Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-09-23
PROCLAMATION BY The PRES
IDENT.
Slaves in States in Rebellion to be
Free after Jan. lst, 1862.
No more Slaves to be returned
BY Military Officers.
IMPORTANT FROM KENTUCKY.
REBELS MARCHING ON LOUIS
VILE.
Nelson making Preparations to
receive them.
PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT.

Z
By the President Of the United States 80 '' --
A PROCLAMATION.
/, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States Of America, and Commander-in-Chie Of
the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby
proclaim and declare that hereafter
as heretofore, the war viii be prosecuted
| for the object Of practically restoring
the Constitutional relations between the United
| States and the people thereof, in which States
that relation IS or may be suspended or disturb
| ed. It my purpose upon the next meeting OF
/ Congress to again recommend the adoption of
/ practical measure rendering pecuniaEy aid to the
ice acceptance or rejection Of all the Slave
States, so called, the people whereof may not
then be in rebellion against the United States and
| which State may then have voluntarily adopted
| or thereafter may adopt the Immediate or grad
ual abolshment ofslavery within theirrespectiye
limits and that the EFFORTS 10 colonlze persons Of
| Afucan descent with their consent upon the con-
| tinentl or elsewhere, with the previously OBJ
j tanned consent of the Governments existing there
will be continued. That on the first dav OF Janu-
] ary, in the year OF our Lord one thousand eight
] hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as
slaves, within any State or any designated part
/ OF state the people whereof shall then be in
/ rebellion against the United States, shall be
| thenceforward and forever free and the Exec
/ u;ive government Of the United States, ineud-
/ ing the Military and Naval authorities
| thereof, will recognize and maintain the
/ freedom of such persons, and will do no act
or acts to repress such persons any of them, in
| any effort they may make for their actual free
dom; that the Executive will on the first Of jan
/ uary aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the
/ States and parts Of States, if any, in which the
people thereof respectively, shall then be in re-
bellion against the United States, and the fact
that any state or the people thereof shall on that
day be IN good taith represented in the Congress
| Of the United States by members chosen thereto
/ at election wherein a majority Of the qualified
/ voters Of such State shall have participated,
shall in the absence Of strong countervailng tes-
/ timony, be deemed conclusive evidence that
| such state and the people thereof have not been
! in rebellion against the United States that at
tention is hereby called to an act of Congress en-
| titled An Act to make an additional Article Of
/ War approved March 18th, 1862, and which act
/ Is in the words and figures following Be it en-
/ acted by the Senate and House Of Representa-
| tiyes Of the U. 8, in Congress assembled, that
] hereafter the following shall be promulgated as
| an additional article OF war for the government
/ OF the army of the United States, and shall be
j Oheyed and observed as such Article
/ All oneerS or prVates in the military or
naval service are hereby prohibited
rom employing any Of the forces under their re-
J spectlve commands for the purpose Of return
| ing fugitiYes from service or labOrWho may have
! or labor is claimed TO be due, and any officer
who shall be found guilty by Court Martial of
violating this article shall be dismissed from the
| service.
Section I'd. And be it further enacted that this
Act shall take effect from and after its passage.
Also, to the 9Th and 10Th sections Of an Act er5
titled an act to suppress insurrechon, to punish
! treason and rebellion, to seize and confcate
property of rebels, and for other purposes, ap-
proved July 18th, 1872, and which sections are in
! the words and figures following
Section 9th. And be It further enacted that all
| slaves Of persons who shall hereafter be engaged
in rebellin against the Government Of the Unit d
States, or who shall in any way give aid
or comfort thereto escaping from such
persons and taking refuge within the lines
Of the army, and all slaves captured from
such persons or deserted by them and coming
under the control OF the Government Of the
United States, and all slaves Of such persons, on,
or being within any place occupied by rebel
the United States, shall be deemed cap
lures Of war and shall be forever free
OF their seryitude, and not again held
as slaves.
Section 10. And be it further enacted, that no
slave escaping into any State or Territory, or the
District Of Columbia from any such States shall be
delivered up or IN any way impeded or hindered
OF his liberty, except for crime or some ofense
against the laws, unless the person claiming said
fugitive shall first make oath that the person 10
whom the labor or service of such fugitive is al
ledged to be due is his lawful owner, and has
not. been in arms against the United States
in the present rebellion, nor in any way giving
aid or comfort thereto, and no person engaged
IN the military or naval service Of the United
States shall under any pretence whatever assume
TO decide on the validity Of the claim of any per-
| son 70 the service or labor Of anv other person.
OF surrender up any such person to the claimant
on pain Of being dismissed from the service
And do hereby enJon upon and order all per
sons engaged in the military or naval service o
| the United States TO observe, obey and enforce
within their respective spheres Of service, the
act and sections above recited, and the ENecu-
tive will in due time recommend that all citizens
Of the United States, who shall have remained
loyal thereto throughout the rebellion, shall
upon the restoration Of the CONSTITUTE
ional relation between the United States
and their respective States and people
if the relation shall have been suspended Ol
disturbed, be compensated for all losses by acti
Of the United States including the loss Of slaves
In witness Whereof have hereunto set my hanC
and caused the Seal Of the United States
! to be affixed. Done at the city Of Wash
ingtOn, this the 22d day Of September, in the
year Of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two, and Of the Independence Of the
| United States the eighty-seventh.
(Signed1 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
BY the President
/ WW II SrwARn sSacratorv Of Gtota