The Burlington weekly hawk-eye., 1862-11-15

. I0I tlTLII1Ia
CEKLY HAWK-EYE.
EmAsC1PAT1oN PRooIAmAr1oN !
lts Eject ON she slaves and slave own.
| From the New York Tribune,
No single opponent Of the presidents s proc
ciamatson Of freedom has yet dared to state
fairly the question raised thereby. Its enc.
mics prate eternally Of ''perverting the war
| for the Union into war for abolition" Thew
know very well that this is not a true state.
ment Of the case but to state the issue fairly
is just what they cannot afford. We will try
to make the truth manifest by testimony
which our adversaries cannot impeach. Take
hrst the following extract from letter written
by Capt. 7. F. Harrison Of the rebel army
dated Camp near Holly Springs, Miss, Aug.
4" soliciting. through the Hon. John Perkins.
Jr., M. e., permission from the rebel govern.
ment for the return to their homes in Mad.
ison parish, Louisiana, Of his COMPANY Of
cavalry (nesrly all the rebel cavalry are slave,
holders) to look after their insub bordinate
slaves:
''There has been million dollars worth Of
property destroyed in Madison, that could
have been protected with our cavalry cstn !.
pany. The negroes are demoralized to such
an extent on the river lMississippi) that they
are read y and willing to participate in any,
thlng that the Yankees may wish when they
return, which they are sure to do. Now, which
should be the proper force to meet this emer-
gency!. Those interested in slaves along the
river, or those from the back parishes, own
ing but few slaves or none? suppose that
nf hn,
through the upper part Of our parish and
taking to Vicksburg some 400 or 500 slaves to
work on their canal. Those negroes win re-.
turn with promises of freedom and with their
minds poisoned. and the injury which will be
sustained by our people unless some protection
is afforded them, will be incalculable. We
are IN the most helpless condition of any par.
ish in the State.'
This was before the issue of the proclama-
ton of freedom. Now see how that measure
has affected the main question. We quote from
a late letter from Bolivar Nights, Of an army
correspondent Of the New York Times:
"There is no measure, am confident, which
has caused such dismay to the heart Of the
rebel leaders as that same Lincoln Proclama-
ton. Said an intelligent aid camp to me,
who had been taken prisoner few days since,
This proclamation is monstrous; it will stir
up our slaves and create general insurrection,
which is contrary to the rules of civilized war
fare My reply to him was, that the proclaim
tion had gone far toward the attainment of
the desired resnlt, if such reign of terror had
been produced among the rebels. Last eve>
ming one of the loyal Virginians of this place
remarked to me that the Presidents proclama-
tion sOould do more toaoard the finishing of the var
than all other military measures com6,ned--
Sixty years in the South enable him to speak
intelligently of what pertains to Southerners.
Such is the impression entertained by all loyal
Virginians whom have met On our recent
advance to Charlestown, the effects of the
proclamation on the rebels was very apparent.
Nearly all the slaves had been sent South.
showing the fallacy of the oft-repeated state
ment that the negroes would under no circum-
stances desert their masters. The people were
all in qui Uiue in regard to it and it was plain
to see that the proclamation constituted the
burden of their thought as well as conversa-
tion.
What effect it has had among the slaves no
one can doubt, who is at all acquainted with
the negro character. Let.them once get it in
to their heads that 'Massa Lincoln habe set me
free,' and the peaceful relation between master
and slave is at once ended. They will be-
come as stubborn and as ungovernable as they
were before docile and obdient. Scarcely Q
day passes that some poor fugitive does not
come within our lines and report their fellow
bondmen as anxionsly looking forward to the
first of January, when they are to lay down
the shovel and the hoe,' seize the implements
of war and play insurrection generally"
The LESSON OF THE LATE ELECTIONS =
Wherever the Republicans, as such, and under
their own proper name, have made the contest
in the late elections, they have been victorious
This they did in Massachusetts,; this they did
in Michigan; this they did in Iowa and in each
of these States their success was everything
which could be desired. On the other hand, in
every State in which they discarded their party
identity, and ignored the principles upon which
they had formerly acted and formerly proved
successful, nothing but defeat has attended them
This was the case in Pennsylvania in New York,
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In these States they
INDUCED the cry against party, and went into
the fight under the name of Unionists, which, in
communities where all claimed to be in favor of
the Union, signifed nothing of distinctive
character gave them no claim to the sympathy
of any class of voters, and consequently left
them without weapons to fight the battle. True,
they avowed their devotion to the Union, shout
ed and sang "Union," wrote Union upon
their banuers-but all this their adversaries did
as we'll as they. It was impossible to make up
an issue upon the Union question. There was
no person to fight with. All professed to be
agreed upon the point which was expected to
be contested. The old Republicans were, there
fore, left to beat the empty sir, where they ex-
pected to have an enemy and fight battle
Missouri Democrat
AN IMPORTANT TRUrH.-Macauley. in his
review Of Hallam's Constitutional History,
makes use of the following lanuage: "1f there
be any truth established by the universal ex-
prience of nations, it is this: that to carry the
spirit Of peace into war is q weak and cruel
policy. The time Of negotiation is the time
for delberation and delay. But when an ex-
treme case calls for that remedy, which is in
its own nature most violent, and which, is in
such cases, remedy only because it is violent,
it is idle to think Of mitigating and diluting.
Languid war can do nothing which negotiation
or submission will not do better; and to act on