Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-08-01

The Yankee RubveFsgon OF Ihe Govern
nlent Of the UniGrd StaGes-R evolution
airy and Destructive FFeasHFes OF Con
gFess--A EFeuehmuu's View.
Prom the Courier des Etats Unis Of July 2lst
The legislative history Of the world reckonl
among its pages few which equal in import ancl
the session Of the American Congress- terminated
at Washington the 18th day of July, 1862 Be-
tween that which the representatives Of the Uni
ted States had before them at the time of their as
semblng in December last, and that which they
leave behind them at the moment of their sepa-
| ration, there is distance frightful to mez sure
This distance the members, the government and
the nation have trsversed step by step, day by
| day, without calculating how much each stage
removed them from Che point of departure OF
separated them from the direct road. It is only
at the present moment, when q definite halt has
been made, that we can take in at a glance
what has been actually accomplished
| The chief acts Of tho session may be divided
| into three classes:
Measures relative to slavery;
Political measures, other than those relating
| 10 slavery;
Economical and financial measures. DIV
These three kinds of legislative facts, distinct
in their essential character, and which would
have heen Independent of each other in ordinary
times, give to the situation Of the country an
| indlsseluble unity. In the midst Of events " hich
unfold themselves around US, al linked and
| chained together, measures the most opposite
in appearance have a common bearing, and nc-
c0rding as they are good or bad, benefit or in
| juTe esch other Teciprocslly. They no lon ger
! constitute simple decisions Of the moment, des
tined TO ezercise temporary ialt-a-e. I'D ina
! position to bs TecOnsidered or modified some
! months hence From the day they 5ave been
/ signod, they take full effect and inflnence the
future This is = political precept which Con-
| gress should never have lost sight OF for a sin
! gle moment, but which, on the contrary, has
| been sPurned by it in the most contemBtuous
manner. From the first to the last hour of the
session it has legislsted at hazard, without Gp-
| pearing even to suspect that the laws which il
passed formed, in fact, the basis of q new si.B=
| lion
! It's mission was to strengthen, if it were pos
| sible, the rudely shaken foundations of the
| Union; this it has necessarily insisted upon
itself; and yet, to Judge to day by the result Of
| its labors, one would be rather tempted to be-
lsve that its set task had been to give blow alter
| blow to the lettering remains Of the Republic
which it was pretending TO reconstruct. We do
| not accuse it Of having done this designedly
far from tive are persuaded that more than
! one representative returned to his home aud be-
come himself again, win look back with surprise
mingled with horror upon the work to which hs
has lent his -oPeTation-csrried away as it
were mechanically by the influence of party.
But however severe may be these regrets, they
are late and pewcrles5. The evil Is dOLe i will
remain immeuss and irreparable.
All the measures which relate to slavery are 50
many errors, and, what's more, useless errors,
Ifit WAS believed, really, that in the one point the
prime cause Of secession was really 20 be found;
if there was any desire. or sincere hope, to put
an end to tho revolution, By return to the
/ Union if there was any wish to prove to the
world end 10 the South itself that the constitu-
ton remained intact, ready to become the ecorner
stone of 2 reunited COnfedeTacy, the first neces-
1 sity was to avoid everything which could even
/ have the appearance Of affecting the Federal
/ compact. Congress seems, on the contrary, to
have had at heart precisely the opposite. II de-
/ creed emancipation in the District of COlumbjs,
and the formal exclusion of slavery from all the
Territories now held, or to be held, by the Con-
| federation. Neither Of these measures was
| eithoC necessity or oppoTtune neither Of themi
had any practical bearing their only effect Vvas
! TO give the South one cause Of complaint the
more. This, too, was aggravated by an almost
/ childish trhing, in voting the dipOmatical rec
| ognition Of the black republics Of Hsyti and
! Liberia recognition which was known to be
! impossible by the slave States.
| Ii It was intended to appeal to abstract prin-
| ciDles of humanity and human equality, these
! acts are insufficient and accomplish nothing If
we regard them from a political point of view,
| the only one, it strikes Us, which OGght to be
! taken when a revolution is to be quieted it is
| impossible to see in than anything else than
/ grstuitOus insult to those who aye to be won
! back. 1t is oil upon the fire, and nothing else
! To have decreed general act Of abolition would
/ have been insensate.. Thanks to the President
| and to some clear sighted and moderate minds,
| this was not done. Those who urged this step
/ had, however, at least a philosophical idea TO
| invoke; and false as i was in its application
/ fatal as it would have proved in its conse-
| quences-this idea had its logic. What was
| done had none. Congress has shown itself
| bad politician without showing itself q good
/ phianthropist Since the maiouty comprehend
ed that it was impossible TO strike az the root OF
/ slavery, they shOHld have understood that the
| true course to follow was to leave it as it was,
| aud to prove, by = complete f0Ibe8ranee, tha!
| the North IS sincere when it asks the South to
retgrn to the UuiOn, with the assurance Of find
| ing there intact all the rights which it claims
By . contrast which would strike one as
strange, if anything could ba strange in the par
| lsmentary conduct OF the United States, while
| the most irritating side Of the constitutional
! problem Of slave labor was treated lightly with
out either necessity or profit the solution of the
two practical points of the question, which have
! really arisen out of the events of the day, has
| been left untouched. The fate of slaves whe
have fallen, or who will fall hereafter, into the
| hands of Federal troops, remains vague and
unsettled. This general may return them TO
their masters thai one declares them free, and
even arms them. Nor have the wise and excel
| lent views Of gradual emancipation, Of coloni-
| zatiOn in foreign countries, by which 1Ir. Lin
| coin wished TO seek commencement OF prac-
tcal solution to this question, besn in any way
| proyidedifor. The credit which he demanded for
this purpose has been refused him-defsrred, at
least, till the next session. Everything has
been done to irriiate-nothing to settle or dis
pose Of the question.
Besides those relating directly to slavery, the
mcgt important political acts Of Congress ara the
law intended to punish rebellion, and that which
places in the hands of the President an almost
unlimited power in regard to an appeal to arms
The first of these laws inaugurstes at the
outset, on American soil, the modes Of punish
ment which European civilization is gradually
I ,, FI,,-.