The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1862-10-11


march of our army into the remotest cor
nors of rebeldom.
Men who are opposed to the measure
freely question the Presidents right to is
sue such proclamation. Some men who
profess to be loyal, are finding fault with
everything the President does, and do
nothing themselves Such consider
traitors at heart, and hence not entitlodto
any consideration in the discussions of
the rights of truly loyal men. To those,
however, who are for the Union in earn
est, yet fear that the President has unduly
exercised his authority in this proclama
ton, would say, . come let US reason to-
gether," touching the things SO deeply
concerning our National welfare.
The simple statement of few plain
facts will materially assist in the clear I'M
Outstanding Of this subject.
Those who deny the right of the Fed
eral Government to emancipate slaves, do
SO upon the plea that slaves are property
to which the owner has the same right
that he has to his horse or other property
In peace the rights of the government are
clearly defined by the CONSTITUTIONAL
war those rights are determined only by
the necessities Of the case. In the pres
ent war especially the issue is the preser-
walton Or destruction of the government;
and as the existence of the government,
by which alone the rights of all can be
preserved, is of more Importance than the
rights of any part of the people. the gov
ernmcnt has clear right to curtail the
rights of any class of its citizens to the
extent necessary to insure its own preser-
walton. If the army need forage, the
owners of corn, hay and oats must give
up what they have. Ii the soldiers need
provisions, the grsnaries and smoke hous-
es of the citizens must yield their abund-
ance. Should horses, or mules. or oxen
be in demand, the owners of stock mus,
come to the rescue Nor does it make any
difference whether the owners wish to sell
or not, the property must come. Does
the government need money? Every man s
purse is opened and compelled to empty
its contents into the public fund. Are
men wanted? The strong arm Of govern
ment compels the widowed mother to give
up her only son, the wife her hus band
the maiden he lover II the houses and
the barns OF the citizens furnish u hiding
place from which the enemy can annoy US,
they are assigned to the flames. Do our
railroads afford facilities for invading our
territory, or for the escape of the invading
armies, they are destroyed. And should
one of our own citizens presume to give
useful information, or other aid to the en-
envy, he is consigned to felon's cell, and
traitors grave. If, therefore, the slave
holder has the same right to his slave that
he has to his horse. government may
rghtfully take away that slave, either
when we need him for our own use, such
as digging trenches, cooking. for the sol.
diers, or carrying our guns if need be, or
when the enemy would be likely to use
him against US.
If slaves are "to all intents and pur-
poses under the Constitution, property
then they must be governed by the laws
Of property. Government never has hes
itated DO take the property Of citizens in
time Of war, therefore government should
not hesitate to take the slaves of citizens
in this time of war, when the taking Of
those slaves will strengthen us or weaken
the enemy.
Do either of the above conditions ex.
ist |? answer, yes-both of them By
the first Of next November we will, OF
ought to have in the field, one thousand
regiments Of soldiers. Each regimen,
requires not less than fifty able bodied
men to perform the labor, such as cook.
sng and driving team. This labor has
heretofore been performed by the soldiers
thus taking them from the real effective
force of the regiment. Negroes can d.
3his work as well as soldiers, for they hav.
been raised to it, and when you set then
at it you send fifty thousand good. able
bodied men into the ranks of our army
and increase its strength to that extent