The Portland daily press., 1862-09-25
The Argus Denounces the Proclamation.

After six months spent in talking about the
eWar Power" in the hands of the President,
and his right to exercise it even to the eXtin-
guishment of the last vestige of slavery, now
that the President has, in the exercise of that
power, proclaimed what he will do, and that
for war purpose the heavy hand of the gov
ernment will be laid upon the institution of
slavery in the rebel States, the Argus turns a
short corner, virtually eats its own teachings,
and asks-in a tone to imply its own negative
position-if ''the exercise or attempt TO exer-
else such despotic military porerS on the part
ofthe Commander-in-Chief UnitedStates
forces, is justified by the Constitution ,rhtch
he has s,rorn TO supports"
Over and over again has that paper contend
ed for the plenary power of the President, un-
der the war provisions of the Constitution; and
to illustrate and defend this very authority of
the Commander-in-Chicf, was the great bur-
den of all the Democratic speeches made in the
last legislature, adverse to the "National Re-
solves, speeches which the Argus approved
in gross and in detail,- one of the most
powerful reasons urged by Messrs. Sweat and
Peters Of the Senate, and Gould and Bradbury
of the House, why those resolves should not
be passed, was, that they proposed to confer
upon the President, by Congress, authority al
ready possessed by him under the war power,
and to be exercised at his discretion. And
now the Argus carps abour the constitutional
ity ofthe thing, and says if it could be salts
fed on this point it would be greatly gratiied
at the action of the President! The thinking,
loyal readers OF that paper will be likely to
say, that if they were satisfied of the editors
honesty, they would have no doubt Of his sat
isfaction on the constitutional question, for he
has, times almost without number, demon
strated the full and unequvocal authority of
the Commander-in-C Chief in the direction he
has now acted
But the Argus can see in the proclamation
only another tub to the abolition whale" The
truth is-and if the Argus will for once deny
his master by being fair and honest, it will
frankly say so-the modern democrats, the
democrats of the Argus school and of the Fer
nando Wood school, and of the Vallandigham
school, do not want slavery abolished, even
though it could be done peacefully and with
the full consent of the South, because, with
that out of the way, their last party hope is
gone. 1t is the political power Of slavery that
has given TO the democratic party, of late years,
its successes. 1t was the slave political power
that elected Buchanan, that placed Floyd and
Cobb in the Cabinet; that filed our State-as
it did the whole North-with an army of Of
ficials in whose hands no man would trust his
private property; set of fellows who were
willing to be the plant tools of traitors, and
who to-day, if it would replace them in Office
would welcome the Confederate army to Maine,
and JEFF. Davis to the Executive chair now
filed by Mr.. Lincoln. Abolish slavery! Why
the democrats would have nothing TO talk
about; no allies in the South; no strings to
pull upon, and in six months they would be as
far passed into oblivion as they now are gone
in corruption.
We are glad the Argus has taken its position.
Let il no longer prate of its support of Presi-
dent Lincoln. Its opposition affords strong
circumstantial evidence that the President is
right. If the Argus had praised him we should
have felt suspicious Of his integrity. But the
President is unschathed by any such doubtful
support.