Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1861-12-27
LOYALTY OF Slaves.

In thi. var e rebellion, the negro plays
a conspicuous. p-rt. We once heard Mr.
Lanai. Of Mississippi. W On. Of b.. ,'olsn,,
executive .ps..,hs. N IN. illos. Of Repre-
.-n'at,s-. .hoa.i,nsly declsre that the Ne
gro Va. IN the Constitution. and the North
could never cast him out " Whether
Lamar ~a- right - wrong Va h. "oolored'
theory. there i. ~ dceb, the negro Ia. hssn
in oil the discussion. of Political eha'as.
ter. both IN ami out u Conrrs~, Tor the
la., ten cr twelve years. The negro |. In
thu. war all over. and "a. great question ''.
What hall b. done Nth hin
Bat question q zone importance Ia.
recently ben ra,-ed-ar. ,he slave. loyal,r
or. IN other words. which s,ie do they take
m this controversy. Gen. ll,llect. In hrs
E~al To- override frrDort's pol'cy, has tor.
b,ddcn slave the right to come within b..
line. aud ordered all on, ~ho sre Ia AMI
49, ~. a. rvson that they ate mott h
trusted. ard ~.eipe With imrOrIAnI 'nfor'
nation Tor ih. enemy 10. Theory doe not
correspond With tina, u many other oGisr-
~ho have hen mech logger Ia the ser''es
ten Lane .a,i the a:ber Gay IN the senate.
thu, he obtained gsst amOah, al material
III irmailon irom the ASCENDING slaves. ard
that they wsr~ true and never bstr.yrd HIN.
Gen Ben Boiler has hsa lsrs- nunhsrs IN
his Inns. and we never heard that he had
any trouble IN hi. direction. Geo. VOL
gave them the zane refuge that Butler did.
aud no complaint eomes ieum hiB. We
think the whole matter. With regard to the
loyal,y or dlsloyalty Of the slaves, .. mar.
rpwci down 20 Ihis simple pfupJs'tinn -
TIE slaves und"rstand the nature 81 this
war, and are everywhere ndia1siiy friendly
% the federal government and it army, and
" they have IN any instance become d'loyal,
- ha. bevn owing u the bahsreas treat.
u-nI they bav, rscei,sl at the hands Of
.on. Of our eomuaniink generals. Upon
the Potomac they hase ae! to oGr l'ne-. sud
IN many Instances have been haOtsi down
Ike dog, by our army OlsesTs. and iorcihiy
returned % their masters. SO IL has been
~ Missouri .ipea fsenOn,'s removal our
Gruy quarters have been made hunting
ground. fOr sla'v eaiehcss.
NOs villa, can our army expect OF slaves
when they treat them in tins bar'arOus
manner What are the legitimate fruits OF
the policy OF Gems. Mcclellan AID Ilslleck ?
Nothing only q drive the slaves II de-pera-
,ion and madness. DO they sIpsc; these
slave. to remain friendly 10 our interests.
alter our army ofeer- have ioreibly lent
them back ~ perpetual bondage. to be tor
nsn,ei aud whipped BY their rebel masters
The slaves. however ignorant. are not
fools enourh Tor that. They know better
than ~ kiss the hand that smiis' them.
Even at Port Royal. the slaves. although
the rsOs, ignorant of any in the Un''sd
States. refused 10 follow their masters. bot
cams % our army, .uppO'ins very rsa'0ua'
bly, that ~e we're their frends.
We come to the conclusion. from the e'i
dsnes ,ha. ha, bs.n produced upOu this
question, tba, the slaves are everywhere
naturally loyal to our cause, and that Il
aOytnips ha. ,ran.pirei 70 III. contrary, il
ha. been the cruelty pracnced towards them
by our own army. Such "s belis's ~ill be
the honest conviction. Of all who will care
folly investigate this matter. o..
That the dawes will b sihoisnt saIilisr.