The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1863-06-12
From the New 1ors Tribune.l
Murder not War.

We have the Petersburg (Va.) Daily
Express OF May 5. which has teleyrapbic
dispatch from Richmond OF the 4th. whence
we quote as follows:
"The retaliatory resolutions adopted by
Congress provide that every commissioned
officer who shall command negroes for mil
itsry service against the Confederate States.
or aid them in any military enterprise IN
said service, when captured. sh Ill be put TO
death Negroes. when captured In arms
against the Contederates, shall be delivered
to the Safe au horities, to be 1ealt with
according to the present or future lows OF
the State
The ,idincs that the rebel Congress has
decreed that "every commissioned Union
officer who shall command negroes tor mil
itary service against the Confederate States.
or aid them in any military enterprise In
said service, when captured. shall be put
TO death is an impeachment of the spirit
and determination Of our Government which
we are sure the authors will live to repent.
The right to issue such an order is exactly
that of the pirate 10 raise tie black has,
declare war against all peaceful commerce.
and proclaim that he gives no quarter
neither les nor more. In the official aud
carefully prepared i" Instructions for the
government OF Armies of the United ates
in the field" compiled by Prof. Lieber, re-
vsed by Board Of Officers. whereof Gen.
E A. Hitchcock is President. AMI formally
sanctioned by the President Of the United
States, the laws of war and Of nations gov
erning this subject are lucidly Sc, forth as
follows
AZ. Slavery. complicatiny and con!ound-
ing the ideas of property. Chat is of
Ming,) and of personality (that is OF hu-
maniy. exists acc riding to municipal or
local law only. The law of nature and
digest of the Roman law enacts the early
dictum of the Pagan jurist. that. .' So far as
the law Of nature Is concerned, all men are
equal Fugitives escaping from country
in which they were slaves. villeins, or serfs.
into another country, have for centuries past
been held free and acknowledged free by
judicial decisions Of European countries,
even though the munich pal law Of the couu-
try in which the slave had taken refuge
acknowledged Slavery within its own
domnions.
43. Therefore. in war between the Uni
ted States and belligerent which admits of
slave if person held in bondage by that
belligerent be captured by or come as
fugitive under the protection of the military
forces of the United States, such person is
imme diately entitled to the rights an priv.
ileges of a freeman. To return such
person into slavery would amount to enslav-
ing free person +; and neither the United
States, nor any officer under their authority,
can enslave any human being. Moreover.
a person SO made free by law of war is under
the shield Of the law Of nations, and the
former owner or State can have. by the law
of post-l lmine. no belligerent lien or claim
Of service.
81 So soon as man is armed BY
sovereign Government, and takes the sol
dier's oath of fidelity, he is belligerent
his killing, wounding. or other warlike acts,
are no individual crimes offenses. No
beliigerent has a right to declare that ane-
mics of certain class. color, or condition,
when properly organized as soldiers, will
not be treated by him as public enemies.
So The law OF nations knows no distinc
ton of color; and if an enemy of the Uni.
ted States should enslave and sell any
captured persons of their army, it would be
a case for the severest retaliation, if not
redressed upon complaint. The United
States cannot re.alia,e by euslavement :;
therefore death must be the retaliation for
this crime against the law of nations.
The murder of officers and eEslavement
Of privates proclaimed as the rule of action
for their armies by the Rebel Congress is
utterly, audaciously at war with the law of
nations and the usages of civilized warfare.
The Rebels, by this action, have declared
themselves outlaws from Christendom ana
enemies of the human race. They have
resolved to the extent of their ability, TO
restore to War that character of san nguinary
ferocity which i wore in the darkest ayes
They know perfectly well that this action
forces on our Government the duty Of signal
retaliation, and that the exchange of prison
ers must cease altogether from the day in
which they beg n to act on the atrocious
violations of the humaner laws and usages
OF War which they have thus initiated.