The southern aegis, and Harford County intelligencer. (Bel Air, Md.) 1862-1864, 1862-10-18
From the Constitutional Union.
rs DISL0YALTY TO THE ADMINS
ATRATION TREASON TO THE o0UN-

ATRATI0N TREASON TO THE 00UN-
RTRYT @
b. If opposition to the UNIVERSAL negro
emancipation policy of the present Nation
al Administration be treason to the coun-
try, then fully oue-half of the people of
the Mort bern, States are traitors, and glory
pih the treason But upon what sensible,
solid or patriotic basis IS this test of loyal
ty erected? That is an important start
ing point in voyage of discovery in
search vi. treason and traitors, If it be
assumed and admitted that the Admins
tration is the Government that all alle-
glance is due to the Administration in
power and not to the Government J; that
difference with and opposition to an Ad-
ministration is infdelity to the Govern
ment; then as matter of course a minor
ity is always composed of traitors, and no
man casts bis vote for an Opposition can
didate without staining his'soul and consci-
ence with the deadly sin of treason. Fur
ther than this, if such be the rule of judg-
ing as to the loyalty Of a man, then it fol-
lows that the crime of treason is not fixed
and well defined by the Constitution and
laws Of the land, but shifting and uncer-
tain, following the sinuosities Of political
administrations, and taking its character
from the amount of opposition manifested
by the offender. H9aa@js"rJ 'tr.
Take, as an illustration of this idea, the
course pursued at this time by the Adolf
ton Republican party in stigmatizing as
disloyal to the Government and country
all who are opposed to the universal negro
emancipation policy Of the present Nation
al Administration. In this instance 10y
atty is made to depend upon acquiescence
in and support Of one single measure of
an administration. The Administration
journals proclaim that this is the only test
in the future by which to try the patriot
ism and loyalty of the people of these
States. And yet if this test be admitted,
then it is certain that all who started
with the President and supported his ear
lier policy on this question of interfering
with slavery in the several States were
traitors of the blacklist dye Look at
the facts. In his inaugural address, Mr..
Lincoln proclaimed to the people of the
country IN the most solemn manner and
in the plainest and most unmistakable
language his conviction that the Federal
Government had no constitutional power
to interfere with or disturb slavery in the
several States This was the basis on
which the President started his admins
tration on the question of Federal inter-
ference with the institution of slavery in
the States. At the opening Of the extra
session Mr.. Lincoln presented an addi-
tioual or supplemental message, in W hich
he took especial pains to push this matter
of slavery in the States into the fore
ground and here again he reafirmed the
doctrine of the inaugural, and again told
the country that the Federal government
was strictly prohibited from interfering in |
any way with the institution of slavery in
the States. This subject was also discus
sed by the President in his message to
Congress in December of last year; and
SO far from even intimating doubt as to
the correctness of his former position he
stated that he fully adhered to the princi-
Piles set forth in his inaugu and former
message, and had nothing to add to or
subtract from them. Shortly after this
appeared the celebrated message of Score
tary Cameron, with the suppressed por-
ton, which was omitted from the original
report, by express command of the Presi-
dent, because it openly proclaimed the right
of Congress and the President to interfere
with slavery in the States, and this doc
trine the President would not subscribe
or endorse in the faintest degree. The
same general views were proclaimed BY
Mr.. Lincoln in his interview with the
"pious men" Of Chicago; and then, as at all
times before, , the President declared that
the Federal government had no constitu-
tional power to interfere with or disturb
the institution Of slavery in the several
States of the Union ,lanl1 2iHsaHd
% Now, this was the position of the Ma
tlonal Administration on the question of
Federal interference with the institution
of slavery in the States up to the issuing
OF the Proclamation on that subject. OIL
course, during the whole Of this time
those who held, with the President, that
the Federal Government had no constitu-
tional power to disturb the institution of
slavery in the States we're loyal and patri.
otto men, whose attachment to the Union
and the Constitution none had right to
question. But the President saw fit to
change the policy Of his administration on
this question of Federal interference with
slavery in the States. Ignoring alike the