The New York Herald
April 24, 1861
It is fully time for President Lincoln to issue a proclamation to the country, explanatory of the principles upon which the war that has commenced will be carried on. Such a document is needed, in order to tranquilize the minds of Union loving citizens in the South, and to carry terror into the hearts of revels, who may persevere in resisting the laws. A very large portion of the slaveholders, in the seceding, as well as in the Border States have been from the beginning, totally opposed to the conspiracy to dissever the republic. Their hearts are true and loyal, and they will, doubtless, rally to the support of the government, as soon as its intentions are properly understood. The leaders of the ultra Southern party, have deluded themselves, and their followers, with the belief that the North was divided while the slaveholding members of the confederacy, were united. Party lines, have, however, been swept away, in the free States, since the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and they are now a unit, while below Mason and Dixon’s line, discontent and disaffection prevail everywhere, and a small effort, on the part of the administration, will create a general reaction, and an immense rally to its support.
Southern conspirators should be notified that no aggressive war has been inaugurated against the slave States, and that there is no intention to invade any of the rights that are guaranteed to them by the constitution. It is the determination of the administration, however, to retake all places and properties belonging to the federal government, and to employ any amount of force that may be requisite for that purpose. Every fortification, arsenal, navy yard, custom house and post office, of which possession has been usurped, must be arrested from the possession of the revolted States, at the cost, if need be of hundreds of millions of money, and of five hundred thousand men. From Baltimore to New Orleans, therefore, no choice will be left to the Southern people, excepting between resistance and unconditional submission to the laws and it is the duty of the President to proclaim that while those who are true to their allegiance to the American flag, and give it aid and support, may rely upon present and future protection, the utmost penalties due to treason will be exacted from traitors, and individuals who ally themselves with armies fighting against the government. Their property will be confiscated and wherever their lives are not forfeited, it will be exclusively owing to Executive clemency.
There never was a more causeless rebellion, than that which has been slowly growing in strength at the South, until it has culminated in its present formidable proportions. With a majority in both houses of Congress, it would have been easy to have obtained redress for any real sectional grievances, if a legal remedy for existing evils had been desired. This formed no part of the plan, however, of Mr. Jefferson Davis and his fellow conspirators. They had resolved that the Union should be dissolved, and, also that hostilities should be commenced, in order to replace the constitution of the United States by a military government; to take possession of the national capital; and to remodel the republic, in accordance with their own fantastic, revolutionary scheme. Their designs are now exposed, and their defeat is as sure as the revolution of the earth around the sun, and the return of the seasons. But sharp, sudden, prompt, and vigorous measures, must be adopted, to avoid that most cruel of calamities—a long war. The people demand that it shall be carried on with the utmost energy, and that every opportunity should be given to our loyal Southern brethren to render their assistance. Five hundred thousand troops, if called for, will be as readily yielded as seventy thousand. Our capitalists will lend money without stint. Mr. Lincoln should take no less of either, than the exigencies of the case require, and should be restrained within the limits of no ill calculated economy. By explaining thoroughly the designs of his administration, and acting with a promptitude suitable to the emergency, the war may be compressed within a period of six months.