The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1862-10-10
Comments of tho Northern Press
on L,incotn's Abolition Proclama-

Comments of tho Northern Press
on Lincotn's Abolition Proclama-
tor.
The following are some Of the COM
ments Of the leading Northern press on
Lincolh'S proclamation:
From the New York Tribune')
It is the beginning Of tho end Of the
rebellion; the beginning of the new life
of the nation.
COP BLESS ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
From the New York Times.)
There has been no more important and
far-reaching document ever issued since
the foundation of this Government than
this proclamation Of President Lincoln.
The wisdom Of the step taken--we refer
at present to that clause in the docutneht
which declares free the slaves Of rebel
States after the first Of January--is un.
questionable; its necessity indisputable.
\ It has been declared time and again by
/: President Lincoln that as soon as this
| step became a-necessity no shoeld adopt
| it, Its adoption now is.uot d confession
that the. military means Of suppressing
the great rebellion have proved d failure,
but simply that there Is poiht at which
any other legitimate appliance that can
be called in shall also be availed of. Sla-
very is an element of strength to the
rebels if left untouched; it will assuredly
prove an element of weakness-it may
be of destruction to them and their cause,
when we make such use Of it and its VIC
Tins as lies in our power.
From now till the first Of JANUARY
the day when this proclamation will take
effects little over three months.
What may happen between now and
! then, in the progress of the war, It 10
hard to say. We earnestly hope, hoWey.
er, that by that time the rebellion will be
put down by the military hand, and that
may not be invoked. IF by that day the
rebel army be overthrow, and their cap
ital captured, and IL the slaveholding
rebels still prove malignant, irrepressible,
and as in the Southwest, disorganizers
and marauders, then let that which
Vice-P President Stephens called the cor.
ner stone OF the Southern Cenfederacy
be knocked from, under it, and see
whether the whole fabric of rebellion
will not necessarily tumble to the ground.
(From the New York ferAld.)
The gravity of this proclamation will
strike every one. 1t has been forced up
on the nation by the abolitionists OF the
North and the secessionists Of the South.
1t inaugurates an overwhelming revolu-
ton in the system of labor in vast and
important agricultural section OF the
country, which will, if the rebels persist
in their course, suddenly emancipate
three or four millions of human beings;
and throw them, in the fullness Of their'
l. oI,,lo
own resources and the wisdom OF the
white race to properly regulate and care
for them in their new condition Of life;
But the Importance of this great social
revolution will not be confined to the
section where the black race now forms
tho Hhiaf lahoring element It will have
an influence on the labor Of the North
and West. IL will, to q certain extent,
bring. the black labor of the South in
competition with the white labor on the
extensive grain farms of the West, unless
the existing stringent laws of some Of
the Western States, combining the negro
TO his present geographical position, are
adopted in all the other free States nm
1t is at this time, with victory in our
hands, and enormous preparations for
crushing out all opposition, that the
President issues this important manifesto,
and gives the people Of the South this
chance. 1t is now the question with
them whether or not they are prepared
for the sake of the few miserable Lead
ers of this wicked rebellion, to submit to
this overwhelming revolution in their So
cial system. There is the document
There is the time fixed for the return Of
the rebellious States to the allegiance of
the Federal Government. No event in
the history of the world surpasseo tho
, one now presented by the President, and
which is to be decided in little over
ninety days.
From the New York Worldly
President Lincoln is very Blondin in
t the art of political balancing. When in
: his elevated position portion of the
balancing pole is thrown out on the left
side, he deity projects an equal weight OF
it on the right Thus he maintains his
t equilibrium. While he was humoring
the radicals in the process Of degrading
Gen. Mcclellan, he withheld the procla-
nation for which they so loudly clamor-
: ed. When the unrelenting necessities
| of war compelled him to restore that
General to command, he found it neces-
sary to pacify this exaotinlg and meddle-
J some faction, and he throws sop to the
barking three-mouthed Cerebus, in the
shape of a new proclamation.
The new proclamation really amounts
to little. The President proclaims, in
substance, that on the first of next jan
uary, he will issue still another proclama-
ton, putting in force the main provisions
of the confscation act. 1t is unbecom-
ing the dignity Of a. great Government to
make such menaces as to what it will
hereafter do in territory of which an
armed foe disputes the jurisdiction. II,
on the first of next January, the war is
substantially ended, there would be some
reason in giving the insurgents their cleo
ton between submission and civil penal
ties. But they will laugh such offers to
scorn SO long as they can confront us
with great armies, That part of the
proclamation which relates to slaves
coming within our lines IS particularly
weak. The law is the same that it WAS
several months ago. If proclamation
on this point is necessary, why was it so
long delayed? Its issue at this late day
looks like a. concession to the radical
clamor. -
16- Among the returned prisoners
here are some Misourians, who have an
adventurous history to recount. They
were taken prisoners while in Prices ar
my. but the Yankees would not reoog-
nize them as prisoners Of war, and gave
them a trial by court martial. Thew were