The New York herald., 1863-08-16

CHE VaGoa QuestEon-The PiefsGe Of fae
Government 30 Europe.
! The idea Il widely entertainei in the repuo-
| can camp that President Lincoln's emancipa-
tion PROCLAMATION not only binds the federal
Government to the liberation of the slaves OF
t.e rebe!lious States, but pledges the good faith
OF the nation to Europe Thus Mr. Solicitor
Whiting, Of the War Office, in his letter to the
Philadelphia Union League says that II we
attempt to please certain parties sthe solemn
pledge of freedom offered to the colored citizens
by Congress aud by the proclamation must be
broken, aud the country and the government
covered with unspeakable in.amy" And again,
he says:-"Whateyer disasters may befall our
arms, whatever humiliations may be in store for
us, it is earnestly hoped that we may be saved the
uniathomable infamy OF breaking the nations
faith with Europe and with colored citizens
and slaves in the Union"
What faith with Europe? The faith Of the
emancipation proclamation. But we cannot
discover in the proclamation anything inyoiv-.
ing the conditions of treaty with, or pledge
to, any European Power The President, on
the ground Of military necessity, issued the
proclamation as military measure, and not
as a fixed and permanent law. AS far
rs our armies have gone this proclamation has
been carried into effect; but beyond the lines
of our armies it has been practically as much
dead letter in Alabama and Georgia as in
Cuba or the kingdom of Dahomey. The Presi.
dent was right in describing it as ''the Pope's
bull against the comet" and the abolition
radicals are wrong in supposing that 1t is any.
thing more than 'brut,m J,ttmen." Its object
was the suppression Of the rebellion, and not
the abolition of Southern slavery. II the rebels
were to lay down their arms to-day, and de-
clare through their master JEFF. Davis, the
submission to the Union of the rebellious
States, seyera!ly and in their confederate ca
pacity, provided they have the consent Of the
general government to return with their insti-
tuition of slavery as the war has practically
left it, does any one suppose that President
Lincoln would reject these overtures, and insist
upon the prosecution of the war to the extcr-
mination of slavery, in order to carry out lite
rally to the end his emancipation proclamation
Unquestionably he would accept the submission
of the rebels on the condition proposed, the
objects of the war being limited to the suppress
sion of the rebellion and the restoration of the
Union. tut at4
There is no pledge to Europe in the emanci-
patton edict, and the pledge in it to the slaves
Of the South is dependent upon the continuance
of the war and the advance Of our armies into
the heart Of the rebellous States. We hold,
however, that in the correspondence of the
State Department with the French government
our federal government is pledged to Europe
upon the important matter Of the reconstruc-
ton Of the Union. The French Minister. for
Foreign Affairs, it will be remembered, pro-
posed . joint convention in some neutral
country. of delegates from the United States
and delegates from the so-called Confederate
States, in view Of treaty Of peace, Union OF
dissolution. II will also be remembered tha,
Mr.. Seward emphatically declined this propo
sition, and suggested to the French government
that the seats In the Senate and House o
Representatives Of the members of Congress Il
which the Southern States were entitled were
to great extent, still vacant, and that IL tn
delinquent States will only fill those vacan
seats they will have peace at once and tn,
power in the national legislature which canno
fail to secure them against any aggresslons in
the future upon their constitutional rights.
Mr. Seward thus acted upon the sound idea
that the rebellious States are still within the
Union, that their acts Of secession are illegal,
null and void, and do not carry them out of
| the Union; that the federal armies are sent to
those States to put down. the rebellious forces
therein arrayed In arms against the supreme
authority of the Union, and that when this is
done said States may, without further cere.
mony, reassume their pre-existing relations
with the federal government. We hold tha.
the despatch Of the Secretary OF State to the
French government upon this subject involves
the only pledge given to Europe In reference
to the policy Of the administration for the re-
turn Of the rebellious States to their rightful
allegiance.
Why should not this policy be pursued!
What Is there to be gained by departure from
II? Suppose, for instance, the President were
now to authorize the people Of Louisiana
under their existing State constitution, pro.
| slavery though 1t may be, to proceed at once
to the election Of federal and State officers, as
citizens Of q State In full communion with
the Union, can It for . moment be doubted
that this step would have an immediate and a
wonderful effect in reviving the old Union
party all over the South, and that thus the 70.
bellion, already staggering to its fall, would,
from Richmond to Mobile, speedily coliapss'
On the other hand, II the rebellious States musl
be abolitionized before they can be reinstated
in the Union, the war will inevitably be handed
over as q legacy 70 the nsxt administration
The constitutional way, the way 81 justice, Il.
pedienoy, economy and safety, is the way
pointed out in Mr.. Stewards letter and implied
pledge to the French government for the
restoration Of peace in tho restoration of the