New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-02-25
SsryEN's REsCLUTkONs ON
GIAVSRH.

that Slavery has been abolished by the action
If the Confederate States in seeding, and the
bill Of Senator Harris for the establishment OF
T,rritorinl Governments throughout the area
of the rebellion, have naturally attracted n
crcot deal of attention, and are destined, we
doubt not, 10 engage very thoroughly the pub
lic mind. Tue principles Inserted by Dir.
Sumner must strike many readers ns very rad
zeal. and any measures based upon them Will
seeo, absolutely revolutionary; ard tinid, CON
seryatiye minds viii shrink from the decisive
steps by which alone such measures can be
carried out. But the stern logic of events VIII
carry on the argument, nud force the most IT.
resoluts 10 some definite conclusion respecting
tie status of slaves in the rebellion. We are
not concerned, therefore, TO anticipate tie
i ,sue Of The debate on which every day is
shedding new light. Satisfied, ourselves, OF tho
future result which must be reached, we can
leave those whose great inquiry now IS " lilo"
81 not TO do it 2" 10 the teaching of circum-
stances ami OF facis.
sin. il is worth while TO think for a moment
Of the policy now proposed. What is its legt-
mate tendency and beariog upon the progress
of the rebel u To this inquiry one fact
may be alleged in reply which is highly signiii-
cant. Tie rro?".sl to treat tho act of Seces-
zion as an nc. of ahdicstioD On tie part OF the
State. which would instantly aunlhllste all tie
peculiar institutions OF the state, nnd dcc'snely
abolish Slavery in ii, would have carried with
il in the earlier periods Of our struggle an I'M
meme weight OF influence sgtinst Secession.
Had it been distinctly announced wien Mary
land, Missouri nud Kentucky were watering
taat the passage OF sny See .sion Fesolut ons
would he regarded by the Government Ia an
emancipation OF their Slaves and an overthrow
OF Their institutions, which OF those otates
would have dared to encounter the hazard
In the Gulf States such snnouL cement,
however resolutely made, might have amounted
10 very little, because the leaders OF the
rebellion in those localities had delnded
themselves into tie confident belief that
they held their destiny in their own hands.
and that through their own vac. resources,
and the interposIton of foreign powers, they
could make good their position against the
whole force of the obsolete. Union. Aud
set, even there, the early and timely decara-
ton Of such principles would have greatly
tended ~ cheek the violence OF revolution.
There WERE even in those States, many
Thoughtful persons, disposed, perhaps, to make
The experiment OF secession, yet questioning
seriously the policy of the movement Had
this consequence OF their action been from tie
iiIst declared as the inevitable result, aud the
purpose Of our Goycrnnen. been ayowed "a
consider secession emancipation. such person.
would have lad ground Tor rcdonbled canton.
Had Stephens, when he discouraged secession
IN Georgia year ago, been constrained 10 look
upon abolition as the inevitable consequence O
failure, anu bgd Lis hearers been constraiLcd e.
survey This possible result Of their action, il
would Lave been doubly difficult Tor the Seces.
sion movement ~ tnke on that character Of
mad violence which swept the South heallong
into the vortex of d'sunion.
Bat, however il might have been ia tie Plant.
Ing States, the result upon the border could
not have been doubtful. Mary land would never
have dared 10 hazard the consequence; Ken.
turhy and Missouri would have shiuuk Wit.
terror at being asked 10 take a step which
must, if the North should succeed, sweep away
with one stroke every vest 10 Of tho slave sys
tenn. Those States had 60 niany relations OF
intercourse with tho North, aud knew SO vel
the extent aud greatness Of Northern resourccs,
that the result Of Secession must always have
seemed 10 them dOlbtf,l; and had the certainty
Of Immediate abolition been held up before them
with an uDial.ering purpose on the part Of Gov
eminent, their allegiance would have boen very
quietly maintained. Tie dsuffMn faction which
proposed measure, involving such pos
sibilites, wonld have been rebuked by he
SHAREHOLDERS themselves as the worst enemies
Of their interests.
at every subsequent period OF the struggle
tho policy Of Senator Summers view is equal,
clear aud equally decisive. Throughout ali the
doubtful and hestating course Of Kentucky the
Of tho fact that to side with the
Secession would instantly 8boliiOhlze the
State, would have checked the Soceders and
given argument of most telling effect to the
Unioni,ts there. That long and disastrous ucu-
trality which has been the real cause of So
many Of our military embarrassments, by shut
ting out our forces from what was ak months
igo, as ob'io1sly a, Il Is uo~. our true Iine Of