Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1862-10-08
The Presidents Proclamation.

! COnnScaLlOn act, ana proclaimed WhaG Jnt
President understood to be the legal effect o
his previous proclamation founded on thatsec.
ton, This in all conscience would have beer
bad enough On reading the proclamation 8
second time, however, we perceived that il
makes no reference to the 9Th section Of the
coniscation act; and, upon examining this
section ITSELF we perceived that its subject
matter is different from that of the proclama.
ton, the former relating to all the property o.
rebels in any State, while the latter relate.
expressly and exclusively to all the slaves in
the States in rebellion. It thus appears that
the proclamation is not and does not assume
to be founded on the confscation law or any
other law. 1t is evidently an arbitrary act ol
the President as Commander-in-C Chief Of the
Army and Navy of the Union. In short, It
is naked stroke Of military necessity
We shall not stop now to discuss the char
acter and tendency of this measure. Both
are manifest. The one is unwarrantable as
the other is mischievous. The measure is
wholly unauthorized and wholly pernicious.
Though it cannot be. executed in fact and
though Its execution probably viii never be
seriously attempted, its moral influence viii
be decided and purely hurtlul. So far as its
own purpose is concerned, it is a mere br,,tum
tiIlmen, but it win prove. only too efectual for
the purposes Of the enemy. It is a gigantic
usurpation, unrelieved by the promise Of a
solitary advantage however minute and faint,
but, on the contrary, aggravated by the me
mace Of great and unmixed evil
Kentucky cannot and will not acquiesce in
this measure. Neverl AS little will she al
low it to chill her devotion to the cause thus
cruelty imperilled anew. The government
our fathers framed is one thing, and thing
above price; Abraham Lincoln, the tempo
rary occupant of the executive chair, is an
other thing, and q thing of comparatively lit
tie worth. The one is an individual, the sands
OF whose official existence are running fast,
and who, when his official existence shall end,
viii be no more or less than any other indi-
vidual. The other is a grand political struc-
ture, in which is contained the treasures and
the energies of civilization, and upon whose
lofty and shining dome, seen from the shores
of all climes, center the eager hopes of man
kind. What Abraham Lincoln as President
does or fails to do may exalt or lower our es-
innate of himself but not of the great and
benefcent Government of which he IS but the
temporary servant. The temple is not the
less sacred and precious because the priest
lays an unlawful sacrifice upon the altar. The
loyalty Of Kentucky is not to be shaken by
any mad act Of the President If necessary,
she will resist the act, and aid in holding the
actor to a just and lawful accountability, but
she will never lift her own hand against the
glorious fabric because ne has blindIy or
crimiuaIly smitteu it. She can not be so false
to herself as this. She is incapable of such
guilt and folly.
The President has fixed the first OF next
January as the time for his proclamation to
go into effect. Before that time the North
viii be called upon to elect members of Con
gress and the new Congress will assemble
We believe that the proclamation viii strike
the people Of the North in general with amaze
ment and adherence. We know it. We ap-
peal to them to manifest their righteous de-
testation by returning to Congress none but
the ayowed and jealous adyersaries Of this
Let the revocation Of the proclama-
ton be made the oversh9 dowing issue, and
let the voice of the peopI at the polls, follow
ed by the voice of their representative in
Congress, be heard in such tones Of remon-
STRANGE and Of condemnation that the Presi-
dent, aroused to a sense of his tremendous err !
ror, shall not hesitate to Withdraw the meas
ure. The vital interests Of the country de-
mand that the proclamation shall be revoked, 1
the sooner the better, and, until tits revoked,
every loyal man should unite IN vigorously
working for its revocation. If the President
by any means is pressed away from the con-
stitution and his own pledge, lie must be
pressed back again and held there by the
strong arm of the people.
The game Of pressure is one that two can
play at; and it is no slight reproach to the
men of the county that hereto
fore they have not taken their iair shake in
this game as played at the national capitol.
The radicals have been allowed to have the
game too much to themselves. We hope
this reprOach will now be wiped away.-Lo,,-
iSUiEle ,JolTndl.