Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1865-02-09
Passage OF the Constituttonal
Amendment

W INV SOhSttEuNbhn1l
Amendment.
!, The joint resolution submitting to the de-
cSion ot the States an amendment of tho
c9hstituilol declaring slavery forever abol.
ishGd IN the United States, passed the House
ol Representatives. yesterday by ll9 ayes
against % nays As majority two.thirlS
is, in all such cases, necessary, E,ur more
votes IN the negative would have defeated
It. The affirmative vote of "a few Democratic
members aud the absence from their places
OF Others, secured its passage.
me passage Of this resolution ut this
session Is rather a declaration Of congress
Sional sentiment. than an efficient measure
ii,0r the immediate extinction of slavery. -
llG proposed amendment can become part
OF the Constitution only by the ratification
OF rec-fourths of the States. There are
now thirty-six States and until the number
increases to forty it il in the power of any
ten states to render this action of Congress
null and nugatory. These ten States need
not vote against 1t to secure its defeat mere
lnactlon is sufficient. Ten States can squash
of it. Wv ''o''''
What. then, arc the probabilities of ten
states refusing or neglccting to ratify2
oince the voluntary abolition of slavery
by Maryland and Missouri there are thir-
Teen slave States, to.wit Virginia North
carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida.
Alabama, Mississippi, louisiana, Texas, Ar
kansas, tennessee, Kentucky, and Delaware
vi these, nine will not act at all, as not ac-
knowledging any allegiance to the Federal
government. Of the other four. louisiana
and Tennessee stand in such peculiar rcla
tons to the Union that it j. not easy to fore
cast their action. They have been declared
IN rebellion BY an unrevoked proclamation
OF the President and so long as they remain
under military coercion, it is doubtful
Wnciher they have any capacity to give
valid ratification. 1t would be n great in
consistency, to hold them incapacitated for
exercising the commonest federate functions
ana at the same time admitting them TO a
participation i'll the highest If these two
states tail to act, or refuse to ratifv. their
he9"ure has Just as much force as if they
were ~ the full exercise Of State functions;
a positive ratification by three fourths oftbc
states being Indispensable. But if thcv
should ratlfy, the question fairly arises
whether States that are not permitted to
vote for President can be parties to a change
III the fundamental law.
here can be no question Of the right of
kentucky and Delaware to ratify amend. /.
mcnts to the Constitution but the prob I
aDIilty seems greater that they will decline
to do So. Even if they should approve of
the abolition OF slavery within their own
borders, they might prefer to keep the sub
lGct under Their own control and for separate
State action But the failure ofeitbcr Krn.
lucky or delaware to ratily would render the
act on Of the House yesterday a mere prc. /
limnary form.
The eager haste with which this preGm-
mary IS driven through this Congress, when
there Is sure majority for it in the next,
and the present chances are against its rati L
hcatIon by the States, is a phenomenon easily
explained. The radicals distrust Mr.. Lin,
ccQln; they wish to head off all probability off
ms NAL king peace that does not include the
extinction OF slavery. He cannot withhold
ms approval from the Joint resolution pro-
posing this amendment; and they think he
Will be so bound by the sense of Congress
and his own official act that he w0ulj NOT
afterwards dare entertain proposals of peace
hat did not include complete emancipation
Wen OF more moderation have favored i'm
mediate. action on different grounds. Some.
who believe peace to be distant, and thai
he rebels will cmancipate their slaves, look
mainly to the effect of this measure on the
public opinion Of Europe. Their idea is, to
,ct beforehand with the rebels by making
t appear that they freed and armed the
lavcs only after the last possibility had van.
shed OF holding them as property. There
ire still Others who, after having watched
md studied the growth of opinion on this
ublcct, believe that the abotionists will
'ever permit the country to be quiet so long
s slavery lasts and who think that a con.
'5s"d evil had better be extinguished once
n an, and thus taken out of the category
dehatable questions Z
lhe bearing of this amendment on the
'ospects ofpeace affords matter for curious
1t will undoubtedly be regard
by Mr. Lincoln as binding his action in =
future negotiations. 1t shuts the door
AL hopes of peace until the South is
ought to acquicscc in the abolition of sla-
ry; and by anticipating their action, it de-
I'VE! them OF the power to make merit of
clifton and a ground ofappeal to European
npathy when compelled to resort to it fla
But seeing that slavery is
ualIy doomed whether they yield or her. n,
we're, the question Of peace is reduced with vi
EN- to a simple question of the possibility
achieving their Independence Slavery
IS been stakcd by them and lost and IF.
cy, have no reasonable prospect of indie
'ndcncc, they had better make haste to save
hat remains to them of their other property, h,
nj spare themselves the horrors of further nj
VnSIpp and hlnnl,bnJ lI,.Jy l.,