East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1862-06-10
EAST SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, JUNE 10, 1862.


favorite you extend the freedom of thi
city and the hospitality of the govern
ment to all the runaway negroes in tn
country, who choose to visit the Distric
of Columbia. You issue rations to then
day after day, and week after week, "a
tions which must be paid for throug
the sweat and toll Of tax-ridden whit
men. You are thus supporting in in
dolence hundreds upon hundreds of blacI
men. How many and at what cost | an
unable to state, because when a reso
luton asking for this information wa
introduced by the honorable gentlemen
from Ohio Mr. Cox,) it was immediate
ly tabled by the republican majority
upon the other side Of this House,
Those gentlemen dare not let this infor
nation go the country; they shrink from
the exposure which a truthful reply tc
such inquiry would make. The resolu
tion of Mr.. Cox also asked for the mum.
Der Of negroes employed as teamsters in
tie army, and at what wages; but this
was equally Objectionable, Tor it w6@@!id !
have illustrated the fact that negroes
by the hundred are receiving better pay
as drivers than our own white sons and
brothers are for periling their lives as
soldiers in the defence OF the Union and
che cons titution.
Having been thus deprived Of obtain
ing official information upon tn ese ques.
tions | am obliged to gather my stats-
tics from such sources as | can. shall
make no statement that I have not re-
ceived from respectable and responsible
parties, and none which | do not con-
ceive to be rather under than over the
true estimate.
The government is to-day issuing ra-
tions TO about two thousand negroes in
this District alone, that cost over twenty
cents per ration--S400 per day; in vio-
lation of the law, is being paid for this
purpose. The government is hiring in
the District several hundred negroes
some as teamsters, and some for other
purposes, to the exclusion of white labor
ers, thousands of whom, together with
their wives and children, in our large
cities are suffering for the want of en-
pioyment. / speak adyisedly when Isay
that the republican party are already
paying, of tax-gathered money, in this
District alone over three hundred thou
sand dollars per annum to buy, clothe,
feed, and exalt the African race. Thus
for the negro you expend more in sin
gle year in the District of Columbia than
you appropriate for the government and
protection of all the people in all the or
panized territories Of the United States
The negro is made superior, in your
legislation, to the pioneer white men that
settled the Great West, and, amid hard
ships and dangers, lay the foundation of
new commonwealths; the hardest and
noblest men of our common country.
So the people are taxed yearly more
for the benefit of the black race in this
District alone than it costs to maintain
the burdens of State government in
either Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Yer
mont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New
Jersey, Delaware or Maryland.
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS PER DAY
EXPENDED on LAZY NEGROES.
But it is not in this District alone that
you require the people to pay tribute to
the idol of your affections. Wherever
you find our army, with one or two hon
orable exceptions, you will find that
hundreds of rations are being issued dali
ly to unemployed negroes who rendez-
vous in or abuut the camps; wherever the
army is they are being employed in va
rous capacities at good wages, and to
the utter exclusion of white labor that
now languishes in irksome idleness
throughout our country. | state, there.
fore, and think truthfully, that the gov
ernment is already paying 100000 per
day for the support and employment of
negroes--paying it, too, out of money
raised through the toll, deprivations, and
taxtaion of our own kith and kin.
In my district, Mr.. Chairman, my con-
stituents are selling corn at eight cents
per bushel in order to support their fam
lilies and maintain the honor and integri-
ty of our government. Shall money thus
be raised and for such purpose be di-
verted to the entertainment of tho Afri-
can? Will my people, will the people
anywhere, indorse the party and the ad-
ninistrat:on that thus seek the elevation
of the negro even at the cost Of ruin to
their own race?
THE NEGRO PLACED UPON AN EQUALITY
WITH OUR SAILORS AND SOLDIERS.
One might suppose that your ardor in
the care aud protection of the negro
would stop and cool here; but no, you
20 still further. Having made him your
equal as civilian, you now seek to place
him on the same level with American
sailors aud soldiers. First came the
order of the Secretary of the Navy, Mr.
Wells, as follows:
NAVY DEPARTMENT
April 30 1862
"Sm-The approach of the hot and
sickly season upon the southern coast OF
the United States renders it imperative
that every preceution should be used by
the officers commanding vessels to con-
tinue the excellent sanitary condition OF
their crews. The large number of per-
sons known as 'contrabands' flocking to
I