ANTI-SLAVERY LEGISLATION. 10. As finally adopted it read, simply, "that from and after the passage of this act, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the Territories of the United States now existing, or which may at any time hereafter be formed or acquired by the United States, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." Whilst this legislation on the subject of slavery in the United States was in progress, a bill was passed in relation to two foreign countries, which also favorably affected the condition of the colored population at home. The President, it will be remembered, in his annual message at the opening of the session, suggested the expediency of recognizing the independence of Hayti and Liberia, and of appropriating the necessary sum for maintaining a chargé at these places. He might have entered upon this step himself, but thinking it a novel matter of some importance, he asked, as a preliminary, the coöperation of Congress.. The subject was referred, in the Senate, to the Committee on Foreign Relations, which, through its chairman, Mr. Sumner, reported a bill authorizing the President to appoint diplomatic representatives to these republics. The subject was taken up for discussion on the 23d of April, when Mr. Sumner, in an elaborate speech, presented the commercial importance of the two countries, particularly of Hayti, and the value of entering upon full diplomatic relations with them. Garrett Davis, of Kentucky, the next day, spoke in opposition. He admitted the force of Mr. Sumner's statistics, and was friendly, he said, to both these infant negro republics, but he was at the same time, weary, sick, disgusted, despondent with the introduction of the subject of slaves and slavery into the chamber." He was willing that consuls should be appointed, but could not brook the idea of diplomatic agents. If the United States should send such ministers to 521 Hayti, or Liberia, a full-blooded negro' ' might be returned from either of those countries, who, by the law of nations, might demand recognition." He instanced a case in point, in the reception of Souluque from Hayti, at the French court, which he thus described :-"Well, a great big negro fellow, dressed out with his silver or gold lace clothes, in the most fantastic and gaudy style, presented himself at the court of Louis Napoleon, and, I admit, was received. Now, sir, I want no such exhibition as that in our capital, and in our government. The American minister, Mr. Mason, was present on that occasion, and he was sleeved by some Englishman who was present, who pointed him to the embassador of Souluque, and said, 'What do you think of him?' Mr. Mason turned round, and said, 'I think, clothes and all, he is worth one thousand dollars.'" The bill, however, was passed the same day by a vote of 32 to 7. In the House, the bill was called up from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, in June, and after brief debate, was passed on the 3d by a vote of 86 to 37. This act, and another carrying into effect a new and more efficient treaty with Great Britain for the suppression of the African slave trade, placed the foreign relations of the country toward the colored race-so long the object of proscription-on a footing which could not fail to act favorably on their interests at home. In this way, by the exercise of its legitimate powers, the Republican Congress cast the influence of the nation in behalf of human freedom. If more was to be done, the war power, in the necessity of the times, was to be the minister. The confiscation and emancipation bill, in the hands of the President, would provide the means. In the debates on the various bills, the passage of which we have recorded, a certain series of resolutions offered by Mr. Sumner, in February, were frequently referred to. Though they were not adopted, their introduction is too important a fact to be omitted. Their encouragement of industry, and the welfare of society, and in every way discharge the duties of a just, merciful, and paternal government." plainly intimated emancipation, with all its consequences, must be accepted, as a necessity in the conduct of the war. This was the message: "Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives :-I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable bodies, which shall be substantially as follows: leading position was that the seceding States, by their formal insurrectionary proceedings, their organization of rebel government, and their act of levying The anxiety of President Lincoln for a war, had practically "abdicated" all peaceful solution of the slavery difficulty, rights under the Constitution, while their by the entrance upon a system of comtreason "worked an instant forfeiture pensated emancipation, was shown in his of all those functions and powers essen- message to Congress on the 6th of March. tial to the continued existence of the It was his hope that the border slave State as a body politic," and that con- States, by adopting this policy, would sequently, the territory which they oc- bring a powerful pressure to bear upon cupied-which belonged to the United their Southern neighbors, and be thus States, and was held in trust for its pre-instrumental in ending the war; while, sent and future inhabitants-"falls un- if the resistance continued, he pretty der the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, as other territory; and the State being, according to the language of the law, felo de se, ceases to exist." Slavery, it was set forth, as "a peculiar local institution, without any origin in the Constitution, or in natural rights," fell with the State, "for the incident cannot survive the principal." As a necessary deduction, it was maintained that it was the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its exclusive jurisdiction over the territory once occupied by the revolted States, to see that slavery should cease to exist practically, as it had already ceased to exist constitutionally or legally. The recognition of slavery in such territory, or any surrender of slaves, "under the pretended laws of the extinct States," by any officer of the government, was pronounced an act of aid and comfort to the rebellion, and "a denial of the rights of persons, who, by the extinction of the States, have become free, so that, under the Constitution, they cannot again be enslaved." The