"The people are forbidden to give aid and comfort to rebels. What of a government that has the power to cut off from aid and comfort all the rebels of the South and fails to exercise it?"

This quote by Robert Dale Owen is an objection of the government's failing to use its power to remove help and also comfort to the rebels of the South during the Civil War. Owen is suggesting that the government needs to have done extra to avoid the rebels from getting help as well as comfort, which would have made it harder for them to proceed their disobedience. He is likewise recommending that the federal government needs to have taken a more energetic duty in protecting against the rebellion from happening in the first place. By refraining so, the government is essentially enabling the rebels to continue their rebellion, which is something that Owen thinks must not be enabled. Owen's quote is a reminder that the federal government must always be held answerable for its activities and that it must not be allowed to overlook its duties.