Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1864-01-22
by and faithfulYhupport all acts Of Consr,s.

j.. by and laithfuiykupport all acts Of Congress
! passed during the eyistng rebellion, with
/ reference to slaves, so long and SO far as no,
: repealed, modified or held void by Congress
: or by decision Of the Supreme Court" And
/ Sd, That he will "abide by and faithfully
0 support all prcclamations Of the President,
4 made during the existing rebellion, having
C reference TO slaves, SO long and 80 far as not
: modified or declared void by decision of the
: Supreme Court
r Are these terms and conditions reasons-
G BILE? No possible objection can be taken to
r the first requirement--tha these men shall
support the Constitution and the Union
1 The second and third requirements are, that
2 these men shall abide by tho laws of Con
gress and the HrociaDatons Of the President
concerning slaves, until those laws shall be
chonged by Congress, or those laws, or the
; Presidents Proclamation, be decided void by
, the Supreme Court. This is just what it is
|, the duty of every loyal citizen to do--to
; abide by and support the law until changed
by the law making power, or declared void
!, by the Courts.
Itmay be said that the Proclamations of
the President are not laws; that he had not
the constitutional power to issue such Proc
lamations. But the President believes he
had the Constitutional power so to do, and
has so done, ard he only proposes that these
acts shall stand in law $50 long and so far as
not modified or declared void by decision of
the Supreme Court In imposing these
terms and conditions on those in rebellion
against our Government, VINO may desire to
| lay down their arms, the President is but re-
curing of them the performance Of duty
required of all men who have remained
loyal.
Upon accepting these terms and cendi.
! tons, the men now guilty of treason and liza
BILE to punishment as criminals, are at once
1 pardoned--src restored TO their rights as
citizens and again permitted to take part in
administering our Government, and, at the
same time, are restored to all their rights of
| property, except as to slaves, and where the
rights of third parties have intervened.-
| These exceptions are inevitable. IL the acts
of Congress and the Procamations of the
President concerning slaves, are Constitu- |
tional then, so far as these acts and Procla- |
nations reach, the slaves have become free,
and cannot be restored to their former mast |
eIs. Where property has been disposed Of
to third parties, under the Confscation Act, |
it cannot be restored. Whatever has been |
lost TO these men has been los. by reason of |
their own crimes; whatever yet remains will |
be restored if they will cease to be criminals |
Aside from the consideration, that, if the
laws Of Congress and the Prociamations Of
the President concerning slaves are valid as
law, those who have been freed thereby can
not be again enslaved aside from the con-
sideration, that, even if this conld be lawful
ly done, the doing of it would involve such |
a breach of honor and good faith, as would
justly render US, as nation, infamous thro'-
out Christendom-aside from all considera-
tons connected with slavery, as q social or
moral question from all considerations
connected with its political effects upon the |
particular communities in which it exists,
and looking upon it only in It's bearing upon
the present condition of our country, it seems
to me that no man, who does not set the in
stitution of slavery above the Union of the
States, can now fail to do all that he lawfully ,
may to aid in removing this curse from our
nation.
1t is directly or impliedly admitted by all,
that slavery is the cause of the civil war now
desolsting the land, although different par
ties endeavor to throw the immediate blame
upon their sdversGres. The anti .slavery
men of the country say that slavery is the
cause Of the war because, being founded on
force, it is necessarily aggressive in its char t
acter that it necessarily makes slaye-hold-
ers, as o class, naughty, overbeaIing, impa-
tent of control and unwilling TO submit their
opinions to those of tho majority, whom they |
consider as their interiors. Some Of the reb
els admit, frankly, tha..the desire to psrpet
uate slavery and to make it the "corner
stone" of TIE new confederacy, caused the
rebellion, while others, and their spologists
generally, insist that the cause of our troubles !
isl not slavery itself, but the 'fanaticism"
Of anti.siayery men on the subject of slave
ry F; and there is still another class of our
people who declare, that in their judgment,
the cause of the war is TO be found in the ''fa-
Batioism' upon the subject of slavey among
extremists, North and South. These are but
various statements Of the same thing, show.
ing that, however prejudice or psrtizanship
may seek to evade or disguise the fact. our
people, generally, recognize slavery as the
cause Of the war. |
1t is also true that slavery has been very
much weakened since the war began very
large numbers of slaves have been set free,
ia fact, while other very large numbers, yet
under the partial control of their masters,
have been SO operated upon by.events as to
make them unfit fer slaves. 1t is, indeed,
thought by many men, North and South,
that in any event. slavery will perish.
1t is also true that the anti-slavery senti-
mcnt Of the country is stronger than ever
before. The convictions Of the anti-slavery
men of the country. as to the dangerous ma
ture of the institution, have lost nothing of
their strength while many thousands who,
before the war were either Indifferent or pos
lively favorable to slavery, are now among
its most determined opponents. Is it wise,
then, for US, at a time when this cause OF
our troubles has nearly passed away, so to
shape our actions as to preserve remnant
that may take root and spread, until it has
brought upon those who come after US, the
terrible evils we are now enduring? Had
we not better remove this cause of our strife,
and that being done, may we not reasonably
hope that, when the natural bitterness grow
ing out of Our present strife shall have passed I
away, the kindly and iraternai feelings which
but for this cause, would have always exist
ed, may be again restored?
But we should not permit the discussion
of these, or similar questions, to divert US
from the paramount purpose Of prosecuting
the war earnestly and vigorously, until all
men in rebellion against the Government
shall, either voluntarily or by compulsion,
Law down their arms. In this consists our
only safety, and feel well assured that you
will, so far as depends on you, see to it that
Iowa, in the future as in the past, will do
her full share Of this good work, promptly
and well. |
The position occupied by our State, in this
war for the preservation of the Union, is
proud and onyiable one. From the first out
breal, of the rebellion until the present time,
Iowa has neither faltered nor wavered in the
discharge Of her duty. In both branches Of
the National Council she has presented an
uubroken front to treason and rebellion, and
has given q steadY and undivided support to |