closing resolution declared that Congress, in pursuance of its duty, should assume complete jurisdiction of the vacated territory, and "proceed to establish therein republican forms of government, under the Constitution, and, in the execution of this trust, provide carefully for the protection of all the inhabitants thereof, for the security of families, the organization of labor, the "Resolved, That the United States ought to coöperate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system. "If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the approval of Congress and the country, there is the end; but if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and people immediately interested should be at once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it. The Federal government would find its highest interest in such a measure, as one of the most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of the existing insurrection entertain the hope that the government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave States north of such parts will then say: The Union, for which we have struggled, . PRESIDENT'S PROPOSAL FOR COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION. being already gone, we now choose to go with the Southern section.' To deprive them of this hope substantially ends the rebellion, and the initiation of emancipation completely deprives them of it, as to all the States initiating it. The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation, but, that while the offer is equally made to all, the more northern shall, by such initiation, make it certain to the more southern that in no event will the former ever join the latter in their proposed Confederacy. I say 'initiation,' because, in my judgment, gradual, and not sudden emancipation, is better for all. In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of Congress, with the census tables and Treasury reports before him, can readily see for himself how soon the current expenditure of this war would purchase, at a fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State. Such a proposition on the part of the general government, sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to interfere with slavery within State limits, referring, as it does, the absolute control of the subject, in each case, to the State and its people immediately interested. It is proposed as a matter of perfectly free choice with them. "In the annual message, last December, I thought fit to say: "The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be employed.' I said this not hastily, but deliberately. War has been, and continues to be, an indispensable means to this end. A practical reacknowledgment of the national authority would render the war unnecessary, and it would at once cease. If, however, resistance continue, the war must also continue, and it is impossible to foresee all the incidents which may attend, and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency toward ending the struggle, must and will come. The proposition now made, 523 though an offer only, I hope it may be esteemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary consideration tendered would not be of more value to the States and private persons concerned than are the institution and property in it, in the present aspect of affairs. While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended in the hope that it would soon lead to important results. In full view of my great responsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the subject. (Signed) ABRAHAM LINCOLN." A joint resolution, in the very words suggested by the President, passed both Houses of Congress-the House of Representatives on the 11th of March, by a vote of 89 to 31;-the Senate on the 2d of April by a vote of 32 to 10. The remarks of Mr. Crittenden in the debate in the House foreshadowed the reception of the bill, at least, in Kentucky. He saw in it an invitation to agitation, and agitation of the slavery question he constantly deprecated. "The bill," he said, "relates to a subject about which my constituents are very sensitive. I fear they will think they ought to be let alone on this subject. You urge them to take a further step in proof of their loyalty. They will say 'Is this the way the other States of the Union treat us? The moment we come within their grasp, the moment we join hands with them, and take up the sword in defence of the Constitution, they desire that we shall modify our institutions in accordance with their wishes.'" In the month of May the President again called the attention of the country to his proposition in his proclamation countermanding an order which had been issued by General Hunter in his Department of the South. That officer, on the 9th of May, from his headquarters at Hilton Head, where he was pursuing a liberal policy toward the negroes, look-proclamation declaring the slaves of any ing to their support in the war, issued the State free, and that the supposed proclafollowing general order: "The three mation now in question, whether genuine States of Georgia, Florida, and South or false, is altogether void, so far as Carolina, comprising the military depart- respects such declaration. I further ment of the South, having deliberately make known, that whether it be compedeclared themselves no longer under the tent for me, as commander-in-chief of the protection of the United States of Amer- army and navy, to declare the slaves of ica, and having taken up arms against any State or States free; and whether at the said United States, it becomes a mili- any time, or in any case, it shall have tary necessity to declare them under become a necessity indispensable to the martial law. This was accordingly done maintenance of the Government to exeron the 25th of April, 1862. Slavery and cise such supposed power, are quesmartial law in a free country are alto- tions which, under my reponsibility, I gether incompatible, the persons in these reserve to myself, and which I cannot three States, Georgia, Florida, and South feel justified in leaving to the decision of Carolina, heretofore held as slaves, are commanders in the field. These are totherefore declared forever free." This tally different questions from those of poorder, thus cutting the Gordian knot of lice regulations in armies and camps." statesmanship in this complicated