The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1862-02-20
What Shall be Done with the Rebel
SfuIese


be ultimately crushed, and the supremacy of
Federal law established over the revolted terri
tory. there is now no reason to doubt. What
will BIO the order of things, and what the result
of the triumph of the Federal Government, Is
an enquiry frequently made. Will the rebellious
states be allowed to resume their position in the
Union as formerly-retaining their laws and pc
culiar institutions as before the revolt? If the
result of the war be only return to the condi-
tion of things as they existed before the break
ing out of the war, then there will have been
useless waste of life and treasure. The public
sentiment of the north demands that liberty and
the rights Of men, shall gain something-some
real and substantial good, as compensation
for the sacrifice of human life which the friends
of the Union have been necessitated to make;
the north desires permanent peace and domes-
tic tranquility. There can be no lasting peace
based upon a denial of the rights of men.
What disposition then shall we make of the
rebel states? This question admits of solu-
ton which seems practicable. 1t is manifest
tina: the States in rebellion have forfeited all
right to their state sovereignty that all their
functions and powers, essential to their exist
en&e as independent states, ceased to exist when
they declared themselves separate, and levied
war against the UniteafR tates Government
The jurisdiction of Congress, therefore, over
the domain once comp Using these states, is
precisely the same as that over territory
This being true, it logically follows that the
termination of a state under the Constitution,
necessarily terminates all Its institutions which
were upheld by the exclusive authority of the
state when in power. Slavery being exclusive,
ly state Notwithstanding whatever legal
ity it has from the state, and having no origin
in the Federal Constitution, nor by common
law, or by natural right, must of necessity cease
to exist when the government of the state, from
which it derived its authority, ceases to be.
The states of the south, having forfeited their
independencies as states, by deliberate rebellion
and by an attempt to overthrow the Union by
awless violence, can hereafter be treated only
as part of the rightful territorial domain OF the
United States Whatever rights they may have
heretofore claimed under the Federal Consti
tuition, they have deliberately and wickedly al
ienated Congress therefore has the power to
divide the area of what once pertained to the
states of the south, into such number of terrific
ries (regardleSs of former state ines), as 1t may
deem the public good requires Congress has
also the right to declare by ordinance, as in the
case Of the states formed out of the Northwest
ern Territory, that neither slavery nor invo-
untary ser vitude, except for crime, shall ever
be allowed in the Territories so formed, The
period has come i'll the history of our country,
when Congress should guarantee to every ter
ritory hereafter to be admitted as state, re-
publican form Of government and provide for
the Just rights of all the inhabitants thereof
The united voice of the civilized world asks us
to wipe out the foul stain of chattel slavery
1t follows as Legitimate conclusion, that if
the rebel states have forfeited all right 10 be
regarded as having state governments under
the Constitution, any surrender of slaves under
the laws of the extinct states, by any civil or
military officer of the United States, would be
ridiculously absurd, because it would be a rec
ognition of the pretended state governments
Any other exercise of the power of Congress
over the rebel states, than that we have indica-
ted, does not seem to meet the necessities of The
case Suppose the Federal Government in its
leniency should allow the revolted states to re-
turn to their original position as members OF
the family of states. What could be expected
from such policy 1t would be simply end
he nd upa doh q
quarrel in Congress and elsewhere about slave
ry The slavery question has for many years
past, in Congress, occupied the attention OF
that body, to the exclusion of other pressing
matters of public interest. Slavery has been
the all absorbing and agitatng subject Of polit,
ical discussion the country over--eXciting the
most bitter animosties and demoralizing the
public mind. So long as slavery is allowed to
last, so long will the country be kept in con
dition of fearful agitation Close this war with
slavery acknowledged as in times past, and an
other war will in due time be sure to follow
perhaps more direful than the present. Slave
ry and freedom can never harmonic under one
government; the history of nations in all past
ages proves its impossibility.
If the rebel states should be permitted to re-
turn back to the Union, bringing all their pc
culiar institutions with them as heretofore, Con
gress, of course, would be infested with the
same pro-slavery element which has occasioned
so much national disquietude in past years
These states, though subdued, would still re-
tain their love of human bondage, and would
seek as heretofore to extend it over our entire
domain. There can be no national quiet-nC
permanent peace, without u reconstruction Of
the rebel states; these states must be subjuga-
ted, held for time by the force of arms, then
whole political machinery fashioned anew and
sustained by the Federal Government. 1t will
of course take some time TO bring these madmer
back to duty and respect of law g.; there is now
no Way to reconstruct the government of the
extending the power Of the Federal Government
over these revolted states, and treating them as
territories. This line of policy has already been
brought to the attention of Congress, under IA
vorablc auspices, and the people may look with
| a good degree Of confidence for such result.
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The Treasury Note Bill-We pub
fish this week the Treasury Note, legal tender
BILL as passed by the House of Representatives
The bill was passed by the Senate with some
slight amendments, among which was one ma
king the interest on the bonds payable in coin.
1t is probable that the House will concur in
the Senate amendments, or the Senate will re-
cede from them, as the public demand for le
gal tender bill is SO great that it will not long
be withheld. The question of the Senate amend
ments was before the House Committee of WAYS
and Means on Monday. The committee was
about equally divided on the question of con-
curing in the Senate's amendments or adher.
ing to the main features of the bill as passed by
the House. Numerous letters were read to the
committee by Mr.. Stevens, advising the passage