The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-01-13

4 Chief Aaglstrate, why cannot the hemper
moose be - deservedly sprung around th.
necks Of these guilty men Of higher pre-
tensions, who deliberately sacrificed . mil
hon of precious lives upon the altar o.
their mad ambition? If an ignorant foreign
er, mere subordinate of Jefferson Davis
can be condemned and executed for the bar
barisms of Andersonvlle, should this arch
conspirator, now Hospitality auartered by the
shores of the Chesapeake, and by whose
! hendish connivance fifty thousand Northern
soldiers were slaughtered in Southern prison
pens, be allowed to escape the Just demands
of our violated laws?
The success which the American people
have attained since the rebellion began. in
the adoption of an enlightened hnd humane
policy toward the Ahicaa Eace, 80 long op-
pressed, may be regarded Is q moral triumph
highly creditable to our national character.
The abolition Of slavery, in spite Of all efforts
to avoid or postpone it, finally became, In the
candid Judgment Of our intelligent statesmen,
q measure Of absolute necessity to the pre-
servation OF the Union. By this act, the
validity OF which all parties are now disposed
to concede. responsibilities have devolved
upon the Government as novel ~ they are
imperative.
The magnanimous conduct Of this immense
PoRuAotRoH Va uouuucu. un9 cOutf0QlcIcQ the
observation and experience Of other nations.
and must excite in their behalf the admiration
ofposterity. Under no perceivable obligation
to assist in the maintenance of Government
from which they have never received either
justice or mercy, and whose arm for genera.
tons had only sustained their oppressors, they
nevertheless became, both in spirit and con-
duct, not merely the truest friends of the
Union in the South, but the only friends from
whose cooperation the national cause derived
material aid in the entire region of the rebel
States. Nor was their alliance to our cause
BY any means An uncomfortable accession to
the disposable power Of the Union. In va
r1ons ways their physical efforts, always cheer
fully rendered, aud their knowledge Of the
country and its inhabitants, assisted IN large
degree, in overcoming the serious difficulties
which so often interposed themselves to the
advance Of our armies through the insurgen,
States. While on many field of conflict for
the Union, their dusky battalionb have dis
played steadiness, devotion and courage
excelled only by the tried veterans of the
Northern armies.
Nor Is this all. Pass by the outlines which
present this war in it's horrid form Of carnage
and blood, to those inner scenes which unfold
the sublime spectacle Of these black agents Of
mercy lowering upon the verge of battle
fields, within range of bursting shells, bearing
food and water TO nourish the bleeding soldiers
of the Union. Invoke grateful memory of
the many thousands who have been rescued
from the dead lines of Anders4nville and
Libby, 70 find sympathy and protection in the
rude cabin of the slave. Appeal 10 the fathers
and mothers all over this broad land. whose
sad hearts have been relieved by the return of
sons long mourned as among the victims of
rebel cruelty.
BY these numerous acts Of valuable service
and their unwavering fidelity to the Union.
these people have placed the Government in
position towards them which should engage
the gravest consideration. The act of ernan-
cipation compelled them to occupy an essen
tally new and responsible relation to the
country. While in the condition of slavery
they neither claimed nor received any politi
cal recognition, and, beyond their a amenability
to the criminal code, the will Of their mas
iers was their only law. But, II transformed
from slaves to freemen, they have become in
vested with duties and rights which in their
very nature necessarily create political rela-
tons between them and the Govern ment.
Their emancipation was an emphatic asser
tion of Federal Jurisdiction and authority over
them, carrying with it by unavoidable impli
cation the power to guaranty all the rights
and incidents which result legitimhtely from
it. Although, in form, military measure,
yet lis validity did not terminate with the war
Independent of the Constitutional Amend
ment, we insisted upon freedom in the South.
ern States as a condition of their return to the
Union. This demand could not have been
legally made anterior to the rebellion, but the
power to do it now is clearly deducsble from
the position of the Government as the injured
and prevailing party in the late war, exercis-
ing the right to require conditions Of security
from vanquished belligerent To maintain
that We now lack the Constitutional authority
to secure this freed people in the enjoyment
Of all the rights incident to their new CON
dition, involves the inevitable conclusion that,
on the part Of the Federal Government, com
pulsory emancipation itself WAS lfsurpstion
Of power.
No large and distinct class of citizens in
any community can long or successfully main
tain their rights, deprived Of the means to
protect them against the gradual encroach
ments of power in the hands Of others
While suffrage may not be regarded as an
inherent right, yet, under q popular form
Of government, it becomes political right,
to all classes from whom the
duties of citizenship are required. This
is the essential and manifest theory of
our Republican system. We invite the for
egner to our shores, rendering him the in
ducement of a home and protection under the
flag. At the end Of FIVE years, if he chooses |
TO avail himself Of the privilege, we confer |
upon him the full stature of an American |
citizen. No people of any recognised |
ON the globe are excluded from |
The benefits Of our naturalization laws. And |
- bounty for military services, foreigner
who has served one year in the army and re-
ceived an honorable discharge, may become
without any further qualification.
Ali this accords with the sublime truth au-
bounced in the Declaration of Independence
hat, to secure certain inalienable rights,
Governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the conseat of
he governed" and with that higher declara-
ion that God 'shath made of one blood all
nations of men," And by what authority
lare We declare that the loyal citizen Of Afri-
an descent, born upon Our soil, shall, among
all men," be the solitary exception to this
ruth. He has worn our uniform, fought our
,attles, and proved true to the flag. We
made him freeman, an element of national
,ower, and thereby 3 citizen, and as citizen
le obeys the laws, owns property, pays taxes,
md will, when called upon again, cheerfully
lefend the flag. Yet there are those among
is who would deny him the common political
light which, more than any other, il senjoyed
y Ill citizens under this Government. Can
re satisfy ourselves that it would be expedi-
mt or wise to infict 20 great . wrong upon
N obedient and loyal subject. Histeej affords
10 example of Government having pros
,ered, while violating fnndamsutai principle
{ its constitution. This Governmd4nt was
.ot estahlishsd for the bene6t Of any partic-
IiAr uationality or complexion Of men, but .
rs designed by its Immortal founders a. an