ques- Having thus disposed, for the time, at tion, as might be expected, greatly least, of the obnoxious order, the Presiaroused public attention. Since the at- dent availed himself of the occasion to tempted emancipation of the slaves in press upon the border States the policy Missouri by General Fremont, no act of of emancipation. Citing the resolution the military commanders in the field which he had sent to Congress in March, bearing upon the vexed topic, not even he remarked that it had been adopted by the famous radical Ship Island proclama-large majorities in both branches of Contion of General Phelps, had excited more gress, and "now stands an authentic, opposition in certain quarters, or ap- definite, and solemn proposal of the naplause in others. Border State mention to the States and people most immeand "conservatives" stood aghast while diately interested in the subject matter." the advocates of a vigorous war policy With solemn emphasis he again urged it saw in the order the inevitable fulfillment upon their attention. "To the people of of a destiny courted by the South at these States I now earnestly appeal-I every step of the rebellion. President do not argue, I beseech you to make the Lincoln was not long in declaring his arguments for yourselves. You cannot, sense of the matter. In a proclamation if you would, be blind to the signs of the on the 19th of May, after reciting the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged order of General Hunter, which had come consideration of them, ranging, if it may to his knowledge only through the public be, far above personal and partisan poliprints, he proceeded to state that "the tics. This proposal makes common cause government of the United States had no for a common object, casting no reproach knowledge or belief of an intention on upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The the part of General Hunter to issue such change it contemplates would come gently a proclamation, nor has it yet any as the dews of heaven, not receding, or authentic information that the document wrecking any thing. Will you not emis genuine; and, further, that neither brace it? So much good has not been General Hunter nor any other command-done by one effort in all past time, as in er or person has been authorized by the the Providence of God it is now your Government of the United States to make high privilege to do. May the vast fu . PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S APPEAL TO THE BORDER STATES. 525 ture not have to lament that you have neglected it." carding punctilio and maxims adapted to more manageable times, and looking only to the unprecedentedly stern facts of our case, can you do better in any possible event? You prefer that the constitutional relation of the States to the nation shall be practically restored without dis turbance of the institutions; and if this were done, my whole duty in this respect, under the constitution and my oath of office, would be performed. But it is not done, and we are trying to accomplish it by war. The incidents of the war can not be avoided. If the war continues long, as it must if the object be not sooner attained, the institution in your States will be extinguished by mere friction and abrasion--by the mere incidents of the war. It will be gone, and you will have nothing valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value is gone already. How much better for you and for your people to take the step which at once shortens the war and secures substantial compensation for that which is sure to be wholly lost in any other event! How much better to thus save the money which else we sink forever in the war! How much better to do it while we can, lest the war ere long render us pecuniarily unable to do it! How much better for you, as seller, and the nation as buyer, to sell out and buy out that without which the war could never have been, than to sink both the thing to be sold and the price of it in cutting one another's throats! I do not speak of emancipation at once, but, of a decision at once to emancipate gradually. Room in South America for colonization can be obtained cheaply and in abundance, and when numbers shall be large enough to be company for one another, the freed people will not be so reluctant to go. Though Congress had readily passed this conciliatory resolution of the President, it was observed that it was but a general expression of a sentiment; nor was it followed by any act making special appropriation of money to carry it into effect. It depended for its efficiency upon the action of the border States. The President was anxious that Congress should not adjourn without further action on the subject. Accordingly, at the end of the session, on the 12th of July, he presented the matter anew to the Senators and Representatives of the border slaveholding States, whom he had called together for the purpose at the White House. He there, with great earnestness, renewed the appeal which he had addressed to Congress. 'If," said he, reading from a manuscript which he had prepared, "you all had voted for the resolution in the gradual emancipation message of last March, the war would now be substantially ended; and the plan therein proposed is yet one of the most potent and swift means of ending it. Let the States which are in rebellion see definitely and certainly, that in no event will the States you represent ever join their proposed Confederacy, and they cannot much longer maintain the contest. But you cannot divest them of their hope to ultimately have you with them so long as you show a determination to perpetuate the institution within your own States. Beat them at elections, as you have overwhelmingly done, and, nothing daunted, they still claim you as their own. You and I know what the lever of their power is. Break that lever before their faces, and they can shake you no more forever. "Most of you have treated me with kindness and consideration, and I trust "I am pressed with a difficulty not you will not now think I improperly yet mentioned -one which threatens touch what is exclusively your own, division among those who, united, are when, for the sake of the whole country, none too strong. An instance of it is I ask: Can you, for your States, do bet-known to you. General Hunter is an ter than to take the course I urge? Dis- honest man. He was, and I hope still |