Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1865-06-30
Hanging and Confiscation.

i The Ienalty of treason is death; and
while we DOUBT the constitutionality of the
Confscation Act as passed by Congress, it
may be conceded that forfeiture of property
is one Of the liabilities incurred by those
who can be proven to be traitors. Starting
with these premises, considerable portion
of the people of the North have determined
that the re is only one conclusion to be reach
ed, and that is that great number Of men
must be hanged and hundreds of thousands
of acres of land must be confscated. They
say, that if MIR. Davis and General Lee had
resisted the authority Of the Federal Gov
eminent at the he& Of fifty or hundred
mcn, they would unauestionably have been
brought to trial. and that it only makes the
matter worse that they were the leaders of
many hupdred thousands.
This statement they Seem to think eS>
haust the argument. We do not propose
to discuss these points. No reasoning
would probably have any effect upon those
persons who can see no difference between
tie most gigantic civil war on record and
the John Brown raid, and who would, at
the end of a prolonged contest, signalized
on both sides by innumerable feats of hero
ism, have the Southern soldiers indicted for
assault and battery, or tresspass. We fan
cy that if any such soldier should be tried
at Gettysburg for shooting at Federal troops
in the memorable battles of the LIST, Ind
and Bird of July, 1868, he would be-pretty
sure of an acquittal, if any Pennsylvania
soldiers who participated in the fg hts should
be upon the jury.
But our present business is with the fu-
ture rather than the past. In view OF the
fact that proceedings have. been initiated
against the persons and property of many
Of the citizens Of be Southern States, 1t be-,
hooves us to look to the effect OF such q
policy upon the prosperity of the country,
The condition Of the South is bad enough
already, A new labor system is to be Or
ganizcd, railroads and manufactures are to
be rebuilt, vast tracts Of land which have
relapsed int wildernesses must be again
enclosed and brought under cultivation,
and all this is to be done by people who
are nearly bankrupt, and when the able
bodied part Of the population has just been
Largely diminished by the casualties OF war.
At such a moment comes the rumor that
the con6scation law is to be rigidly enforce
I ed. This is sufficient notice to eight-tenths
of the property holders of the insecurity Of
tbeir titles, and they feel at once that any
further outlay of energy OF money may be
altogether wasted Now, the North u.s.. Of
course, looking to the South to pay her
portion of the national debt; and it will be
some time. under the most favorable cir
cumstanees, before the latter can respond
to the demands of the tax gatherer. What
must be- the result if rigorous policy is
insisted on which altogether checks the ef-
forts her people are willing to make to re-
store their oldcn prosperity.
Again, it may be assumed that itis very
desirable that the people Of the two sections
should live in harmony together. Proceed
ings have already been instituted in Rich
mond against the property Of three hundred
persons, and the officers Of the law are daily
bringing new actions. If the same course
is pursued in all the other judicial districts
of the South, what must b the inevitable
result? A bitter feeling of hostility will
be engendered towards the North such as
was never developed during the war, and
hundreds or thousands of men will be driv-
en- to the extreme of recklesaness and des-
peration. A great many patriots will say
that Southern rebels deserve all that can
happen to them. We do not intend to dis
4 cuss that question either. We simply pres
sumo that the sensible men in the North
desire, if only for the sake Of their own sec :
ton, the prosperity of the South, and that
they wish to live amicably, if not in friend
ship, with their late foes. How can this
be accomplished Certainly not by Great
ing wide spread disafectlon and despair
throughout all the country stretching from
the Potomac to the Gulf. The question at
issue touches the pacifcation Of nation,
and we earnestly submit that it ought not
to be determined by those who reg I'd the
matter in the light Of street riot.-Buh.
| Gazette.