The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-24 00:00:00

7HE NEGRO AND THE WAR.

The following is the concluding portion of Mr. Secretary
Stanton's report to the President of the United States :
With this presentation of the past operations and the pre-
sent condition of the War Department, the duty required
of me by the act of Congress to make an annual report is in
a great measure fulfilled. It is seen that a force has been
placed by the people of the United States at the command
of the government to maintain its authority more mighty
in all the elements, of warlike power than was ever before
arrayed under one banner. How shall that force be em-
ployed ? To smite the enemy on every hand, to attack his
armies and strongholds, to occupy his ports, clear the great
rivers of the West of his obstructions, and pause not until
he is subdued, is our plain duty. Above all, it is our duty
to disdain no legitimate aid that may save the lives of our
gallant soldiers, diminish their labours, provide for their
wants, and lessen the burdens of our people. No aphorism
is more universally received than that "the sole object of
a just war is to make the enemy feel the evils of his in-
justice, and by his sufferings amend his ways; he must,
therefore, be attacked in his mot accessible quarter. The
power of the rebels rests upon their peculiar system of
labour, which keeps labourers on their plantations to sup-
port owners who are devoting their time and strength to
destroy our armies and destroy ourgovernment. Whenever
that system is in hostility to the government, it is, in my
opinion, the duty of those conducting the war to strike
down the system and turn against the rebels the productive
power that upholds the insurrection. Rightly organised in
the recovered territory, the labourers of the rebel states will
not only aid in holding fortified positions, but their labour
will, as in India, free the white soldier from the most un-
wholesome exposure of the South. They will cultivate the
corn and forage, which will feed our cavalry artillery horses,
and save the country a portion of the enormous burden now
attending their purchase and transport from the North.
This cultivation would have been of greater advantage to
us on the southeastern coast than even that of the great
staple of the Sea Islands. Probably the people who remained
upon these islands, within protection of our armies, could,
under wise control, have supplied all the forage needed this
year by the forces in the department of the South. The full
ration for a horse weighs 261 b., that of a soldier 31b. An
army well organised and equipped for active operations,
with a due proportion of cavalry, artillery and baggage trains,
will not have less than one horse or mule to every four sot.
diera ; so that the weight of food for the animals is more than
double that of the rations for the men. How important an
aid, how great an economy, in a long contest, therefore,
would there be in raising by this cheap labour the greater
part of the forage alone for the Southern department, thus,
for a greater portion of our wants, transferring the bare of
supplies now at New York to Hilton Head or New Orleans.
The department has found it difficult to transfer this labour
from one part of the seat of war to another. Local and
family ties seem to be very strong with these people, and
with all their faith in the power and goodwill of our mili-
tary commanders, it was found difficult to get volunteer la-
bourers to leave Port Royal for other depots. A population
of four millions true to the interests of the Union, with
slight assistance from the army, will, under proper regula -
tion and government, be of the greatest assistance in hold-
ing the territory once recovered. The principal staples of
the South are the product exclusively of their labour. If
protected upon the lands they have hitherto cultivated,with
some organisation, and with support from small detachments
of loyal troops, they would not only produce much of what
is needed to feed our armies and their trains, but they would
for ever cut off from the rebellion the resources of a coun-
try thus occupied. The rebel armies move with ease through
portions of the border statee,living upon the country in which
oar commanders find no supplies. The people bring forth
their hoards and offer them to the rebels for sale or gift.
Protect the labouring population, who are the majority in
the greater part of the South, in the possession of the land
and its products, and this great advantage will, for what-
ever portion of the country we occupy, be transferred to us.
As soon as the coast is thoroughly occupied, and the people
organized, trade will revive. Cotton, rice, sugar, and other
products will be exchanged by the producer for what he
needs. Their wants will be supplied direst from the northern
factories, and the cultivation of the great staples will enable
them to pay for what they use. A perfectly free trade may
thus again grow up between the North and the South, and
with greater or less rapidity it will spread over the whole
country as our forces succeed in meeting and dispersing
the rebel armies. Tho greater part of the whole country
which formerly produced the Sea Island cotton is now
thoroughly restored to the Union. The labourers are there
—the soil and climate. It needs only assurance of protec-
tion to revive the cultivation of the staple, as well as to pro-
duce vast quantities of corn and forage for our troops. Since
this war must be conducted by marches, and battles, and
sieges, why neglect the best means to make them successful
and their results permanent ? It is worthy of notice that
thus far the portions of territory which, once recovered, we
have most firmly held, are precisely those in which the
greatest proportion of coloured men are found. By their
assistance our armies will be able permanently to operate
in and occupy the country ; and in labour for the army, in
raising its and their'own supplies, full occupation can be
given them, and with this there will be neither occasion
' nor temptation to thdm to emigrate to a northern and less
congenial climate. Judging by experience, no coloured man
will leave his home in the South, if protected in that home.
All possibility of competitionfrom negro labour in the North
is avoided in giving coloured men protection and employ-
ment upon the soil which they have thus far cultivated,
and the right to which has been vacated by the original
proprietors, deeply involved in the crimes of treason and
rebellion. No great territory has been permanently re-
duced without depriving the leaders of its people of their
lands and property. It is these that give power and in-
fluence. Few men have commanding genius and talent to
exercise dangerous influence over their fellow-man with-
out the adventitious aid of money and property. By striking
down this system of compulsory labour which enables the
leaders of the rebellion to control the resources of the people
the rebellion would die of itself. Under no circumstances
has any disposition to servile insurrection been exhibited
by the coloured population in any Southern State, while a
strong loyalty to the Federal Government has been dis-
played on every occasion, and against every discourage-
ment. By the means suggested rebellion may be disarmed
and subdued swiftly and effectually, and the lives of our
own people saved from slaughter on the battle-field. By
the occupation of all their forts on the Mississippi and the
sea coast, a market will be opened in every rebel State for
the industry of our people to supply the wants of the army,
and also of a loyal population, in exchange for the valuable
prodncstsetotlfet.heenirtal aubpoounr.
the A Another pointgove r
no
mf
eattack
lands is by
n
armed
Florida and Texas. Thousands in the Northern and
Western States are impatiently waiting the signal of war
movements to plant their homes in the best territory on this
continent, and bring it back to the Union, as loyal States.
So far from the Southern States being invincible, no
enemy was ever so vulnerable, if the means at hand are
employed against them. If your proposition for com-
pensated emancipation and a voluntary return to loyalty
be blindly rejected, still the proper application of the
means at command of the Government cannot fail to ac-
complish the suppression of the rebellion and a restoration I
of those peaceful relations which were designed to be este-
blished for ever on this continent by the Union of the States.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War, I
To the President.

The Gibraltar committee for the relief of the
distressed operatives in Lancashire have collected a sum of
2,000 dollars,