The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1866-10-12

4
lance proved vain. In firing upon Sumter,
they released every man from any support
Of slavery. When they drove out the
power of the United States Government,
and no longer acknowledged its authority
over them, they had broken the compact,
and every man was free to choose on which
side he would be found whether on the
side of the country, of right, of conscience,
of truth, Of religion, or on the other side of
rebellion and slavery, wickednoss and the
devil. [Cheers]
EFFECT OF LINcoLN's PRooLANATIoS.
BY the act OF war and the proclamation
of Lincoln, slavery was abolished, and
thereupon the Republican party became the
great national Union party of the country
its principles applicable to every section OF
the country it's creed having three great
fundamental doctrines-liberty and equality
of right equality of protection, equality Of
justice to all men "a creed not only national
but coextensive with the sympathies due
every struggling people on any part of the
globe. Great cheers From that hour
the principles of the Republican party EN-.
braced the struggle of the Hungarian for
liberty, against the House of lIapsburg I;
the yearning for freedom by the serfs,
against the Gar of Russia the hopes of
the Italians with Gariballi, against the
thraldom which hung like pail over his
country for centuries. 1t embraced the
down trodden of the sous of Erin, hoping to
win freedom once more for the Green Isle
[great applausel all, all could stand upon
their platform; all, all could marshal under
its banners. And as all these struggling
nalionalites had heretofore looked to the
Democratic party for their hopes, when
their sons came here they ranged themselves
under their banners because the name OF
Democrat, in tho ol world, meant freedom
and liberty, BOW, finding that Democracy
meant slavery aud anarchy while Republic.
anism, which is Democracy purified and
disenthraled, is tho creed which is adapted
to each one of their nations. Cheers,
With varied success the war thus inaug-
urated was fought out. | need not recount
the several battles in which your sous
fought. Each section of the country has
its memeutoes. that will recall the impor.
tant scenes of the contest while this gener'
alton endures.
CONSEQUENCES FOLLOWING THE WAR.
At last it was found that out of eleven
States every vestige of the power of the
, United States Government was obliterated
by revisions of their Constitutions, by ordi.
nances of secession by every act that could
!
Government. These men had taken
themselves out from under the Government
of the United States, so far as their rights
were concerned, and us it seems to me, il
order TO exactly comprehend the question
at this hour, We should determine first o
all, what is the condition of the men o.
i those States and of the States themselves
S pray you give me moment to discuss
. the constitutional and legal status of the
: States that were in rebellion, and wha
were their rights and duties to the Govern
" meut OF the United States. Suppose we
: start at the hour when Mcclellan was re
pulsed from Richmond when the Confed
eracy seemed to be triumphant; when i
had been acknowledged belligcIen power
by foreign Governments when we had by
the laws of the country acknowledged bel
!, ligertnt rights in their people organized as
they were in armed insurrection when We
addressed officially their Generals and othe,
officers, by their tilles when we exchanged
, prisoners with them, etc. what was the
condition of that people in the territory
: south of our line of bayonets, and then lei
us trace them 10 this hour.
CASE OF MRS. ALEXANDER.
By the act of the 18th of July, 1861. Con
r gress declared and provided for an existing
: public war. That question was submitted
. 10 the Supreme Court of the United States
a Court composed almost equally at tina
: time of Democratic Judges and of the new
appointees of Lincoln. That Court unani
t mously determined upon this question il
f this case /:
, On Red River lived Mrs. Alexander, 4
years old. She owned seventy bales o
cotton, which was captured by Admira
H. hi loJ > ,f
D Mrs. Alexander came in and defended
claimed the cotton as her own. because, al
9 though living in an eneny's territory, oil
2 account of her age, and because of her 10y
atty, she had never done anything agans
D The United States, and therefore her proper
Q ty was not coniiscated After full hear
t ing the court unanimously determined lst
; That public territorial war existed between
two belligerents, in which belligerent rightt
had been conceded to the South. I'd. Tha
{ the United States had two rights in carry
, ing on this war: F: First, rights as belIiger
ents i; second. rights as a sovereign over itt
> insurgent citizens. Again, that public ter
Q ritoral war existing by act of Congress on
the territory below the lme of our bayonets
= for all constitutional, legal governments
/. action, every man, woman and child mus
, be taken, deemed and dealt with, as public
. enemies that all their property was liable
to confscation when captured, aud them
selves liable to be captured as prisoners oil
: war and that after declaration of war, un
less they used due diligence to get into oya
territory, they must be deemed to be aier
enemies, and that therefore Mrs. Alexander
could not have her cotton, and it was con
iscated TO the United States.
What did this decision mean? II meant
h at every man, woman and child, by in,
, tendment of public law, below our line o
, bayonets, was public enemy, on and after
July l3, 1861 or at least after time wher
, by due diligence they might have brought
themselves within the Union lines.
Let me not be misunderstood. Not tha
/ when some of these men come on loyal ter
ritory they might not be recognized as oya
citizens, but that for all acts committed
while on disloyal territory they must be
taken as public enemies.
! THE STATUS OF THE REBEL STATES.
Now the great question which agitates
; This country, is whether ten of the Original
States are or are not States in this Union
4 That involves, first, the question whether
they had the right to secede second
whether they did secede third, whether
! they seeded or not. what did they succeed
in doing for themselves? They, under the
decision of the Supreme Court succeeded
in converting themselves into public enc
: mics. II they claimed then to have been in
} the Union, as their friends now claim for
them, certain it Is, all the Union was ont OF
. them. Langhter1 What was their con