The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1863-04-11
ONE STEP FURTHER.


Some men maintain that any rebel State,
once reinstated in the Union, may after.
wards, by statute, re-enslave those blacks
who have been freed by the Presidents
proclamation
Doubtless this is mistake. No lawyer
will doubt that just the only persons whom
such State could not enslave, are her for
mer slaves. No doubt, under the old Un-
ion, any one of the original thirteen States
could establish slavery between her limits
perhaps any one of the States could do so.
Now, if the old Union comes back,
any rebel State admitted to it could,
by statute enacted conformably to her
own constitution, enslave any of her
whites or all her hitherto free blacks, but
not one man held as a slave within her linn
its on the lst day of January last.
Let US show this by the briefest argu-
ment.
LIST. On the LIST day of January, 1868. the
President proclaims that all slaves within
certain limits are free. and shall thencefor-
ward be free. He pledges the Union to
maintain their freedom. This is essentially
a Law OF THE UNITED STATES.
Cd. Suppose that. on one theory. the old
State of South Carolina should be reinstat-
ed; or. on the correct theory, neW State
of South Carolina should be admitted into
the Union, and afterwards enac,s law en-,
Shaving sll the blacks within her limits.
Sd. Suppose some negro who was slave
there on the LIST day of last January is seiz-
ed under such law. He is brought by Aa-
6eas corpus before the Supreme Court OF
the United States, and alleges:
LIST. That he was a slave in South Caro-
oliua on tue 1st day of January. 1868. and
set free by the Presidents proclamation of
that date.
Cd. That such proclamation is essentially
a lar Of tie United States, and as such comes
under the Cd Section of Article 9th of the
United States Constitution, enacting that
this Constitution and the TAGS Of the UNI
ted Suites which shall be made in pursuance
thereof < u shall be the SUPREME
LAW of the land, \ anything in
the constitution OF lasOs of any State to the
contrary Notwithstanding"
What Court. holding the Presidents
proclamation to be constitutional, could re-
fuse To set the man free and hold such State
law as imperative as 10 him? Surely no
one.
Out SiuCo lUuuSulIdl peTSOuS even now
maintain a contrary doctrine, it is possible
that on some future occasion a profigate
party might begatLered on such platform.
Besides, the enslaving of two hundred and
fifty thousand blacks, now in the South and
for many years free. which would be legal
and not at all improbable, would be mo-
men'ous evil. Hence the necessity of pro.
viding against such disastrous contingencies.
We are dealing with barbarians, and should
obtain all possible guarantees.
To this end the people should remember
that the same military necessity" which
authorizes the President to emancipate
slaves, also authorizes the Government,
through its appropriate Departments, to
abolish SlaVery, TO put an end 10 the system
in all the States, now aud forever. This
end, to be reached by an act of Congress,
was much discussed in private, during the
last session, and received nearly unanimous
approval. A bill for this purpose. drawn
up by that far-sighted statesman, r. Dale
Owen. was very thoroughly scrutinized and
widely approved.
Let the people FIX their minds on this
point, and go forward to claim, not merely
the emancipation of slaves, as was done on
the 1st day of January, but the humiliation
of the system itself, in all the States-both
Border and Gulf States. No pause till this
goal is reached i Wendell Philips, in "
Y. Independent.