The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1862-05-21
President Lfncoin's PrOclamation-A
Great Victory for the Union.

Great Victory for the Union.
The opportuns and admirable proclamation
of President Lincoln, in regard to the late ex-
traordinary General Order, No. H." Of Gene
raj Hunter, is winning golden opinions from all
quarters, and is surely destined to prove a
great and fruitful moral victory for the Union
General Hunter declares that IS three States
of his military department are in rebellion, and
that as slavery and martial law in free
country are altogether incompatible, the per-
sons in those three States-Georgia, South
slaves. are therefore declared forever free"
The President declares that this declaration
sis altogether void" that "neither General
Hunter nor any other commander or person
has been authorized by the government OF the
United States to make proclamation declaring
the slaves of any State free" but that the Pre-
sdent reserves this question Of power to him
self, aud leaves the consideration of the subject
dependent upon future Developments
This is good, and will be so pronounced by
the great body Of the people Of the North, and
will be 80 accepted, as our armies advance to
their protection, by great majority Of the peo-
pie of the South. This general order" Of the
President will also prove salutary one to all
our military leaders disposed to dabble in the
dirty political waters Of abolitionism. After this
we shall have no more of such mischievous abo-
ltion manifestoes as those Of Fremont, Phelps
and Hunter, from the officer in charge OF any
military department; and the prosecution OF
the war will now go smoothly on to its grand
legitimate object-the suppression OF this
Southern rebellion.
Our abolition organs of the radical republi-
can school of the New York Tribune and EreH-
ing Post swallow this emphatic revocation Of
Gen. Hunters preposterous order as Ancient
Pistol swallowed the lsek-they eat and they
swear. They growlingly complain that while
Gen Hunter, for assuming q stretch OF autho-
rity in behalf of " freedom" has been so point
eddy rebuked, Gen. Hallecx, on the other tack,
in excluding all fugitive negroes from his
camps, receives no reprimand whatever. Pre-
sident Lincoln, however, in this matter, exhi-
bits his usual good sense and sagacity, in con-
sidering this exclusion Of negroes simply as " a
police regulation" of the cxpediency Of which
the commanding general in question is fully
competent to judge.
But, having disposed Of Gen. Hunter, Presi-
dent Lincoln proceeds to give his views on the
emancipation question, in an earnest appeal
and solemn warning to the slave States, and
especially to those known as the border slave
States. He urges them to adopt the system OF
compensated emancipation offered by Congress;
he tells them that thcy cannot be blind to the
signs of the times" and he devoutly hopes that
" the vast future will not have to lament " their
neglect of this golden. opportunity. These are
words OF solemn import, and the deeply inte-
rested people Of the border slave States cannot
take them too soon or too seriously into prac-
tical consideration.
President Lincoln, at Washington, is in the
best possible position to see how this war is
operating upon slavery in the border slave
States. To see it, he has only to look out upon
Pennsylvania avenue from window of the
White House at any hour Of the day, and the
gangs of contrabands passing up and down
from Maryland and from the rear Of our ad-
vancing armies in Virginia will tell the story.
Thus the institution of slavery may be said to
be already substantially removed from all
those counties which lie in the rear Of our Vir-
ginia armies. But if the suppression Of this re-
bellion shall require the continued march of
our armies until they penetrate the heart of the
cotton States, is it not altogether probable that
this continually increasing stampede Of South
ern slaves will become absolutely overwhelm-
ing against this institution, and especially in
tie border slave Statess
There can be not the shadow Of doubt that
the President, at all events, is most solemnly
impressed with the duty and the responsibilities
now devclving upon the border slave States in
reference to their disturbed and demoralized
institution Of slavery; and We submit, therefore,
to tho local autborities and the people Of said
States Immediate attention TO the saving alter
native of President Lincoln's policy OF
voluntary. gradual and compensated eman-
cipar IN.