Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-10-02

And we are FREQ to express the belief that such
q. dereliction of duty on his part would not
please the latter any less than the former; for
the secession leaders know full we'll that ans
such policy would be fatal to all hopes of restor.
ing the Union, and that the contest, by degen,
Grating into purely sectional conflict between
siavenolding and non-slavehoIding States, would
nencetorth lose that national prestige which now
gives to the Government its highest claim 10
the support of all loyal cizsas, ,othout regard TO
STATE lines, as ,citiout regard 10 former polaicdl
dDtTtnees. Ii the contest should ever lose the
character now impressed on it by tho whole
,neory Oh the Constitution, and by the direct
legislation OF Congress, it would pass into an
entireiy new sphere Of ideas, and would de.
mand new civil as well az new military ar.
rangements to conduct its operations. Under
these circumstances, with the new combinations
mat might be expected to result from such a
dissolution OF the political elements, already
oeepiy stirred by the agitatons of the times,
we should indeed have Confusion worse con.
founded in our distracted land. Il would be
70 superinduce, In the worst possible form, a
condition OF things in which n
.' "ohAos umpire sits, q
t g And by decision more embroils the fray
By which he reigns."
And those who assail the frmness OF the
President for maintaining intact, as far as pos
siple IN this revolutionary crisis, the Constitu.
tion OF the country and the law of Congress, ap-
pear TO forget that to allow q different course
on the part of the Major Generals under bis
command would be virtually to abdicate his
functions as the executive head of the nation,
and as the Commander In Chief of all the forces
now in the field. II has been well said by a
New York cotemporary, which ardently sustains
az once the Administration aud the Government
we allude to the WoTLd-that unity of
action is indispensable TO military success,
and unity in military movements can be
attained only by submitting them all TO one
directing mind" Those who dissent from tae
wisdom OF the Presldent's order, restraining the
proceedings Of General Fremont within the lin
its of the law Of Congress, are ready, it seems,
TO acquiesoe in the pareeling out of the national
authority into as many Malor-G -Geueralsh'ps as
we have Major'Generals in the field. These lat
Ter, 10 their several military districts, and not
me PTestdent as their Constitutional Commander
Chief, are 70 control, withoutlet or bndrsnce,
all military operations. and decide questions Of
etua and social lap ohich neither the Constitution
nor the taos of Congress hIoe remtted TO the adj
JudieatiOn Of the one or the other. ....r
lt cannot be doubted, IA mas been well said
by another of our New York contemporaries,
that an advancing army will necessarily make
what use it can OF all property OF "rebels In
erms,' and in doing 80 will, without waiting
Tor the processes OF courts, seize and consume
provisions, transfer to its own use all arme and
munitions OF war, horses, wagons, and availa-
Die goods, and, Of course, under this general
rule, as the Government has already declar ed 4,
rights to slave property, dependent on the
laws Of the States within which military opera
tions are conducted, must be necessarily sub.
ordnated to the military exigencies created by
the insurrection, If not wholly forfeited by the
reasonable conduct of parties claiming them" "
This may effect the virtual freedom of many
slaves; nor do we see how q people in arms
can expect any other result than this in the
immediate localities where the war is carried
on. But this, which may be called an Incl.
dental etect of the war, is very different mat
fer from con6scation of property, as that phrase
ls ordinarily and properly understood TO the per-
lection Of 'Ohich legal proceeding is necessary,
involving conviction for treason, or decree
OF contscaton on account of treason by com.
petent court. r.r
| 1t must be obvious to all who pause toprehect
on the relations Of slavery in this conflict, that,
so far as they may be suspended or destroyed
by war, it must be mainly due to such incidental
effects as are likely to result from the exigen
oies OF military movements made in States
"wholly or partially under insurrectionary con
troll" Even II the liberation of slaves were an
avowed object Of the war, it could be accom-
plished only in the track Of liberating army,
as mere edicts of emancipation would be utterly
powerless, except so far as they were carried
into effect by the law Of force against the
wishes and interests of the parties concerned as
slaveholders; and the theoretical contradiction
Of any such policy, proceeding as it would on
the principle that "the boon of freedom'' is to
be given only to the slaves Of "rebels In arms"
against the Government would seem to discredit
the philosophy as we'll as the feasibility Of the
scheme IL proposes. And as the scheme could
not be carried into execution without to some
extent impairing the tenure of slave property
held by loyal masters (for what would be the
condition of the loyal planter with the slaves Of
neighboriDg rebels set free around him y, IL fol-
lows that any such theory 10 as partial and in
adequate when viewed In its governmental aa
in it's philanthropic relations. It only remains,
therefore, for the patriot, equally with the hu.
manitarian, to sustain the hands of the Presi-
dent in the just and legal attitude he has taken,
in conformity With the Constitution and the
laws under this head. And the more vigor and
determination he shows in the maintenance OF
his own honor and Of the plighted faith of the
National Legislature in this matter, the greater
will be the respect he must receive from the
great mass Of the loyal population, upon whom
his Administration In this day Of trial depends
iof It's support. gi rsei ar.t E.s-ar o.. .r.