Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1868-02-07
The New y ork Frcepah's Journal

Of the list. inst, has q sensible, wei
considered article IN which the editc,
declares his altimatum on the bone
question to be- payment In green
backs, or rspudiation Of the entire
-debt I'VE have watched thclpopula,
manifestations, in ,referenees to- thii
point, and believe that the people, as
well as the politicians, are coming tc
the same conclusion.s goo aia s'4
If the national debts to be paid al
all, it must be paid in this way, first
because it is strictly just to creditor
and debtor, and second, because'itcan
be paid in no other way Without en-.
failing poverty upon the people fol
generations TO come. But when we
probe the subject to the bottom, in
search of abstact justice, we are forced
to tho conclusion that, the debt was
wrongfully and unlawfally contract
ed, by an agent that.cxceeded his well
defined powers, and, Therefore, is not
binding upon tie principal the peo-
pie by whom it ought ito be repu-
dated. Andiuntil it is decided by
authority higher than anegro ju-
ry,' or partizan Judge, or bond
holding clique, or q usurping Con-
gress that the Federal Government
had,the right to, coerce the Southern
States, we shall adhere to the opinion
that the war debt was created in mi
guilty and ought to be repudiated, no
matter. who nor how many may be
the sufferers. Abe Lincoln and his
Puritan CO traitors, without regard
to the letter and spirit of the Consti.
tuticn and without the endorsement
ofthat Department of the govern
ment to which was confdcd the de-
cision of that and kindred questions,
assumed the responsibility Of deoiar,
ing the Union indissoluble, and with
no authority save their arbitrary will,
and with no purer motive than their
fanatical antipathy to slavery, inau-
gurated war for its abolition under
the false pretepcc of saving the Uni
on, The subsequent conduct Of. the
same clique abundantly proves the
lawlessness Of the war and the infa-
nous motives that promptedit.
The Constitution neither expressly
nor by implication, authorized war
as the means for maintaining the in
tegrity Of the Union, and the leading
men of the country, and of all parties,
gave it as their opinion, that the Con-
stitution confers no power to coerco a
State desiring to withdraw, poaceably,
from partnership voluntarily enter
cred into, with no stipulations for
perpetuity beyond mutual interests
and the inviolability of mutual rights
and privileges. With the entire
weight of authority in favor of the
right of secession, and none against
it, save the dictum of self rig hteous
puritans who could devise no more
christian mode of abolishing slavery
than terrible war, with its still more
terrible train of demoralizing infu-
ences, no honest man, of ordinary
intelligence, can resist the conclusion
that the war was illegal and iniqui.
tous, and that the debt incurred for
its prosecution, imposes no legal or
moral obligation to pay it either in
gold or greenbacks. I
1t may have been a mistake in the
architects Of the Union 10 rear it up
on the basis Of voluntary confedera-
ton; but the great question under
consideration, rests not on what they
ought to have done, but upon what
they did do. And until it can be
shown upon competent authority,
that the constitution, expressly or
implicitly, denies the right of scees-
sion, the inference is fair, legitimate
and incontroycrtible that the war was
q crime aud that the debt incurred
in the preparation Of that crime, is
not binding upon its victims--the
betrayed and deludCd populacc. The
war was waged by fanaticism against
slavery the latter was an Institution
expressly recognized and guarded by
the constitution, the former is spe-
cics Of dcyilsh madness, peculiar to
puritans against which the constitu-
ton was designed, in part, to pro
tcct itself and the people,
The best thing for the national
prosperity, is reputation ofthc debt,
aud the best thing for the national
honor is the Reputation of the war,
its originators and the tyranny that
has resulted from it, as the work of a
traitorous mob, tempornrily. In a no.