New-York tribune., 1902-05-23

ject of peculiar interest. There is doubt
that Adams first developed the theory of the
power of the government under martial law to
interfere with slavery in the States, and that
his views were, through The Tribune. brought to
the attention of President Lincoln. General
Fremont issued his abortive proclamation free
ing the enemy's slaves in Missouri on August 80
1861. The news published in New-York on
September l. In that same issue The Tribune
published editorial article entitled John
Quincy Adams Slavery Emancipation
Affected by War" in which the principles laid
down by Adams in a speech of 1912 in the
House were recalled and applied to the action
of General Fremont. Mr.. Charles Francis
Adams. the author of the present paper. got
hold of this article and supplemented 1t with
material gathered from the Adams documents
at Quincy. The whole was placed in the hands
of Charles Sumner. and used by him in
speech before the Massachusetts Republican
State Convention at Worcester on October l,
1861. William Whiting Solicitor of the War
Department incorporated the extracts used by
Sumner in a pamphlet on 1.-The War Powers Of
the President" published in the summer of
1862 for the of Mr.. Lincoln, and consulted
by him in the preparation of the preliminary
proclamation of the following September.
The speech of 1912 was evoked by resolu-
ton that the slave States had the exclusive
right Of consultation the subject Of slavery.
Adams denied this and said:
believe that so long as the slave States are
able to sustain their institutions without going
abroad or calling upon other parts of the Union
to aid them or act on the subject, so long will
consent never to interfere.
1 have said this and 1 repeat it; but If they
come to the free States and say TO them, You
must help us to keep down our slaves; you must
aid us in an insurrection and civil war. then
L say that with that call comes a full and
House to he
over the whole subject 1t is power. I
say ii is war power. and when your country is
actually in war, whether it be war of invasion
or war Of insurrection. Congress has power to
carry on the war. and must carry it on aC-
cording TO the laws of war; and by the laws of
war an invaded country has all its laws and
municipal institutions swept by the board, and
martial law takes the place of them. This
power In Congress has, perhaps, never been
called into exercise under the present Constitu-
ton Of the United States. But when the laws
Of war are in force what ask is one OF those
laws? 1t is this: that when a country is In
vaded, and two hostile armies are set in mar
tial array. the commanders of both armies
nave power to emancipate all the slaves in the
invaded territory.
He pointed out how in South America slavery
had been abolished military measure, both
by Bolivar and the Spanish General Morillo
and freedom had continued to be the law Then
he struck home by asking:
What are you now about in Congress? You
are passing grant 70 refund to General Jack
certain
MIN by a judge under the laws Of the State of
LOUISIANA You are going TO refund him the
money with interest; and this you are going
10 DO because the imposition of the fine was
unjust And why was it unjust? Because
General Jackson was acting under the laws Of
war, and because the moment you place a mill
lary commander in a district which is the
Ineatre OF war, the laws Of war apply to that
uistrlct. l lay this down as the law of
nations. and say that the military authority
takes axe. Tor the time the place of all municipal
institutions, and slavery among the rest. and
u.lat, a.! unuef that state of things, far from
ils pelhg true that the States where slavery ex-
lists have the exclusive management of the sub
Ject, not only the President OF the United states
but the commander Of the army has mower m
oIuer uhe universal emancipation Of the slaves
This was no chance taunt at the slaveboId-
ers. though the speakers comment in bis d,a,
was: My speech of this day stung the sIay-
ocracy to madness" AS early as April 1876
ne mad developed the idea in a letter tn
Salomon Lincoln. pointing out that the fee
men or massachusetts, might be called on nv
congress to shed their blood to put down slave
insurrection, and would then have A voice con
corning slavery in the disturbed States. ON
May %, 1896 he spoke on the subject in the
House. saying:
Do you imagine that your Congress will have
no constitutional authority to interfere with the
institution of slavery la any tCGy in the states
Of this Confederacy? Sir they must and will
interfere with it-perhaps to sustain il by war.
perhaps 10 dDOllSn II Dy treaties or peace: and
they will not only possess the constitutional
power to interfere, but they will be bound
in duty to do it by the express provisions Of
the constitution itself. From the instant that
your slaVeholding States become the theatre of
war, civil, serVile or foreign, from that instant
the war powers of Congress extend to inter
ference with the institution of slavery in every
way in which il be interfered with from a
claim of indemnity for slaves taken or de-
stroyed to the cession of the State burdened
with slavery TO a foreign power.
Mr.. Adams has dug up many letters from the
papers at Quincy which show the profound
impression made by this speech on both friend
and foe. Likewise, he prints letters and diary
entries OF his grandfather which reveal an al
most wonderful prescience Of the Civil War and
Its failure. One Of them we cannot forbear to
quote from. Writing to Gerrit Smith in 1899
In the District of Columbia could be brought to
such issue that the free States would be unani-
nous against the slave States the latter would
Seoede from the Union. adding:
some leading and able men who consider this
as a desira bic event l myself believe that it
would naturally. and infalEbly, lead the total
dDohtlon or Slavery, hut it would be through the
ultimate operation OF a more terrible than
the thirty years war, which followed the Wit
tenoerS thesis OF Martin Luther, and | shrink
from IL with horror That the Shareholders of
the South should datter themselves that by Sc
ceolhs from this Union they could esta blish
judgment one of those absurd selr-delusions
rtSfr thnlyn