The New York herald., 1862-05-30

| VII, uctcateu LII tle HOUSE Vi iscpioochs4'S'
on Tuesday by a majority of four, was fixed
for Wednesday, and it was expected that, with
the AID OF two radicals, before absent and one
convert gained over, there would be tie vote,
and that the Speaker would then give his cast
ing vote for the BILL Owing to some disar
rangement in the programme the bill was
| postponed for week. We wish it had
been postponed till the Greek kalends. Such
bill is unworthy Of any civilized nation, and
Is without . parallel in ancient or modern
times. Even Congress of barbarians would
enact something more in accordance with COM
mon sense, to say nothing Of humanity. 1t
strikes at the property in slaves Of the whole
people of the South at one fell swoop, making
no distinction between leaders and followers,
those taking an active part in the rebellion,
and those giving aid in the most indirect man
made even between rebels and loyal men, for
the latter, if claiming the service Of slave,
must first prove his loyalty, which it would
be impossible for him to do.
The first section provides that whoever
shall wilfully engage in armed rebellion
against the government Of the United States,
or shall wilfully aid or abet such rebellion, or
adhere to those engaged in such rebellion,
giving them aid or comfort, every such person
shall thereby forfeit all claim to the service or
labor Of any persons, commonly known as
slaves" In some of tho Southern States this
section would include ninety-nine out of every
hundred of the owners of slaves, for the troops
in the field are aided by nearly the whole of
the remaining population. But if there should
be any Union man who rendered no aid or
comfort, and did not adhere to the rebels, he is
caught by the following section, inasmuch as
he is compelled to prove negative. 1t
runs
sro q And be il further enacted That il any person
claiming to be entitled tho service labor OF any
other person shall seek to enforce such claim he SHALL
in the first instance, and before any order shall be made
for tho surrender OF the whose service labor
claimed, establish only his claim such service
labor but also that such claimant has not way
aided, assisted countenanced the existing rebellion
| against the government Of the United States
| A man might be as innocent as the child un-
born, and yet he could not prove that he "has
not in any way aided, assisted or counte-
nanced the existing rebellion" By every
| principle of American law the citizen is to be
regarded as innocent till he is proved guilty:
and the onus lies upon his accusers to
| prove their case, and not upon him to
| first prove negative. There is not q
man in the whole of the Southern States who
would be able to establish his innocence by
this rule; and if justice is not to be circumscrib
ed by geographical boundaries, would it not be
incumbent on Congress to pass an act permit
ting every man in the Northern States to be
robbed Of his property with impunity if he
cannot prove that he never gave aid or comfort
to the Southern rebels? Where is the man who
can prove this unless by his own testimony,
which, of course, would not avail him? BY a
side wind this bill aims at the overthrow Of the
constitution and the destruction of the entire
openly and above board by a bill simply eman-
cipating all slaves, instead of thus whipping
the devil around the stump? The title of the
bill ought to be "a bill to aid and extend the re-
bellion and to protract the war to an indefinite
period" If it should be adopted by the House,
and also by the Senate, and come before the
President for his approval, we trust he will
give it his veto, and that he will do the same in
the case of the absurd Confscation bill.
The whole course of Congress since the civil
war began, and indeed before the commence
ment of our national troubles, has tend
ed to widen the breach and make it ire
parable Before the breaking out Of hos
tilities everything was done to exaspsrate
and to ALLEVIATE the South All compromises
calculated to reconcile existing differences and
to carry out the spirit of the constitution were
al Ixxy:fh r,,1 War 10
signed from the beginning by an INSCRIPTIONS
faction, who saw in it q boundless source of
public plunder, and the means, as carried on
under their auspices, of extinguishing the
Union and securing for a long series of years
the reins Of power in the Northern section Of
toe republic. Their programme was either to
reduce the rebellious States of the South to
Territories, without representation in Congress,
in order thai they might abolish negro slavery
and retain possession Of the spoils, or to effect
q complete and permanent separation between
the North and the South. Nothing they so
much dreaded as the simple restoration of the
revoited States to the Union, under the autho-
rity of the constitution, with the same relations
to the federal government and the other States
as existed before the rupture.
Upon no other theory can their conduct be
explained. II the war should be diverted from
its original purpose-the purpose proclaimed
in the proclamation Of the President-then
they wish it God speed: but ii not, not.
Governor Andrew. in his recent letter TO the
War Department, put the matter in nutshell.
lie said chat % fight for the mere restoration
of the Union the men of Massachusetts, would
feel to be "a heavy draft upon their patriotism
but that to fight for the abolition of slavery
would be glorious and call forth their utmost en-
thusiasm. In The one case he had mo materials
for an intelligent reply" In the other he un-