Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-09-01
THE TNsuRR RECTTOFARy EDEA-s
!.

Inc AeW gIa IGUepCI0tht IS 10" utFCtllE
Itself almost exclusively to the en- eTprise Of
compelling the government to make war direct
lg upon slavery. IJs editors, and its stated
contributors among whom are several writer's
Of unusual vigor, appear to have turned their
attention to this subject, with view to create
z current Of popular feeling which the admin
isua.ion will be unable to Tesis'. The meas
ure, which they propose, is, that the President
shall bV proclamation, declare freedom TO the
slaves the South, and invite them TO rise and
take possession OF and defend their liberties.
The papers, editorial and communicated, of
the IidsBsEdgnf, are written By clsTgymen; in
most cases bv men OF known emiBence In their
profession. The Independent enjoys wide
circulation, and no public journal IN the United
States. perhaps, eXeTts an influence more eX-
tensive. Its writer's speak with official author
ity, and to many thousands their opinions have
an the force Of divine oTacles. There is, there
fore, to such as would not approve of the meas
ure proposed, reason to dread its influence.
i may be said, to the credit Of the Iadepand-
e1t, that they show no disposition to underrats
the consequences Of the mea sure they propose
Indeed it Is for S presumed destructive effects
that they propose 1t. They virtually admit
that the effect Of the proceeding will be to open
the Wav to d war of races, IN the progress Of
which one race must be totally, and the other
nearly eEterminated-a war in which there
can, from the nature OF the case, be no quarter
/ given or asked: which shall discriminate
. neither in respect to age or sex, aad which
/ must include in its destruction everything that
/ either party can hold dsar or valuable. They
do not deny that this is what they inteEd 70
substitute il the place Of the present condition;
but on the contrary, profess to believe that the
war is a means instituted by divine Providence
with a special view to bring about the change
/ which they desire
What an argument an indial might make
/ against religion from the cruelty Of its minis
lers! In all ages OF the world, and in all forms
/ OF religion, the priest has been cruel. The
I smell Of blood in bis garments, which be
caught at the altar where humaa victims were
immo.atsd when the world was new, still re-
mains TO stimulate bis appetite. man may
be tendeEly nurture3 and politely educated; he
/ NAV eat of the mOst delicate, and TeCline upon
lhe d0wniest; he may have soft VIII e hands
and g gentle voice, and be the oracle Of society,
the center Of public admiration, and the esPe-
cial agent OF God upon earth, and yet be a bar
b4rian. II is an awful fact that they who in
yariably give the cruelest coansels are they
who profess to speak in the name Of the most
mercisui of beings. Where are we to 60 for
an explanation Of so frightful an anomaly?
The dominant idea in the minds OF the
writers OF the Tadepcadeat evidently is this:
that the troubles into which the country is
I pIunged must be taken advantage of to put an
3 q
take place, through which their occupation, as
anti-slavery agitators, will be gone forever.
/ While, therefore, they eXaggera'e by every ef-
/ fort Of perversiOn and application tue dangers
! that beset The country, and the evils that must
/ spring from a division, they present EN- ncipa
/ ton by force as the only possible resource
/ TleV insist that, TO suhlue the South By the
/ processes Of ordinary warfare, is utterly i'm
/ practical b!e--that to conquer a brave and de-
/ tegmined people upon their own soil, however
great the disparity Of numbers and means,
never has been done; agd that We hsve no rea-
/ son to suppose that it will be our lot to do
| what 80 many others have failed to accom-
/ Plish.
Toe writers Of the Independent refuse to
consider, under any imaginable contingency,
/ the question OF division and separate ndepen
dencs; and a correspondent is editorially re-
/ buked for a communication, admitted through
/ inaiveTJancc, in which was presented the
! alternative Separation or Emancipation
/ They hold that in the contest that is nov going
on, the North or tue Sou b, one or the other,
must conquer; that the war mgst be CARED on
against slavery as long as there is A weapon
TO .i5t, or hand TO lift it and, substantially
that if the North caRno. coHqueT the South,
! the conquest Of the North by the South is the
next thing in the order Of results to be de-
sired.
