The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1910-06-14
EMANCIPATION DAY
RECEIVES MUCH ATTENTION
Spreckles Has Something
Mo- That Is Causing a Number
H. bry of People to Sit UP and
on on ." Take Notice. Talks Cap
Sc, ital, Labor and Politics.
PAUL A. F. WALTER
COMPT.IMENTED
BY TENDERFOOT


announcement the celebration OF
Emancipation, Wy the negroes of
the Pecos VI 4 the settlement
known as Blac' west Of Dexter. on
the Goth Of June, and many people have
thought thst the cullud brethren were a
little Off on their calendar. AS a mat
ter Of fact, they are right, for tho ne
gro emancipation day in the Pecos val.
ley is the 10th of June, and that occur
ing on Sunday, the demonstration is TO
be held on the next.
II is all a matter OF history. The re-.
publican administration at the outbreak
of the Civil War, was awkwardly plac.
ed for dealing with slavery. To assail
il in its own territory was not only to
belle the past professions of the party,
but to ALLEVIATE so Eoch northern sup.
port as to assure failure; nor indeed had
the great bulk Of the party any thought
beyond lettering the slave power for
future aggression. On the other hand
to leave slavery untouched was not on.
ly to chill the energies of the most re-.
liable apholders Of the War, hut TO give
foreign countries n pretext for assert
ing that the north was fighting merely
for dominion, and that the southern
cause was that of liberty and morally
entitled to help. The former horn Of
the dilemma was much the safest, and
the government moved very cautious.
ly, restraining its subordinates like
Fremont (Aug. 90, 1867 and enamel
patton orders. On August 9, 1851, an
act had declared masters employing
slaves against the government barred
from further claim to them; but that
was a mere warning and rule of court.
The drst embarrassing problem was how
to deal with slaves in conquered dis.
tricts, or who had come within its
lines; was the government to act as
slaveholders' trustee and return them
to servitudef 1ne growing resentment
against slavery as convertible term
for the rebellion and disgust as being
slave.catchers to the behoof Of their
enemies, supplied the answer, and on
March l3, 1862, all army officers were
forbidden to return fugitive slaves;
their surrender from any quarter was
made harder (though the fugitive'slave
law was not formally abolished till
June ~; on June II, 1862, all captur.
ed, desc Sed or fugitive slaves of own.
ers in rebelli6p were freed. As to the
main body, who plainly could not be left
in unchanged status as the core of
fresh abuses, Lincoln's wish was for
compensated emancipation; he sent a
special message TO Congress on March
q, and that body passed a joint resolu.
tion April 10, declaring that the United
States ought to co.operated with any
state which would adopt gradual abo.
ltion, by paying for the slaves, and on
April 10, those in the District Of Co.
lumbia were thus emancipated; but de.
spite his repeated urgcncies, the border
states would take no measure Of the
kind. On June 10, the slaves in the
territories were freed.
The final blow came, as John Quincy
Adams, 20 years before had forecast
that II would, by using the president s
war power to suppress insurreetion. As
the second war of the conflict wore on,
the majority demanded the crippling Of
its enemy the most efficient means, and
very many believed that threat Of
general emancipation would bring about
general surrender. Lincoln wished
for a great victory Arst, that II might
not appear the selfish resources of an
over.matched power; but the discourag'
ing Peninsular campaign obliged him
to satisfy his supporters by holding