Year: 1861

i From the Ladies' Repostory.l


The War and the Slave Ques


tion..


i At the time of this writing October
has just opened unto US. What shall
be the events of the war, even before
the thoughts now penned shall come t.
our readers, it is impossible to foretell


Its events have crowded so thickly upor
each other that we can make no attemp
to chronicle them. The various ques
tions also retaining to the policy of the
Government and the conduct of the wal
have been so numerous, and succeeded
each other so quickly, that discussion
of them in our columns has, been out o.
! the question.


There is one question of governments
policy, however, which. in its relation.
to the causes and conduct of the war
as we'll as to its ultimate results, towers
high above all others. We refer to the
slavery question. And upon this we
are panied to feel that the Government
has as yet been utterly lacking in any
sharply-de6ned or clearly expressed line
of policy. We do not claim that the
Government is to engage in a crusade
against the system of slavery in the
States. 1t is simply called upon to--nut
down rebellion. But if slavery has
welded rebellion, nothing is more clear
than that, so far at least as it is thus
welded, it must suffer the fate of rebel
lion.


General Buffers plan of placing the
| fugitive slave from rebel masters in the
list of contrabands, was an ingenius de-
vice, and was step in the right direc-
ton. But it was subsequently so mod
i6ed by the Administration as to lose
much of its significance, and still more
of its power. Then came the proclama-
ton of General Fremont, declaring
not that slavery is abolished in the
Slave States-but that the slaves of
those actually engaged in rebellion shall
be con6scated as the property of their
owners and declared free men. That
proclamation hit the nail upon the head,
1t made distinct issue with the slave
holder-one he could easily compre-
hend. 1t said to him, remain loyal, and
The Government ,oiH not interfere aoith
your slare property; become disloyal, and
you shall no longer haze the advantage of
those laaos designed to protect this specie Of
property; your slaues shall be free. This
was right. 1t was in accordance with
the rules Of civilized warfare. It vio-
lated no law of military procedure. It
only enforced the common-sense prin-
ciple, that those striving to destroy the
Government shall not at the same time
enjoy it's protection. To this idea the
heart of the nation responded with an
emphatic endorsement.


On the other hand, the modiGc alton
ordered by President Lincoln, requiring
that only such slaves as have been act
ually employed, or permitted to be en-
ployed, by their masters against the
Government; and also having undecided
their status, even when they are so taken,
whether they shall be free men or be
sold, and the proceeds of the sale placed
in the treasury, was peculiarly unfortu-
nate. 1t not only takes off all the ed sc
and extracts all the sting of Fremont's
proclamation, but it makes an exception
in favor Of slare property. This, it is
true, is in harmony with most of our
national legislation upon the subject
Slavery has always demanded and too
often received privileges and immuni
ties awarded to no other species of prop
erty. But such special immunities
granted by military proclamation, and
that too in acar Of slavery against the
gerry Government making such proclama-
ton, is, to say the least, an exceedingly
questionable magnanimity. 1t was
concession to this species of property
not fit to be made.


On the other hand, we cannot doubt
that it was as impolite in it's practical
working as it was unsound in principle.
What stronger motive could you place
before the STAKEHOLDER to stay at home
and demean himself as good citizen
than the fact that the moment he became
a rebel his slaves should be free men?
But, on the other hand, what higher
piece of folly than for the Government
to undertake the dianship of the
slaves of rebel masters, while those
very masters are marshaling rebel armies
for its destruction! What more can a
traitor ask? The Government consents
to protect his family and keep in sub
lection his slaves. What is there, then,
to prevent his joining the rebel army?
Is not this putting premium on trea-
son? We know of nothing which SO
clearly illustrates how deeply the pub
lie mind has been debauched by the
foul, leprous system Of American sla.
very. We verify believe that if we can
not rise in any other way, God will
train us by reverses and calamities, till,
as people, We shall come, at least in
some tolerable degree, TO comprehend
how this iniquity has debased US, and
what is necessary for our deliverance.


1t must be patent to every mind that
the South must be invaded, and rebel
lion and misrule be broken down upon
the soil. Otherwise the waging of
guerilla warfare in Virginia, Kentucky,
and Missouri is mere faulty. Ifthese
are not mere stepping stones to an ad-
vance movement, better give up the
contest at once. But to think of sd.
vancing such an army into the slave
States charged with the bou','e duty of
fighting rebels, and also Of holding in
subsection their slaves, and even catch
ing and returning those who run away,
is preposterous in the extreme. When
Bonaparte entered Russia he refused,
even when strongly advised. 10 proclaim
liberty to the seris. He refused even
to allow them to come to his own aid
but placed upon them the iron
heel of oppression not less firmly than
that by which Russia had crushed them
to the earth. Thus Napoleon threw
away the only agency that could have