The Burlington weekly hawk-eye., 1864-06-25
From Alabama.

OECAI y Il. ALA.s ull0 Az, 1SO4.
EDITOR HAwK-EYE:-Yeeterday's dai.
lies from Nash lille brought US the well
come intelligence Of the denomination Of
Abraham Lincoln tc the Presidency for the
four years ensuing March 4th, 1866. say
the :reLco-e intelligence, because, although
some OF Us believe that Salmon p. Chase
possesses more executive ability than per-
haps any living man of the age, in this or
any other country, set, fer many reasons
Lincoln is the man for the present crisis.
The one-:erra principle 10 a very pretty
theory, and. in times OF peace, certainly
has many things to commend it: but at
such q crisis as the present, at least, it
strikes Ice as not only net wise IN states-
n,anshiP, but suicidal IN its practical re-
suits. For the same reasons for which l
would deprecate a change, at this crisis, in
the Executive officer. would also depre-
cate change, for the next four wears, in
the control OF the Treasury Department.
Indeed. she uld fear q greater calamity to
the country from change here than in the
Executive. The condition of this nation
for the 2e1t four years, and perhaps for
many years to come, wiN depend arore apon
the Gbttity Of ire Necsetory of the Treasury
tko, ttdt Of ire Executive. Such, at least,
is the feeling Of many Of US ic the army.
The Cleveland Convention was certain
~ singular ccAglcmeration Of hitherto
discOrdant elements, suggesting to ones g
mind, very sorciblv. the song Of Macheth's 8
witches:
''Blacls SPIRITS and white,
Red spirits and grey,
Mingie, n1ingle. mingle.
You that nlingle nay"
Let me drop you > hint, however, 10 re-
honest and Conscientious. however nois-
taken in their policy. such men are nev-
er to be b0dcered out o. q position once
deliberately taken. Those who are dis
honest, will not be reached by any means.
To tell these nen that every vote cast for
Fremont, is vote for the Copperheads,
may be true enough in theory and in fact,
and yet may fall far short of convincing
them that they ought to vote for Lincoln,
because it is not necessary logical e0nclu-
sion. With just such arguments (!) the
Wings Of lS44-52 were accustomed to treat
the Liberty men and Free Sellers 0d nGu-
sea, and never succeeded in converting q
could net penetrate the shallcwness of the
sophistry had not brains enough 70 be a
Liberty man.
Now imagine the position OF the hcnesl
portion Of these Clevelanders is inst this:
They lock upon the extinction Of slavery
as fact to be accomplished in the pre-
gress of this war, by the inevitable Sat OF
Presidential contest. But they imagine
that they see in the administration Of Mr.
Lincoln, a strong tendency to certralize
the powers of the government, ard use
the sycr pcwer for this purpose. And II
must not be forgotten, that some of Mr.,
Lincoln's warmest friends, have character
| lied his appointment Of Military Gov
erners as . userpat;on CT powers not be-
longing to the Executive.
Now, 90 not adopt the conclusions O.
these men, by any means-rnuch less their
fedrs-yet do believe that all encroach.
ments of Executive power can never Le
watched too vigilantly, ere, IN acar. twas
two hundred years after the Last vestige Of
Eepubllcanism had vanished from Rome
before the nation discovered the fact
When they did make the discovery, it was
| too late to correct their error.
So far rs these men err in fact ,ot fba;~
errors be cancidly corrected. What is Wis
ionary Ia theory can never seriously iniure
any one. For myself, believe the errors
ottnis Administration have been sImest Al