Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1864-02-29
Cor. MortOn's Speech.
T Concluded. ;


clothe and subsist their families at home,
be destroyed? That is the great qnes-
ton demanding our considerations To
answer it we must carefully consider in
what,th ability consists We find that
this ability consists chiefly in the labor
of about four million negro slaves, who
are employed in the labor Of producing
food and clothing for the families at
home and the armies in the field, pro-
viding munitions of war, repairing rail
roads, erecting Notifications, managing
baggage trains, and performing nearly
all the labor in the field, the workshop.
and the camp We shall find that if
this slave labor could be withdrawn
their armies in the field could not he
fed and clothed, and that the men COM
posing those armies would be compelled
to return home and labor for their own
and the subsistence Of their families
Their armies thus collapsed and dissoly-
ed, the rebellion would be ended, and
with it the war and effusion of blood.
But should there be those who DENY
that the withdrawal from the rebels of
slave labor would be decisive upon the
rebellion, yet even they are bound to
confess that it would tend powerfully in
that direction, and greatly contribute to
destroy the vital resources of the rebels.
If, then, the withdrawal of slave labor
from the rebels would be so potent in its
effects and disastrous 10 the rebellion,
upon what ground can the existence of
the power to do it be defied? As before
stated, the right Of the Government to
blockade the ports Of the rebellious
States has been solemply declared by the
Supreme Court of the United States. The
right to destroy or appropriate to the use
OF our own Government their railroads,
bridges, shipping, growing crops and
whatever property may be useful to US, or
the loss of which would be injurious to
them, Is scarcely denied by the most Bit
ter enemy of the Government How
then can the right be denied to destroy
or remove the labor which has produced
all these things and may restore them
If they are taken away? If the right
exists to destroy the resources Of the
enemy at all, why may it not be done in
this was? 1t tends to the same result
for which the blockade was established,
and differs only in form, not in princi-
pie. And | nov ask if the truth Of this
proposition can for a moment be denied:
that if it is the opinion of the President
rs Commander-in-C Chief of the armies of
the United States, that the institution
of slavery is an element of power in
this rebellion, subsisting in whole or in
part their armies in the field and their
families at home, and that its destruc-
ton would greatly weaken, if not ruin,
their cause, he has the same right to
pull it down that he has to pull down
rebel Notifications, blockade their ports,
cut up their railroads, destroy their
crops, or do ans other act which would
impair or destroy the strength of the re-
belIion?
Some politicians seem to ignore the
fact that there is vast difference be-
tween war and peace, and insist that
war shall be carried on Just as we carry
on peace. They do not comprehend that
war from its very nature, involves the
exercise of powers, which, in times of
peace, are unnecessary, and are prohib-
tied. What short of war would that
be which is prosecuted on peace princi-
pies? War and peace are antagonistic
states, and each has its conditions, priv
ileges, and communities, which are an
tagonistic to those of the other; and
while our Constitution is formed and
provides mainly for peace, yet ii recog-
nizes and provides for the possibilities
of war.
Emancipation Proclamation.
Assuming that the President has the
right to withdraw from the rebels slave
labor, even destroy the institution of sla-
very, if, in his opinion, he can thereby
weaken or destroy the rebellion, | come
next to the consideration of the question
as to the manner in which he may exer-
else this power Some there are who
say that, as this is military power, it
must be exercised only BY armies in the
I field, who shall march into the slave ter
ritory and liberate the slaves from their
masters, and that the President has no
right to exercise it by proclamation,
which is merely civil proceeding. To
this it may be answered that making war
is not confined to the use of armies and
navies, and that it the fidelity of the
army of an enemy or the allegiance OF
the inhabitants Of a hostile State can be
affected by proclamations or appeals, it
has been considered by every nation in
every age Of the world proper to resort
to them, and has been the practice OF
mankind. If the right exists, it may be
exercised i'll ally way which shall be the
most efficient or least costly. The reduc-
ton of the walls of Jericho, By the blow
ing of rams horns, was certainly novel
and extraordinary method Of assault
without precedent in the history of war
vet | have never learned that any casuist
has denounced it as illegitimate or gn-
godly on that account; and if it were
proper that Jericho should be reduced
and conquered in that way, sparing the
effusion of blood, should it be objected
that the President of the United States
has attempted, by proclaimiug freedom
to the slaves of rebels, to weaken the
power Of this rebellion and thus aid in
restoring peace and stopping the eAusiou
of the best blood in our land? 1t is
however, highly probable that if there
had been Copperheads in the days o
Joshua, they would have takan issue with
him on the rams horn question, and in.
sisted that it was gross violation o
the Ten Commandments. Uproarioui
laughter and cheers.
In the time of peace there is no powe
vested in the President or in Congress
to interfere with slavery in the State
I where it exists. That power is drawn
from its resting place in the Constitution
and conferred upon the President by th
rebellious conduct of the slave owners
and their own hands have forged tbs
bolt which was launched for their de
struction.
1t is indeed lofty and gratifying cor
sideration that the exercise of this grea
I power by the President is not only sane
r toned by the laws Of war and upheld b
$ the Constitution, but is in especial haI
e e mony with the principles of Eternal Jus
tice and the revealed Word of Goo
t Slavery having voluntarily rejected tn
= urotectiOn Of tho Eadaral pcfifu IN,