The dollar weekly bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1862-1864, 1862-10-16
From the Burlington Iowa) Argus.
Freeing the Slaves by Proclamation

| From the Burlington Iowa Argus
| Freeing the Slaves by Proclamation.
The proclaim alton of President Lincoln
emancipating all the slaves after the first OF
January next, will probably bring into the
field host of negro soldiers. but they will
be on the side of their mastersl There Is no
use in fooling ourselves in regard to this
The Southern men are masters of the blacks.
and the extreme radical measures OF the
present administration have driven the peo-
ple of the South as a unit against the gov
eminent. They know how to avail them
selves of their advantage over the oiacKss
and will not scruple to avail themselves Vi
all means in their power to resist the govern
ment. They will emancipate where they
ch oose: thew will constran and coerce ana
caiole wherever it is necessary; but they
have the population in their hands, ana one
way or another they will use It,
The experiment is to cripple an enemy oy
abolishing slavery and cut their own throats
by it. The negro reg iment OF Rhode lsiand'
so often referred to, was body OF slaves
fighting by the side of their master, so says
the Providence Post which quotes also from
Botta' IS History of the Warsof Indepe pdence
of the United States, vol. 1, page 23O, the
result of an experiment upon the slaves IN
the Revolution.
the effect of which would have been tosus-
pend all civil authority in the. province
He exhorted the loyal:sts to repair 10 the
70 val Standard; to retain in their hands the
contributions duo to the crown, as well as
9th er taxes until the establishment OF peace.
Moreover he declared free all slaves or ser
wants, black or white, provided they should
take arms and join the royal troops.
"Ths proclamation, and especially the
clause concerning slaves, proved that LORD
Dunmore was a man extremely deficient In
prudence and moderation, but produced none
of tn effects be had expected. In the colo
nies, and even in all other countries, an uni
versal cry arose against measure which
| tended to disturb society Ia its very founda-
tions, to destroy domestic security, to en-
gender mortal suspicious, and to excite
| race, naturally ferocous, to vengeance and
| to murder. In fact this step Of the Governor
| was not merely useless, it was perniclt US: It
! irrtated the minds Of the greater number
and gained over none."
The Historian adds, that of the few who
were enlisted by Lord Dunmore, and werc
pressed into fight at Norfolk, they be-
haved very shabbily, and saved themselves
| by flight
| AS to the morality of resource,of such
weapon let us cite the authority Of John
quincy Adams, Socretary OF State in 1910,
who, referring to similar attempts of the
British in the War of 1872 wrote
"They (the Brtish) had no right to make
any such Emancipation promise to the ne
groes. The principle is that the emancipa-
tion of an enemy's slaves is not among the
acts of legitimate war; as relates to the own
ers, as it is a destruction private property
| nowhe warranted by the usages of war;"
Again, five years afterwards, Mr.. Adams
most emphaticaly denied the right of be.
ligerent to emancipato slaves. lie said:
"No such right is acknowl ged as law
of war by writers who admit any limitation
The right of putting to death all prisoners
in cold blood, aud without special cause
might as well be pretended to be law of
war, or the right to use poisoned weapons or
to assassinate."
The President might have learned little
wisdom by the records of the history of his
country and the legacy left by her most dis
tinguished statesmen 1t might have struck
him that We live in civilized age and the
dark days Of barbarism We're in the course
of past events. But be has seen fit to dis
regard the principles of the constitution of
the nation and fall into the Jacobin schemes
of the enemies of the government. 1t is but
another of the long series of foolish and hurt
full State papers. wherein the evidence of
the incapacity of our ruler is patent.