Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1865-01-18

side none with any show OF consistency
can question That this involves the cal
ing for men, the organization Of armies
the expenditure of large sums of money
in their organization and support, and
consequent heavy taxation, is also beyond
question. " here then is the error? The
great head and front of the offense, say the
opponents Of the Administration, is the
Presidents PROCLAIM ton Of Emancipation
This is the rock on which we split =
let us look for moment Mt this Proc
lamation The object rs all viii admit, Is
and should be the restoration Of the ma
tional authority 10 this end none Will
deny that a proper measures, which tend
to weaken the rebels and strengthen the
Go eminent, should be adopted The
question then natura " arises, Is this a
proper measure. and does 1t have that ten
dency2 As to the legal and constitutional
right of the Government 10 liberate, take,
and use these black men, | need only ay
that II has long since been conceded by
those most Interested in the question, :
ing in the rebel States. None viii deny
the right Of Government to take the prop
erty Of those in rebellion and use it against
the rebels, neither will they DENY the right
{! Government IL the ser lee Of IFS citizens
to aid in its protection, or the right 10 take
rebels in arms, or induce them 10y offers
OF pardon to Join the forces of Government
In whatever light, therefore. You may con
slider Tire negro sla es, whether property,
citizen or enemy, the Government has
a ike the right tc take them, use proper
means to get them, and use them IN de-
Tense Of the nation
I Says Patrick Henry. in speaking Of our
present CONSTITUTIONS Among ten th0u-
i,,l, II,
sumo, they may, if we be engaged in war.
liberate cry one Of your slaves if they
please" Again, he says: "If YOU give
power to the General Governments to pro-
vide for the general defense, the means
must be commensurate to the end al the
means in the possession Of the people,
must he given to the government which is
intrusted with the public defense" The
views Of John Quincy Adams upon this
paint, cCinciding with the aho g, are too
familiar to YOU all to require repeating
here. But admitting saws one, the legai
right to emancipnte an use the slaves.
was it not had 20 lev and n great error to
do so? This is 4 proper question for con
sideration, and it is proper that it shonld
be answered. It was apparent to a !. that
the rebel States derived great strength
rom the DIOR of their Slaves They per-
formed Il c mani q labor Of the country
thus le Ing all the white population ca
pabie of hearing arms, at liberty To Join
their armies Any measure, therefore,
/ that would induce these slaves Ia leave
! their masters, would tend to weaken the
| rebellion, rs their armies must have food
and if black men did not raise 1t, white
men must As we anticipated. thousands
/ of black men did leave their masters and
| come into our lines, and the rebel author
/ tiles are compelled To use a part cf their
/ force 10 day in preventing others from do
! inc the same thino. At this late day it
! viii hardly he denied, that nearly two
/ hundred thousand Ilak mon who have
I eft the South and Joined our armies have
1 not on V greatly weakened the rebels. but
/ have also greatly strengthened the Gov
eminent. To test this questi nmore fully
/ let me ask. are there any 50 short sighted
| to day rs to desire to see those black sol
| diers who are now fighting our battles,
| who are now holding Southern forts, and
| otherwise assisting the Government re-
/ turned to Their masters 10 raise broad for
/ the rebel army and their places filed by
/ Il draft from oHr own citizens?
! have not the data a hand to snow the
/ actnA number that haze been tnken from
/ the rebels and nlacnd in oar lines hv this
/ or, clamati0n, but that the number is large,
! and in proportion as it Is large is benei-
! ciaI to the Government. is nrvonl ours-
! ton Another strong reason in NV ia :
/ ment, why this measure was fsbrght with
/ great good may he found in its influence
/ upon foreign nations There is no dis
/ gusng the fact that Mt the time this
! proclamation was issued, there was great
! danger Of foreign intervention Foreign
nations. particularly England and France,
so far as the axis tocrntic portions of them
are concerned, would clad see this gov
ernmcnt weakened by disun;on This
they ha @ shown in many ways There %
no question. either that the great mass Of
the pcop'e of England and France are Vi
! olent,y opposed tn the Institution Of Afri-
! can slavery. While therefore, the jealousy
I Of these governments would naturally lead
item 10 reco saiZe the Southern Tonfeder
acv helnino t. weaken us. the Great mass
of the neop'e Of those nations. when they
saw this proclamation. and that the per
petuation of African sla crv probably de-
nended upon their recoynizinr the Com
federary and sustaining the rebellion, their
/ b,trod nf sIavar, cvar..,,n the ieolnuSv