M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1863-12-17

I preBsed sun turther Daek, ard Dy the
compl etc ope: iEg Of the Mississippi
River, tile country dominated over byt
the febsIlioh 10 divided into diStlncs
parts. TennesSee and ARKANSAS have
been 90 substantially cleored Of The
Insurgents control and influence, aud
the citizens ia each, and owners of
slaves and adyocates ofslavsry as the
beginning Of fthe Iebeliion, nov de-
clare openly for emancipation 10 tlieir
respecdve States. or these States
not included in tho Emancipation
froclamatiOu, Maryland aud Mia
sourl, neither Of which, years ago.
would tolerate ANY restraint upon the
extension of slavery into thOir terri.
tories, only dispute nov as to the
beet mode Of removing it from their
own limita. Of those who were siav.
es at tue beginning Of the rebellion,
fully one hundred thousand are now
In the United States military service,
aboud one. bali Of which Number act
ually bear arms 10 the ranks, thus
giving tho double advantage oftaking
go much labor for the insurgent cause, /,
and supplying the places which other.
wise must be filed with so many
white men. So far as tested, Il Ia
difficult to cay they are not as good
soldiers as any. No servils insurrec
,,tion, or tendency to violence or cruel.
~ has mar6ed the measures ofsmau.
cipation snd arming the blackq. The.
Sc measures have been much discuss.
ed in foreign countries, and, cotempo
rary with such discussions, 'thc tone
Of public sentiment there ID mnch i'm.
proved. When the came measures
have been fully discussed, supported, ,
! criticised and denounced, and tho an.
: nua. elections are highly encouraging
to those whose special DUTY it is to
} bear the country through this great
, trial. Thus We have the reckoning.
The crisis which threatened to divide
! the friends OF the Union is past.
Looking now to the present and
3 future, and With reference to the re-
: sumption Of the national authority
r within the States wherein that author.
3 lty has been suspended, have tdousas
bit to issue a proclamation, copy OF
. (which is herewith transmitted. On
{ examination. Of this proclamation 1t
will appear, as is believed, amply
justified by tie Constitution Trne,
f the form Of an oath is given, but no
man IS coerced to take It. A man is
: only promised a pardoa in case be
, voluntarily takes the oath. The Con.
, stitution authorizes the Executive to
. graDtit on such terms rs are fully
established by judicial and other an
thorities. 1t 10 also proifered, that il,
t 10 many of the States nsmed, a seat
Of Government shall be, in the mod q
r prescribed, set ap, such Government
? shall be recognized and guaranteed By
] the United States, and that under it
the State shall, on subscribing to the
] constitutional conditions, bv protected
against invasion and domestic yiolen.
, ce. The constitutional obligation Of
! the United States to guaraatee to
{, every State in the Union republican
form OF Government, and to protect
the State in the case as stated, is OK
plicit aud rull, but why tender the
, benefits OF this provision only to q
8 State Government set up in this way
&. This section Of the Constitution con-
templates a case wherein the element
. within State, favorable to tepgbli.
n can govern nent in the Union, may
b be too feeble for an opposite aud hos
r tile element external to and even
3 within the State, aud sucl, are pre-
cisely the cases with which wo are
4. now dealing; an attempt to guarantee
, and protect revised state Of govern.
ment, constructed in whole or in pre-.
ponderating part, from tho very ele-
J ment agsins! whose hostility and vio-
lence it is to be projected, IL simply
absurd. There must be a test, by
which to separate opposing elements,
so as to buiit only from the sound,
and that test is sufficient aud liberal
one, which accepts US sound whoever
will make a sworn recantation Of his
former unsoundness.
But if it DO proper to require a test
OF admission to the political hody, an
oath Of allegibnce TO the Constitution
OF the United Statss, aud to tho Union
under it, why not also to the laws
and proclamation inreaard to siavery2
Those laws aud proclamations woro
enacted md put forth tor the purpose
of,aidlng n the suppression Of the
rebellion. 10 give them tho fullest
effect, there had to DO 4 pledge for
their maintenance; In my Judgment,
they Save aided, and will further aid,
ths canss for wiiich thsy wers enlist.
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