Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1864-12-08
THE PRESIDENTS POSITION.


expressed by "The Mississippian in behalf Of
"mutusl compromise, concession, and Cancellation"
as means to be employed for the termination Of the
war, we confessed our qualification at finding such
sentiments In sheet heretofore remarkable chiefly
for the intensity and constancy with which it has
advocated the cause of secession. At the same
time we felt called to say, in view Of Northern opn
Ion on the subject, that "there can be no 'half-
way ground of mutual compromise, concession, and
Cancellation which does not proceed on the basis
Of the Union" We added that " SO soon Us this
premise shall be conceded we do not doubt that
the people Of the South will be fmet with liberal
terms other substantial and collateral points.
In referring to this opinion the New York Times
supposes itself to in such utterance by usthe
evidence Of disposition on our part to modify our
"yiews as to President Linoolns position and pur-
poses in regard to terms of peace" Our contempt
rary adds:
1T may be remembered that when the letter to whom
it may concern appeared we ventured to contest the
rebel States The National Integencer refuted views
at very great length, and insisted repeatedly and with
rather more than its usual vehemence that the President
could not possibly assent to any which did not in
eude the abandonment OF slavery well the restora
ton OF the Union We congratulate venerable con-
temporary the cheerful view of public affairs
which IL now seems inclined to take"
If the Times will do US the favor to recur to the
numbers of our paper containing the discussions
to which allusion is made it will be found that at
that date we simply sought to interpret the posi-
ton and purposes Of President Lincoln by the
light of his public declarations on the subject in
controversy. In his rescript "To whom it may
concern" on the 18th Of July last, he had said
that
Any proposition which embraces the restoration of
peace the integrity Of the whole Union and The abandon.
ment of slavery and which by and with the author
y that control the armies at against the Uni
ted States will be received and considered by the Execu
tive Government of the United States and will be met by
liberal terms on other substantial and collateral points,
and the bearer bearers thereof shall have safe conduct
both ways."
1t seemed TO us then, as itseems to us now, that
tie meaning of these words lies on the surface, but
that analysis of the several clauses of the manifesto
served to make their meaning not only clear but
irresistible For we not only have in the opening
words of the rescript statement of the terms on
which any proposition will be received and con-
sidered and not only is the equal indispensabiity
of both the specified terms left to be inferred from
the collocation in which they are placed, but the
possibility of any abatement from either Of them
was excluded by the Presidents contemporaneous
prefer of |" liberal terms on OTHER SUBSTANTIAL
AND COLLATERAL POINTS" The "oIier substan-
tiaI and collateral points" embrace every thing
to which the President willing to be "libera,"
and he excluded from this classification the in
tegrity of the Whole Union and The abandonment
Of slavery'-the latter as distinctly and as une-
quivocally as the former If it is within the power
of English speech more clearly to express the
meaning which we spprehended in the manifesto, or
to exclude the sense in which the Times inter-
preted it, We confessed ourselves unable to appre-
ciate the force of language In order to ascertain
whether the President made sine qua non Of both
the terms which he specified, we had not only the
presumption which results from their equal erpres-
sion, but, in addition to this, we had their joint
exclusion from the category of subjects open to dis
cussiou; an exclusion made positive and express
by the statement that "lbeIal terms" would be
offered on Other substantial and collateral points"
Whatever, therefore, might be the sense in which
the President or his friends construed and inter-
preted these words, there could be- we thought, no
cavil as to the sense they bore en- their face, or
which they yielded to critical scrutiny
We Argued in like manner with regard to the
Presidents proclamation Of freedom. We showed
that IL was quite true that in his proclamation un-
der this head on the 22d of September, 1862, he
was careful to premise by saying that hereafter
as hes etOfore the war will be prosecuted for the
object Of practically restoring the co situtionol
relation between the United States and each of
THE STATES, and The people thereof, in which
States THAT RELATION is or may be suspended or
disturbed" But it is equally true, we rejoined,
that in the body Of that proclamation he expressly
declared that +" all persons held as slaves within
any State or designated part Of State, the people
whereof shall be in rebellion against the United
States on the first day of January, 1868, shall be
then, thenceforaoard, and forever .Jreej and the
Erecutioe Government OF the United States, an
c1uding The military and naual outhsrity thereof,
l0iU recognise and maintain The freedom, Of such
persons" On the following first Of January, 1858,
he gave effect to these declarations in his procla-
nation Of that date, in which, after designating
certain States and parts of States, he said do
order and declare that all persons held as slaves