We are, therefore, called upon to consider
the probable efficacy Of the means proposed
and advocated with 90 much vig0T sRd force Of
language by the entire editorial and sub-edto-
rial staff Of an influential and widely circulated
newspaper, as the only ones BY which there is
even d remote probability that the government
will succeed in what 1t has undertaken.
Whatever may be the actual effect Of the mea
sure in case it should be adopted it is to them,
lhroueh a servie war and its attendant hor
rCrs, he single and only ISOLATION Of our diff
cultiss; and If it should happen to fail to call
serv!e war into being, then the case Of the gov
ernment, as they understand it, is hopeless,
and We may lock upsn ourselves as conquered
people.
We may therefore consider, for this occa
sion only, that the cause Of government, law
and civil liberty in the Northern States, hang
/ upon the question: What will be the effect Of
I e proclamation by the President Of the United
States, declaring that the slayes Of the South
ern States are free, and no longer under obii-
CATION to serve their masters. It will be ad-
mjtteJ that the proclamation can be carried
into eff ct By force no faster than OuT armies
progress into the territory Of the rebels; its ef
/ icieDcv, in aid Of the cause of the govern
ment, will consist in its power to excite insur
rectionary movements in advance of our col
umne: and th 3t, therefore, If it does not excite
such movements, the plan may be considered
as having failed, and the cause Of civilization
be set down as ruined.
We are inclined to believe that q procIsma-
ton By tue President Of freedom TO the slave
would produce about az much disturbance in
the seeded States as his recent proclamation
Of dav Of fasting and prayer did in the loyal
ones. The insUrrectionaTy spirit, if any eX
lists, would not be peTceptibly- increased or d.
minshed by it. The negroes believe more now
! Of the benevolent intentions Of the government
I than they could be informed in innumeTable
/ prociamations. II they are desirous, as it is
/ supposed they are, to rise, it is not pToclama-
| tions that they want, but opportunity. Every
/ day develops evidence that the South has gone
/ into this affair with full moral preparation
/ to meet all its eXigencies, from wbatrver quar-
/ ter they may come. 1t has been, thus far
/ able to outaumber the forces Of the government
/ in any field Of operations; and there is no Tea-
1 son to suppose that it has not men and women
enough left at home to see to its domestic re,a-
/ tions.
We say, then, it will not do for the govern
ment to rely upon emancipation procIau ations
| to reduce the South to obedience. If this great
/ wOTk-tbe heaviest contract that has been un-
! dertaken by any government OF modern times
| is TO be accomplished, force directly applied is
/ the only means upon which dependence can be
| placed. War must be made as enc nation or
/ people makes war upon another. We have
/ been too ETOne to look 10 the weakness of the
/ South, and to rely upon that rather than upon
! our ON ID SUI eng u TOT FlCLUty II Is tue LudL
! this was discontinued. Whether the South
/ has OF has not arms, clothing or provisions,
she is iR the field with An army that outnum-
! bers our own. We have waited for her armies
| to dsband through starvation and nakedness.
| They stii threaten the seat OF the national
| government With the successes, so far, upon
| b T side, we DO not stand in position effect
/ lively to proclaim anything. The South has
/ government whose efficiency is an unpleasant
/ contrast with our own. It exhibits the evil
dence of unity in its c0unsels, and directness
/ and courage in its determinations. On our
/ side the times demand not proclamations but
| performances, or the day is not far distant
/ when we shall stand shsmed for our incapacity
| in the eyes of the whole world.
What Virginia has Done.
! The State Of Virginia has furnished the Con-
/ federate service $50 companies uniformed and
/ equipped, according to the law. The average
number Of men in these companies, is 70 men
4 to each. They make an aggregate Of 50 250
/ volunteer soldiers from the State Of Virginia,
now in the ranks Of the Confederate army and
actually in The field. They are divided into
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