The New York herald., 1862-07-16
The CONFEDERATION Bill and other Radical
M,asures of COngress.

Measures of Congress.
The Coniiscation bill, the bill admitting West
Virginia, and other radical measures oil TINS
description are iii-tmed and out of place, be-
cause instead of aiding the successful prosecu-
ton Of the war, they are obstructing and defeat
ing it, as far as they have any effect at all.
Their application is in the future, and they pre-
suppose the conquest of the rebellious States;
for until that is achieved they can have no ope-
ration; and, therefore, the receipt in the old
cookery book, 'frst catch your hare, then
cook him." &C. might be studied to advantage
by our sapient legislators. But, when the re-
bellion is put down, every measure not in strict
accordance with The constitution must, of neces-
sity, fall to the ground. 1t is only in virtue OF
the constitution, and by its authority, that the
governm ent itself exists, and until the constitu-
ton is abolished or changed by the sovereign
power that gave it vitality Congress has no
power to make any laws inconsistent with its pro-
visions, and no legal tribunal can uphold them.
They will he null and void, spd if the people do
their duty they will elect Congress which
| will wipe from the statute book all such reyo-
utionary measures.
ings of Congress reported in yesterdays
HERALD, the bill for the admission of West
Virginia into the Union as State was passed
| on Monday last. Had West Virginia been
| Territory, that measure would have been per-
fectly constitutional; but being part of State
already in the Union, the bill is both revolu-
tionary and absurd. If the rebellion is put
down, all Virginia-Eastern and Western--will
be in the Union de facto as one State, as it is
now de jure; but if the rebellion is not put
down, then the bill is but bruhum fulmen, of
no effect The constitution expressly provides
that State cannot be divided and formed into
| two States without tho authority of the whole
people of such State. Consequently the bill is,
in any case, nugatory. 1t is not in the power
Of Congress, nor in the power Of Congress
and the President united to destroy the organi-
zation of any State, which is as indestructible
as the federal government itself The Presi-
dent has war power to suspend State func-
tions in any rebelious State, and to appoint pro-
visional Governors during the progress of the
| war; but the moment the war is terminated that
power ceases to exist, and the State returns to
its normal condition. The President recognizes
this principle in the draft Of the bill he has just
sent to Congress for the gradual abolition Of
| slavery in the Southern States with their own
consents for he admits that though they might
abolish slavery to-day they could re-enact it in
| six months. #% -% 81 ss# ~
These exceptional bills, therefore, can only
be regarded as temporary, and as measures of
policy and expedicncy? The question is, Are
they polite and expedientl They cannot be so
unless they aid the progress Of the war. But
experience has shown, and common sense pro-
claims aloud, that they are producing the con-
trary effect. Their tendency is to unite the
and to cxasperate the rebellion to desperation.
while at the same time they are calculated to
produce division and discomfort at the North,
and seriously to interfere with recruiting and
enlstments so essential to success. The main
point is to carry on the war with vieor
| and to q successful issue. Everything
which is not subordinate to that is worse than
useless. The agitation of the measures Of the
radicals is not only not subordinate te this erd.
but is diametrically opposed to it. Consequent
ly the radicals in Congress are doi:.g all that
in them lies to rerder the war disastrous
failure and the reconstruction of the Union al
| imp sssiblity.
Tie whole of the mischief arises out of de-
parture from the ancient landinarks--a ignor-
ing of the very first principles on Which the
government was founded. When the Declara-
ton of independence was signed all the colo
MES possessed slaves. Between that period and
the formation of the constitution only one of
tie States had abolished slavery, and tnat
| State was Massachusetts. The right to hold
negro slaves was not then questioned. 1t was an
indisputable common law right, and is plainly re-
/ cogni7ed in the constitution. But when the North
| crn States, on account Of citrate, and the irm-
| grafton Of free white labor from Europe, found
| it profitable to abolish slavery and did abolish
/ it voluntarily, u set Of fanatics conceived the
design of compelling the Southern States 10
abolish ii too, thoug, these States believe IL to
be for their interest TO retain it, on account of
their peculiar climate, and the fact that they do
not receive sufacency Of free white labor by
immigration; and because, moreover, the negro
alone is suited TO the cultivation of the cotton
| and sugar States. The meddling Of the radi-
Gals with the labor system Of the Southern
| States is revolutionary and subversive Of the
| foundation of the government. II Ia the cause
Of the war, the cause Of its failure hitherto to
accomplish its legitimate object and II con-
tinued II will be the cause ut last of tire Gu
| tastrophe for which the radicals have been la
boring for the last thirty years--the final and
irrevocable dissolution of the Uniop--a CON-
pact which they have declared through their
organs to be "a covenant with death and an
agreement with He'll"
| OCR ARMY AMBULANCE SYsTEM-The recent
re,rest of cur army from The ChicRahominy 90