Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-04-20
PREAMBLE

WHEREAs, The time has now come, In which
4 IL ever, the necessary means OF putting down
the rebellion should be ascertained, and reso
lutely carried forward, and should, at once, oc
cupy the mind, and enlist the resources Of all
loyal citizens; and, whereas, Il 10 manifest thai
there is 10 reasonable prospect Of terminating
the present coLfIot and securing q permanent
peace but by the speedy aud complete libera
tion OF the slaves; aAd, whereas, tho txlgencleE
OF the times require that EMANCIPATION be pro,
claimed by the lawful aptnOrilies, 10 accord.
\ ance with the Law Of God, the letter and spirit
OF the Constitution, and as an incident Of the
war power, aereeably TO the Law Of nat.ona, az
expounded by Inn Quincy Adams IN Congress
In the year ls42; therefore,
R.ssIved, Frat. That an Association to be
styled CHE N.TiIHAL EMGEclPAlfoH Asst OF.
ATIoH" be DoW organised, whose duty it shall be,
b, petition, the use OF che prees, aud other agen
cisS, to promote this object.
| Second That the Association have power to
fil vacancies In their own body, and, Il deemed
expediept, from time 20 time, 20 increase their
number; also to appoint Bub.committees and
Necessary 6facerP, and to employ euch as,
aistants and incur such expenditures as may be
necessary, and as the funds furnished to the
Association may warrant. publishing annually,
thpir receipts aud expenditures -s
| Third, That the Association etall give free
aud impartial circulation to all the various ar.
guments that have been or may be adduced by
sble, earnest, competent, thoughtful men,
whether those arguments be based on religious,
moral, benevolent, political, economical, or mil.
itary consider tations-Rhether drawn from the
Bible, the Constitution, the nature Of civil gov.
ernmeDt, the responsibilities Of society, the val
ne of free institutions and Of the Union, the
exigencies of the country, the rights of the
enslayed or oil the free, the interests Of the
North or Of the South, or Of the whole country, ,
the elaine Of human nature, or tie command.
ments Of God,-Whether the measure be advo-
o.ted as q necessity OF war, or % duty at ell
times--xhetner it be urged on the President, or
Congress, or on military commanders.
Upon the adoption Of the foregoing platform,
the Association was organized BY the choice of
officers, ]. W. Alden, President, and Sam L.
Harris, Secretary.
DeAR Sin: LIN forming "THr NATIONAL
EmAEcIPATIoN AssocIATIoN, and carrying on
iGs operations on the above basis, We desire to
sustain our Government at Washington, IN the
best and speedest modes Of putting down the
rebellion and removing its cause. The poll
ticians Of the free States ere divided in opinion
on the war question. some are for putting
down the rebeli N withous damaging slavery,
while Others ere in favor OF cong iering rebell-
lon and slavery. One class are still tbe hum.
Bile servants OF The slave poNer,-the other have
no faith In peTmGReat pt ace, until the eGuss Of
the war be removed. Some are in favor OF
ushing out rebellion aud leaving slavery 70
take care of hstJ, while others think they can
see clearly thai II slavery Is Left to take care Of
ITSELF Il will also take care Of 10. For the ben
efs OF our public men at Washington and else.
where, we propose TO ascertain, as one of our
Directs, how the people Of the free States now
stand on this question. We all know that, on
the question Of emancipation, q revolution In
public sentiment has been going on wish great
rapidity since the bombardment Of Sumer. To
what extent IL has obtained, our petitions to
Congress and the President, aud our public
meetings. In the free States will indicate. The
people have sent their servants to Washington
TO extc cute their will. The war has broken out
since the present administration was inAugura
ted, and the will Of the people must be ascer.
tanned, in order that our public men may know
how 10 execute IL The Divine will they al.
really bnoD, but according to present appearan.
ces, will delay les execution until too late -
Slavery is now, By the act Of slaveholders them
bCVcbI pEVNtuouttojiy W tuO hohup Va Out uh
tional government exclusively. Il is for them
to say what shall be done sith IL. If they
should end the war by q compFomiae with febele,
without emancipation, they must necessarily es-
tablish, protect and pgrpetuate the system. To
relieve the government from such n Qod.dls.
honoFipg dilemma, and secure the blessings Of
liberty TO ell the people Of this land, both
" h,te and black, bond and free, Is the grand
object o. our Associ it on.
Inc main question under confederation at
Washington seems to be, how can the rebellion
be put down and leave slavery unharmed,
while the main question among the people
ip, WHEN shall emancipation DO proclaimed By
tho proper authorities. There 10 general
unity OF sentlment that slavery must be saeri.
feed 70 save the nation ct some time, and the
only question on which there is division, lei
whether that time has now arrived. .
The fret thing to be done, then, outside Of
the army, is 10 petition the President and Con.
Rress. Annexed 10 q form Of petition which
can be used unless our friends have Others they
prefer. A form of petition 10 Congress will be
furnished on application. Let the petitions be
DumeroasIy eigned 10 every town In the ires
States, and all returned as soon as possible y
our Secretary. Let them be accompanied With
donations IL money and postoiice stampss
which will enable che Association to employ
lecturers, publish speeches, tracts ana otbSs