The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-16

atlon to adhere to the cause of the Union, no
| matter what the consequences and to give pa
trotc response to the call of the President. 1t
was not only an intensely exciting but fear
| full crisis. Society was thrown into perfect
tumult. Business of all kinds suspended.
| Men talked together i'll tremulOuS tones, and
| gazed increduously at each other. utterly
unable to realize the stupendous folly of those
who had broken the public peace to calculate
/ the terrible and far-reaching consequences of
such an act
No man felt more seusibly the character of the
crisis and the nature of the peril, than Governor
Morton: He fully realized the extent of the
| impending dangers, but his patriotism
was so strong and his courage so resolute that he
| did not hesitate an instant. Whatsoever diff
| culties seemed to threaten the future he consid-
| cred insignificant compared with the destruction
| of the government by forcible disruption of the
| Union. From an event so full of calamity he in
stinctively shrank. And, consequently, he threw
all his strength-his soul, his will, and all the
| energies of his then robust manhood-into the
| national cause If there were apparent impedi-
ments in the way, he resolved to remove them
| by irmness and resolution. If the honor of the
| nation had to be indicated and its integrity
| maintained by the terrible ordeal of war. he was
assured that he would not call in vain upon the
people OF Indiana for exhibition of that endur
| ing courage and heroic valor which he believed
| them to possess, and which has since reflected
immortal honor upon the State. We all now re-
| joice at his determination and the promptitude
| with which it was carried into execution, for
| there is not a citizen of the State-whether
! share in this honor. Nor should there
| be whose pride does not knde at the thought
| that into whatsoever of seeming passion may
be occasionally led by the fiery zeal of political
| controversy sense of its existence is vivid
| enough to assure hearty cooperation to main
tain it, and to see that the escutcheon of the
State shall not be soied by any act of dis
| honor.
THE FIRST TENDER OF TROOPS.
During the morning of the day which the
President issued his proclamation, Governor
Morton sent to him dispatch rendering ten
thousand men for the defense of the nation and
to uphold the authority of the government" He
could not have had at that time any official no
| tice of the proclamation, and, therefore, must
| have acted under the influence of his own sense
of duty, as well as upon the conviction that Mr.
| Lincoln would prove himself equal to the occa-
sion. His prompttude shows how earnestly his
| feelings enlisted from the first moment at
| which he was appraised of danger to the Union;
and his courageous reliance upon the patriotism
of the people Of the State was an indication that
| he possessed the qualities of true craftsmanship
He had not yet had time 90 put che public loyalty
to the test, but, undoubtedly fe''
| offer to tbn resident would be heartily approved
bv y people The Secretary of War, however,
a hxed the quota of the State at six regiments, to
n | serve for three months, and consequently, the
! | offer necessarily declined somewhat, per-
: | haps, to his discontinue, inasmuch it was his
~ | settled conviction, from the beginning, that the
= | WHf SnOulQ De prosecuted DIV the naGlOQai gov
o | ernment with the utmost vgor and energy
y that treason should not be cOnciliated by soft
+ words or met by pacific measures, but should be
suppressed by hard blows, struck without any
delay. He omitted nothing necessary to the
{ speedy organization of the six regiments
: which completed in five days from the date
of the call. He also Immediately summoned the
a Legislature to meet in extra session, and
a promptly offered, in addition to these organized
/ regiments, to furnish six additional ones for
! immediate service and for any necessary period
: Of time. He did this before the assembling
, | of the Legislature and upon his own re-
+ under the Presidents proclamation, he adopted
+ the necessary measures to organize these add
tional regiments at once, i'll order that they
should be IN readiness for any future eXigency.
1t would have been impossible for any man to
/ have displayed more promptitude, vigor, or
!, courage. Not moment was lost and not a
) single necessary thing omitted. On the
a contrary he put IN operation and conSummated,
in few days, a series of measures which at once
! attracted the public attention and enabled him
to exhibit those extraordinary qualities for which
he afterward became so distinguished. He did
not wait to in what direction the tide of
r public sentiment would run, but his confidence
in the people of the State was steadfast that
he did not hesitate to pledge them, in his official
, capacity, to the cause of the Union. The occa-
sion of those trying ones which
seldom occurs in the lives of public
men-sueh as had never previously occurred
in this country. 1t required the exercise
qualities he exhibited in marked degree and
his success was so ointment that by the meeting
of the Legislature the public appreciation of his
policy had become eonSpicuouSly announced
that if any disapprobaton existed it was too fee
BILE to produce any perceptible impression upon
the public mind. The whole ground of his Of
fetal action was explained to the Legislature in
a message with which any man should feel proud
to have his name associated. AS a state paper,
it is faultless in style, full of vigorous and in
spl11ting thoughts OF great force and power Of
argument and sets forth the relation of the citi-
zen TO the national government in plain and
practical language yet with fervid and thrilling
eloquence 1t reached the hearts of the people
of the State and the Legislature, in obedience to
their will enacted the necessary measures to af-
firm what he had done. and to place the State
fully and squarely upon the ground to which he
had committed it by his executive policy. His tri-
umph was complete and from that time to
the close of the war no man in the nation per
formed his duties wiser or better. Every day
and almost every hour during these perilous
years made it more and more apparent that he
the right man in the right place.
The year 1861, after the beginning of the war
| was filed with the most mOmentOus events
| The blood of the patriotic men who fell at Bull
Run, defending the capital of the nation, cried
| aloud from the ground. demanding that it be
avenged. The whole North was terribly aroused
and armed men We're seen marching THROUGH the
streets of every city and village, demanding to
be sent where they could encounter the
| enemies of the Union in deadly battle. The old,
the young, and the -aged-men, women,
and chldren-were thrown into a state of in
tense excitement The public questions that
had previously given rise to so much acrimonious
debate were no longer considered open for dis
cussien: and if, here and there, the opinion was
expressed that the Constitution did not confer the
power to eoerce State into obedience to the ma
tional authority and laws, it made no impression
upon the popular mind. which repudiated upon
the popular mind, which repUdated all such
ideas of Estate sovereignty as denied to the ma
| ton the right to preserve its own life.
! MAN FOR THE TIMES.
During these exciting times Governor Morton
was recognized, by common consent, as occupy
ing most conspicuous and prominent place in