The New York herald., 1862-12-09

tended as sop TO hush the barking Of the abo-
lition Cerberus, and in that II has only been
partially successful. Tho President, however,
vnougnt it was kh Experiment worth trying
Besides the radicals held the purse OF the ma
ton. and could stop the war by stopping the
scspiies.. As g its expected ehec' On . 'ae
South, 4r Lincoln bs. oe0'a'ou - 'A.' :. : oh,;ons
none whatever from il. Tho. = where the
A proclamation can only take eSos.
armies are in position to carry IL ouss o'"ei
wise it is a mere br,aura f3lnaen. few 5. 'a'e'
may be emancipated in consequence Of it here
and there but the institution will remain intact
Neither the President nor Congress have any
legal or constitutional power to abolish
slavery in the Southern States. 1t is a purely
State matter, over which federal jurisdiction
does not exist. If the rebels are not conquered.
then the proclamation can have no effect. If
they are conquered and the Union restored,
the proclamation is null and void. Mr.. Lin
coin has well said that slave property is as
truly property under the constitution as any
other property But the constitution defines
treason and prescfibes the mode Of Furnishing
it. No citizen can be pronounced a traitor til
he is tried and convicted in civil court hav-
ing lawful jurisdiction in the district where the
offence is committed. Treason against the
United States consists in taking up arms
against the government and in giving ad and
comfort to the enemy; and the constitution ex-
pressly provides that the forfeiture of property
can only be for the fetme Of the convicted,
and cannot affect his heirs Whole commuuI
ties cannot be legally maGe traitors by procla-
nation nor their property seized and conis-
Gated; and if Congress passen fifty laws on the
subject they would have no legal efficacy.
Consequently if slave property should be
taken away from citizens OF the United
States by generals of the army, in
virtue OF the proclaim 4iion Of the Presi
dent, the property must be restored or
paid for by the United States government,
unless the persons from whom it had been
taken should be convicted OF treason in court
of law after full and far trial. Then. in the
event of the submission OF rebellOus Stale to
the federal authority, the proclamation could
have no effect upon such slaves as had not al
ready been captured. The moment the war
terminates in any State the civil law prevails,
and private property and State Institutions are
protected by the constitution Of the United
States from all interference on the part Of the
federal power.
II the present administration do MT accom-
plish mucn more in future than in the last the
war will go on at least for another year, till
the new Congress assemblies, or perhaps till the
advent of the conservative party to the execu-
tive mansion on the 4th Of March, 1865. The
elections of 1868 will demonstrate still more
decidedly than those Of 1862 that the sceptre is
passing from the hands of the radicals, never to
be regained. The fall elections OF 1864, in
cluding the Presidential contest, will cap the
climax Of public opinion. But whether the
armies Of the rebels in the field are crushed or
not during the present regime, certain it is that
the non-combatant population of the Southern
and there is no chance of the Union as it was
being restored till Sumner and Wilson, Wade and
Stevens, and the other leaders of the abolition
faction, are put down by the strong arm OF con-
servative power. Then will the Union men at
the South respond to the action of their
brethren at the North, and put down the seces-
sionists. Thus alone can disunion be ex-
tinguished, the integrity Of the republic re-
stored, and North and South, East and West be
forever one and indivisible.