The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1864-05-04

BY weak. vascilIating and unscrupulous
man war destroys instead Of maintaining
the Union. Constitution and organic law;
civil liberty and personal security are
forced To yield to what is claimed to bs .
military necessity, and the Gsvernnent
itself, in the brief period Of three short
years. 10 to-day vergi,g On the very brink
of ruin.
am we'll aware. sir, that the cry of dis
loyalty, want Of patriotism and lack Of Dc.
votion to the Government, which 10 in cv-
cry place and at all times raised against
those who have the independence to disap-
prove Of any Of the acts Of Mr.. Lincoln, as
we'll - an ihordinate desire for Govern
ment patronage, frsm the building Of .
steamship and a shoddy contract. down to
the Insignificant position Of taking charge
Of mutilated and Deprecated EreenbacLs
in the Treasury Building. has changed the
opinion Of many men, but the fixed princi-
Piles Of free Government as we'll as the
rules of right, reason, justice and truth are
unchangeable ; and. although it may be un-
popular and even at the risk Of personal Ii
berty in times like the present. to sdvs-
cate them, they are nevertheless eternal
and immutsbIe.
WHAT IS THR POSITION OF TINE CONFEDERATE
STATES IN THIS WAR!
The distinguished gentleman from Penn
sylyania (Mr. Stevens) who stands upon
this floor and before the countrJ as an ac-
knewledged leader Of the Administration
party, has had the honesty and indepen-
dence, in a speech delivered at an early
part Of the session, to announce what he
holds to be the true position Of the Con.
federate States. He says:
"Some think that these States are still
in the Union and entitled to the prstec-
tion Of the Constitution and the laws of the
United States"
This idea he At once repudiates. and thea
bsldly afErms that which he holds to bs the
true doctrine.
"Others hold that having committed
treason. renounced their allegiance to the
Unisn, discarded the Constitution and
laws. organized a distinct and hostile gs-
vernment. and by force Of arms have risen
from the condition Of insurgeats to the po-
sition Of an independent pswer, de Jacfo;
and having been acknowledged as a belli-
grrent both BY foreign nations and our swa
government, the Constitution and the Uni
on are abrogited, 50 far as they are con-
cernsd, and that IS between the two belli-
gerents they are under the laws Of war and
the laws Of nations alone, and that which.
ever power conquers may treat vanquished
as conquered provinces, and may impose
upon them such conditions and laws as il
may deem best" N
10 answer to any objection that may be
raised to this position, he says:
"But il is said that this must be con-
sidered q contest with rebel individuals
only, as States in the Union cannot make
war that is true SO long as they remain in
the Union; but they claim to be out of the
Union, and the very fact that we have ad-
mitted them to be in state Of war, to be
belligerents, shows that they are no longer
in the Union, and that they are wagiag
war in their corporate name of the Con-
federate States. and that sych major corpo-
ration 10 composed of minor corporations
called States, acting in their associated
character. I
When an insurreetion becomes suff-
cien.ly formidable to entitle me party to
bslligerent rights. il places the contending
Powers on precisely the same footing az
foreign nations at war with each ether.
"No one acquainted with the magnitude
Of this contest can deny 10 il the character
Of civil war. Por nearly three years the
Confederate States have maintained their
declaration Of Independence by force Of
arms.
"What, then, is the effect Of this public
war between these belligerents, these fo-
reign naiionss Before this war the parties
w,re bo1nd together BY . compact. by a
treaty called a Constitution Tt,y &C
4 no.sIalcad 4bo val;d,t,, .g .:r.i n, 80