Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1862-10-02
The Presidents Emancipation
Proclamation.

The Presidents EHnnnCtpattOh
Proclamation.
A few days ago the President was wonder
fully strong in the confidence Of the country,
not because of his military conduct o the
war, for, in the opinion Of all mon, that had
been disastrous, but because he had steadily
an apparently iudexible dctcrmn.
alton to adhere faithfully TO the constitution
in the political management of the war and in
the general administration Of the government.
1t was the merit of this adherence that, in the
covered his multitude of sins in the military
conduct of tho war. SO long as ho seemed
to be fast. anchored to the constitution, good
and right-thnking men revcr ceased to hope
and believe that experience would teach him
to correct and overcome his military mistakes,
and that finally the government Of the con.
stitution would prevail over rebellion, and
that THE UNION would be re established.
Now that he has cut loose from the consti
tntion--now that he has resorted to tho same
higher law than the constitution for the pro.
fos:ed purpose of suppressing the rebellion
by which the rebellion justfcs itself good
and right thinking men know not what to
think or believe, or whittier to turn for anchor-
age. They arc smtCcn with a sense of alarm
and dismay. They feel that the foundations Of
the government are unsettled, if not broke n
up--that the ship is adrift without master,
compass or ruddcr. and that the chances Of
wreck are vastly greater than Of safety.
II th policy of the proclamation were ahy
more dciensiblc than the Presidents consti-
! tutonal power to issue it, the shadows which
| it has cast over the land would not be so i'm
penetrabe. 1t is an act OF as bad faith to
every conservative man in the North as it is Il
terrible blow to the Union men Of the border
Slave States. The President has himself
spprchcnded that it might drive fifty thousand
! Union soldiers, belonging to the border slave
States, from the Union armiesl We trust aud
pray that it will not, but that il will not work
most injurious revolution in the sentiment
Of those States we dare not hope; and as to
Kentucky aud Tennessee, what time is this
so hazard such revolution! We await intel
ligcnce ai its effect in those States with the
most painful anxiety.
If we desired more conclusive arguments
against the mere policy of the proclamation
than any We have elsewhere seen, we should
seek them in the answer Of the President to
the recent memorial of the religious fanatics
Of the city Of Chicago, from which we make
the following extract;
"What good would proclamation Of eman.
cipation from me do, especially as we are
now sitpatcdl ! do not want to issue doc
umcnt that the whole world will see must nc.
cessariIy be imperative, like the Pope's bull
against the comet. Would my uord free the
slaves when cannot enforce the constitution
| in the rebel StatcSi Is there single court
or magistrate or individual that wonld be in
! lncnCcd by il therei And what reason is
! there to think it would have any greater eff
! feet upon the slaves than the late law of
Congress, which approved. and which offers
protection and freedom to the slaves Of rebel
masters who como within our lines. Yet
cannot learn that that law has caused single
| slave to come to u.s. And suppose they could
be induced, by q. proclamation of freedom
from me, throw themselves upon us, ,rhaf
sh0uh mc do trih hem2 How can we feed and
care for such a multitudci General Butler
wrote me, few days since, that he was issuing
mole raions to the slaves who have rushed TO
him than to all the whole troops under his
command. They eot and that is ALL"
Before the President issued the procisma
ton he would have done well to publicly an .
swcr these objections to the policy OF it.
If utter desperation had not before seized
the people OF the rebel States, as consc
qucnce OF the abolition and confscation
measures of the Congress at Washington, it
will seize them now. Tho war hereafter, on
their part, will be a contest for existence as
communities and individuals.
We protest against the proclamation, in the
name of the constitution, in behalf of good
faith to the conservative millions of the north
crn and border States, and for the sake Of the
the only means by which it has at any time
been possible to save the Union. We protest
against it as mons strous usurpation, Grim
ina wrong, and an act of national suicide.
Nevertheless, Democrats and other conscr-
vntiyc people will not withdraw from tho war.
They will fight in it and support it as before,
not 10 preserve the government, for that is
subvcrted, but to maintain a gorcrHment. To
do othcrw isc is to invite internal revolution,
anarchy and confusion, and to sink into d is
grac rs "A people in the eyes OF Christendom,
/ The Southern rebellion is not whit more
tolerablc because Of this most untoward pr oc.
amation. That must be resisted, whatever
shall como; and as to what shall come, We
can only watch aud watt