Litchfield enquirer., 1864-03-17
WHOLE NO. aOoe

of wlr, with no rights but such as the law of nations accords to beligerents. the condition now under consideration will be regarded only as the in1ction just and mcrted punishment.
 Round these conflicting theories, from the h'lng upon sumter to the present hour, prop ostion and reply, assertion and rejoinder, have, ragged and storn,ed as when.
 ''From peak to peak, the rattling crags among, Leaps the live thunder' -
 it seems to nc. however, as have already stated, that tue Supreme Court of the United States has closed the high debate and pro-, ilo"sced Judgment to which We are all bound i deferentiatiy to bow. The judges nave unani- hiousiy agreed in affirming that civil war ! c"rrles with all the legal Consequences of war. Now, what are these l,gal conseuucnccs ?- hey are gathered together from Vaitle, Ph:lli- niore, aud Wheaton, and compendiously sum- 'icl "p h the opinion of Justice Nelson, in the prize cases, Slack, 6S1:
 ''Ihe legal consequences resulting from state of War between two countI ies at this day are well m erstood and will be found describ- ed in every approved work on the subject of international law. The people of the tro cou,,- tfies 6econ1c the enemy's ot cach othsr--aIl in- tercourse. commercial or otherwise, between them unlawtul-all contracts existing at the 1 commencement of the war suspended, and alT made during its existence utterly void. The Insurance or enemies property, the drawing b!iiS ot exchange or purchase on the enemies | couatry. 'he remission of bills of money to it are illegal and void. Existing partnerships between citizens or subjects of the two coun- 1 tries are dissolved, and, in fac, interdiction of trade and intercourse, direct indirect, is ansolute e and complete by the mere force and teFeet ot War itself AU tae property of the Peopte Qj th3 '7oo coun!riss on land sea are subject to capture and confscut;on 5y Me aa- cerse PGrty ds enemies property, with certain 1 dlsqua!it!cations IS 1t respects property on ianI, (Bru"n rs United States, Cranrh ll0.f ali treaties between the belligerent parties are annullld. The ports of the respective coun- l tics may be biockadcd, and letters of marqus> and rtpri sal granted as rights of war, and the Inv of prizes as defined by the law of nations c mes into full and complete operation. result ing from maritime capture, 9here belI. War also effects a change in the mutual relations of al States countries, not directly, as in tAe case of he belli gerents, but immediately and indil ec ly, though tbey take no part in the 1 contest, but remain neutral
 s' The great and peryading change in the l existing condition ct q country, and in the re- |.lations of all her citizens or subjects, exter- na; and internal, from q state of peace, is the
 m mediate effect and result of a state of war"
 If this be so, if in the language of the court all the property of the people of the two cvu,ltrles on land or sea- are subject to confs- cation and capture by the adverse party, as cneniy's property do not see how the con- c!usion can be eyaded that the slave property ot the lnaurgcnt Sta'es was lawful spoil and prey ot War, and that the President, as Com- 'I!anter in Chef and sole judge of yeilitary necessities, Was authorized in taking tho ser wees of the slaves from their masters, in the ouiy e.lcicious way it could be done, by aa eIlct of enamel .!atlon. He found back of the he.vy lcgous of armed rebels, back of the bay oMe;s and artillery which, at Corinth, at Mur.resIo"o,' at Richmond, were aimed at the -nalons life, back of Lee and Jackson and Be 'uregari and Bragg aud the whole multitu. dlnous host, four million men pressed into the ioathsome business of feeding, clothing, and sustaining their enemies and ours, he found in the slave the bone aud sinew and muscle of the social state that was hurling upon us death aud destruction, the body of the grim Colussus that was clutciling the nations throat the for. age, the suDsStence, the transportation, the labor, the architect, the operative, tue in. tenchiny tool of the foe. To the slave it was lue that remorse|ess conscrption could skin the land of white men, and drive all, from the "whining schoOl-boy'' to the " lean and ipperol paptaoon," into the fighting ranks u4i tue rebeiion. And must the Commander in C lief of the Federal Army withhold his hand from this immense arsenal of strength and power and victory? What not break the bone, not sever inc sinew. not to rend tue muscle, not to seize the subsistence. the weut.h, the material, not tear out the heart of the rebellion. when they were all at his mercy b5 the laws of war? What folly, what imbec.ty, what treachery to the peo- pie, what pelhiy to the Government would such refusal imply Military necessity Why, at the time of the proclamation we 1ere reelIng and staggering under well deliv- CT d and repeated blows The elections were ayl:ns. Us. The public sentiment of the "o;J was cold ant menacing. England stood ready to avepge the defeats and eal- onsies of century by bouncing upon us in our weakness, and all nlilance with the cou- | fedyr cy was Q part of Napoleon's plan of transatlantic a9grandzement. Name the na- ton that was ever more severely pressed at
 one and abroad name the instance in tho tils of time where such necessity was more i,aramount, when measure was more una 1 vodabe 10 save a realm from everlasting o ;er.hrow, on tue one hand, and upon the 1lher to secure for it u glory unsurpassed, progress without end, a triumph of hunani- ty ,tch as was never seen befole.
 Fortunately for the country, fortunately for the world, the President was equal to the emergency he dd not refuse : he manumit- q the slaves ; and in doing this, but follow eI the example of those master States who n ike ,he laws of war and gave them author i,y. Elslanl his by tbree of her military comnanaers turned this formidable engine against us as anduestioned martial right. France has freely distributed rescripts not ooly of emancipation but If enlranchsement, and Spain has added the weight of her author ity to tn, same rule. When in the South American republics hostile factions have dash ed togntber they have had no scrupe in iib,raiing slaves as q legitimate mode of rrippling an antagonist and it will be hard to find a modern war carried on in territories of slavery in which emancipation has not been used as legitimate belligerent right, aud used without protest. As property it was the duty of the President to conhscate them by the only tFtctual mode as persons in duress, uuwiilingly contributing to the strength and resources of the enemy, it was his duty to brenk up the duress by the only ef- fectua mode 1; as loyal subjects painting to rush to the defence of their imperilled country, it was his duty to remove all restraint from the