concede that the Northern people
: have gone into despotism. but ridicuIe the
+ idea Of such calamity befalling Us. Te
such would reply, We are but human be-
Iinss. not Gods. and We acted upon neces-
: sliy As other people. The truth Is, that
$ the government at Washington has not
/ dared to exercise power on the grand scale
Q that our government has. The Lincoln
: government has not sentured 70 resort 10
an effective consc! iption; it has no, re-.
; sorted to taxation as we have; il has no
! tar in kind; il does not prohibit imports
: i does not monopolze the exports; il does
5 not rely on impressments. Ii plays the
. tyrant, but il hesitates to seize the scsp.
: ire.
$ think have established nv PROPOSE.
: tion, that our Republican institutions are
q lost unless We have peace accompanied
by harmony with the North. The great
' question for US then is: How are We 10 OBJ
E tain such a peacei
: Before 1 consider this question. would