The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1867-07-18
Notes on tho SituatiOn.-No, q
BY HON. B. II. HILL, OF GEORGIA.

OF all the preteXts which have been
used to justify the oppression of tho
Southern people, none is so faithlessin
character, or so destitute offoundatioO
in truth and law, rs the one that thu
Southern States and people, being con.
qucred, %are.euhiect to the will of the
conqueror, 1t is time our people fully
understood this question. They need
the information to protect them from
the very deceptive purposes of their
own active Southern born counsellors
We might be surprised at the ignorance,
if we did not know the treachcry of the
motives, of those who, in this day Of
civilization, labor so earnestly to fix in
the minds Of our people the idea that
where one party yields to another in a
war, the yielding party submits there
by all rights Of person and property
and of political government to the will
Of the c%onqueror.' And that such ad,
vice should be given by those among
us who profess TO be actuated for our
good can be explained only on the n.y.
pothesis that the real purpose is to be-.
tray for q consideration.
The late war was either a rebellion,
or it was a civil war, or it was u for.
eign war. Each name has its advo
Gates. Others, again, give the war eli
Their or all these characters by turns,
as the giving Of either or all can be sup.
posed to justify some oppression to the
unsuccessful party to the conflict. !
shall not'stop to prove that it was,
what history can only call it, a civil
war. Whether it was the II or the
other, there is no question in all inter
national or municipal law better settled,
or settled on more manifest foundations
of natural reason, social justice and
public faith, than is the question Of
rights and powers Of the c%onqueror, and
the obligations and duties of the con
quered.
All conflicts, whether between Il SOW
ereign and his subjects. or between two
parties in q government or republic, or
between two Independent nations, are
founded on some question, some df
ference, making an issue between yae
parties which reason has not been aule
to settle. The parties take Up arms TO
solve the question and settle the issue
between them.
Every war ends by compromise, or
by one party yielding to the other ei
Their on terms or without terms. 1.-THE
end is by compromise, the terms OF the
compromise constitute the law OF the
peace. If Il party surrender on
terms, the law of peace is the issue Of
the fight qualified by the terms Of the
surrender; if the surrender is without
terms, then all the Queshions mool0ed IN
the issue are settled in favor ofthe con
qucror; but no question not distinctly
involved is settled or affected.
Now, two things must be distinctly
understood and fixed in the minds Of
the reader:
|. Where must welook to find the
terms on which the conflict ends, and
which makes tie law of the peace be-
tween the parties!
2. At what time must these terms be
made known or agreed upon?
Wars between independent nations
are usually ended by treaty, and, Of
course, we must look to the treaty oil
peace to find the terms ofthe peace
| What is not found in the treaty is not
settled. So also in civil wals-treat-
les are sometimes made and have the
same force and effect as when made be-
tween independent nations. Usually,
however, treaties are not made between
parties to civil war or rebellion, be-
cause the sovereign or party claiming
to be the legitimate government VIII
not treat with those whom they persist
in calling rebels, because to treat with
them is to admit a sort of implied In
dependence or authority. In all such
cases, in order to find the terms OF the
peace, we must look to the causes OF
differences which actuated the parties
in taking up arms, to the declarations
and demands of the parties at the time
of bcginning and during the progress
ofthe struggle to the promises maze
or assurance proclaimed by the victor
to induce the adversary to lay down his
arms, and to the negotiations and terms
of the surrender Whatever IS not
there found is not settled, and forms
no part whatever of the terms Of peace
/ need not add that all the treaties, dec
larations and promises are to be inter
preted, not according to the discretion
of either party, but in the light ana ac-
cording to the rules of the laws OF III,
tons and the established principles o'
natural justice and good faith.
In the next place 1t must be stated
that whatever either party. in case OF"
compromise ortreaty, or the victor -
case of a surrender intends to deinan"
as q condition of the peace, must o'
made known before or mt the tlme the
treaty is made, or before or att .'mo
the surrender is accepted. No paft!
agrees to what is not made Known r..
surrenders to what is not claimed. ~