Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1861-10-12
The President Of The United states and
General Fremont

question so unexpectedly raised by Major /
General Fremont, that we take occasion to
print the proclamation, the letter of Prcsi-
dent Lincoln, and the act of Congress
upon the point involved. We shall follow
it hereafter by some articles from republi"
can journals, showing the view taken of
the question by conservative men. 1t is
well known that the President of the Uni.
ted States is very fully endorsed by the
democracy, and by the conservative por-
ton of the opposition, in the country.
ST. LOUIS, August 81.
The following proclamation was issued
this morning;
! HEADQUARTERS OF TIE WESTERN DEPT
Sr. LOUIS August 81.
Circumstances, in my judgment of suffi-
cient urgency, render it necessary that the
commanding general of this department
should assume the administrative powers
Of the state. Its dsorganizcd condition,
the helplessness of the civil authority, the
total insecurity of life, and the devasta.
ton of property by bands of murderers
and marauders, who infest nearly every
county in the state, and avail themselves
of the public msfortunes and the vicinity
of hostile force to crafty private and
ncighborhood vengeance, and who find an
enemy wherever they find plunder, finally
demand the severest measures to repress
the daily increasing crimes and outrages
which are driving off the inhabitants and
running the state. In this condition the
public safety and the success of our arms
require unity of purpose, without let or
hindrance to the prompt administration Of
affairs.
In order, therefore, to suppress disor-
ders, to maintain as far as now practca.
bic the public peace, and to give security
and protection to the persons and property
of loyal citizens, do hereby extend, and
declare established, martial law through.
out the state of Missouri. The lines Of
the army of occupation in this state are
for the present declared to extend from Lea
vcnworth by way of the posts OF jefferson
City, Rolla and lronton, to Cape Girar-
dcau, on the Mississippi river. All per-
sons who shall be taken with arms in their
hands within these lines shall be tried by
court martial, and, if found guilty, will be
shot. The property, real and personal of
all persons in the state of Missouri, who
shall take up arms against the United
States, or who shall be directly proven to
have taken active part with their enemies
in the field, is declared to be confscatCd to
the public use and their slaves, if any
they have, are hereby declared free men.
All persons who shall be proven to have
destroyed, after the publication of this or
der, railroad tracks, bridges, or tclegraphs
shall suffer the extreme penalty of the
law.
= All persons engaged in reasonable cor
respondcnce, in giving or procuring aid tc
the enemies of the United States, i'll dis
turbing the public tranquility by creating
and circulating false reports or inccndiary
documents, are in thir own interest warned
that they are exposing themselves.
All persons who have been led away
from their allegiance are required to re-
turn to their homes forwith; any such alb
,, scncc, without sufficient cause, will be
held to be presumptive evidence against
, them.
The object of this declaration is to place
in the hands of the military authorities the
power to give instantaneous effect to exist
ing laws, and to supply such deficiencies as
the conditions Of war demand But it is
no intended to suspend the ordinary tr;-
bunals Of the country, where the law will
be administered by the civil officers in the
IL, IL;
authority, while the same can be pcacca-
bly, exercised.
The commanding general will labor
vigilant y for the public welfare, and in
his efforts for their safety hopes to obtain
not only the acquiescnce but the active
support of the people of the country.
(Signed) j. G. Fremont.
Major. General Commanding.
Now, what do we behold, in this the
very crisis of onr National affairs, Abraham
Lincoln, true to his Inaugural, and entire.
ly consistent with it, gives the following:
"WAsHINGToN, D. c., Sept, II, 1861.
10 Major GenGraL John e. Fremont:
SIR-Yours of the Sth instant, in an
) swer to mine of thu goth instant, has just
; been received.
" Assuming that you being upon the
ground, could better judge OF the nccessi,
ties of your position than | could at this
distance, on seeing your proclamation OF
/ August 3Oth, l perceived no general OBJ,
lection to it. The particular clause, how,
, ever, in relation to the coniscaton Of prop.
erty and the liberation of slaves, appeared
to be the Objectionable one in its non-cou-
formity to the Act of Congress, passed the
9th of last August, upon the same subject,
and hence wrote to you, expressing my
wish that that clause should be modified
accordingly.
" Your answer, just received, expresses
the preference, on your part, that | should
t make an open order for the modification