Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-03-15

Selling and apropriang of citizens by the
hs an sn sec to te liabilities or
destroyed the property of the only government nav
ing at the time, dominion over the land
The laws of a country, submitting to conquering SOW
eregn of separate and distinct kngdom can, when sus
annulled, and new system of laws inaugurated Our
President, Federal Government stand in no such posi-
ton possess such power, and acts, based on the
assumption u '''n p'"'' A"'' ~ GEO. HOWARD,
Chairman.
Many years ago, in General Washington's day,
arose the first internal trouble of the United
States. We allude to the whisky insurrection in
Pennsylvania. It was prior, we believe to Shay s
rebellion in New England. Both of these rebel
lions were quelled without trouble and full his
tory of them, and of the law OF treason, as laid
down by the men who framed the Constitution,
will be found in Wharton's State Trials-the only
volume of State Trials the United States as yet
boasts. As curiosities of literature and memoir
ais of past age-as the opinions and views OF
antquated fogies who were behind the tlmes-1t
may be well for the enlightened men and lawyers
of the present day to recur to these State trials
certainly not for information do not insinuate
| SO fragrant an insult. They will there find the
opinion of that illustrious Virginan, Mr.. Attorney
| General Edmund Randolph, on what constitutes
treason, and the rights of the States and it was
he unquestionably more than any other man
of that day, who participated most prominently
in the framing and structure of the Federal Con-
stitution as it stood before the late war. His
as those of Judge Thomas Mexican, and other
Pennsylvania iurists and lawyers who were en-
gagged in the trial of the whisky insurrectionists
who resisted the excise laws of the United States
in Western Pennsylvania. These eminent irrists
and statesmen of the North in those cases lay
down the doctrine which is commonly known as
State Rights" very broadly, and in a way which
would doubtless greatly shock some of their de-
scendants at Philadelphia or Harrisburg in the
present day. However, the whisky riot was
quoted mainly by the great prudence and good
sense of Gen. Washington and his advisers.
But whisky will keep making trouble whether
in the domestic or social circle or in political
economy or government whether in the abstract
OF concrete, it is exciting There is one right in
this land of liberty of ours that the refined and
polished free and independent American citizen
must have, and that is the right to drink when he
peases. You might suspend the writ of hu6e0s
corpus for many man you might reduce the
''intelligent voter to the condition of Thaddeus
of Warsaw, Kossuth the chronic garlicky Ital
ian patriot damning the Austrans, and you would
not be treading ON near as dangerous ground, nor
Infringing half dear privilege, as if you cir
cumscribed or abridged his liberty to liquor
Beranger said, we believe, that if he could but
make the national songs for a people, he could do
with them as he pleased. We say let make
toddies for them. But remarks apply more
particularly to eye Western land-the great
Northwest-inhabited by people of every nation
and language under the srn-Buck-eyes Hoo
siers Pukes, Hawk-eyes, Suckers Danes, Dutch
dans, with some fe,O Yankees. There free drinks
lin consequence of the frequency of elections and
free dstilleres before the war, the rule and
the privilege of making and drinking liquor al
lowed the largest liberty. No excise, no internal
revenue laws cramped whiskys expansive power.
The smoke from the chimnies of thousands of dstil
eries marked the prairie and gladdened the eye of
the thirsty traveller he whipped his tired trotter
over the dusty road. But now the smoke from
those affairs of Baal no longer rolls up towards
Heaven. The fires have gone out, the doors of
the distilery and brewery are closed, and the pro-
prietor walks about &c like who treads ban
quet hall deserted. Hoosiers and suckers, who,
ii lew weeks ago. were fine, pOrty, rosy-cheeked
men, to have collapsed and dried up, 50
much SO as to be obliged to ballast themselves to
prevent their being blown away by the high winds
on the prairies. And the Sioux Cheyennes,
Blaclkfeet and other friendly tribes, in danger
of becoming total abstinence men. Many in
valid and sick woman ALWAYS sick when they have
not got whisky are suffering for their bitters.
Now we do not wish to alarm any one, nor to
raise the price of this article to many the staff
of life but it is a fact that the distileries and
breweries from Maryland to Minnesota are doing
very little. All through the West they are being
closed by the government,revenueo officers for yio-
lation of it's laws. In Huron county, Ohio great
distillng country, there is not distery but what
has been thus stopped. In Iowa, Indiana, and
Illinois, the cheeseman's magic wand has been wa
we'd with wonderful effect, and numberless frauds
to enormous extent practiced the government
tilleries being "disloyal" not having paid the
tax, were seized upon, and millions of dollars of
mater ial and high wines forfeited to the govern
ment. These admirable proceedings have, how
ever, created great discomfort amongst the whis-
ky-making, whisky drinking people out West.
Deep the imprecations of the Macs and the Os
at the suppression Of their stills and the confisca-
ton of their property. AS for the Hans and the
Ottos, when they behold United States Marshal
walking off with the keys of their beer cellars, it
is more than German nature can bear. With the
most uncouth oaths, they stamp and rage, and
dance around though bitten by tarantula;
across the Father of Waters. AS for the numerous
and industrious crowds of beer bummers they set
them down by the shore and weep. As the in
former gets half the penalty, there is hope of
any release; the grasp is closer than that of grim
death to defrnct African. The natural results
are that the frauds enormous and great discon
tent exists on the subject. At the present Con-
gress extraordinary efforts have been made to have
the tax of two dollars per gallon reduced but it
has not succeeded, and probably will not, as there
a large number of total abstinence men in the
lower house, and no people hate drinking more
than reformed topers.-RicA. Times,
President Johnson.s Policy.
Throughout the Northern States the democrats |
loudly applauding Andrew Johnson The |
chairman of the Pennsylvania democratic central
committee has issued an address in which, having |
stated that the democracy of that State had an |
nounced their "uaeluioOcM endorsement Of tie res
Orotion policy Of President Johnson" he makes the
following appeal to them
"Organize to sustain the President to sustain |
your principles, to restore the Union, to vindi- |
cate the supremacy of you race &c. |
In the same spirit in which the address from