The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-08-30

.
esssry kindred nezsxre during she rxoxsxsx
Of the war who may net S< r<csed, snd rhp
may be unfit for the pobEc scyvie- VIVA
shall be done With them ? Ny answer lu.
been partiayy given under snotFscr head 7
viii onlv add here cpe other rejection. We
have seen that wherever free culoyed peonc
are found in this country they p~p.i5e Cor
themselves They do not become . burden
on society. No considerable number Of them,
become either paurers O. criminals. Iftbex
have not proved incompetent to provide for
themselves heretofore, the presumption.is
that no considerable number of them viii,
hereafter. Bio. II they should, then inter
pose with legal provision for their protection
as you would for the protection Of paupcrs
OF any other class. When other men. wo.-
men, or children, in civilized society. arc
found to be incapable of taking care of them
selves, the laws require the courts of pr obate,
70 appoint guardians of their persons and
property, who are required to give bond and.
approved security for the faithful exccp.;oa,
Of the guardianship. The ear of the court
IS ever open to the complaint of the ward.
whether made by him in person or by "his
next friend" The guardian is thus hound,
By law and stimulated by public opinion to,
execute faithfully and kumanely this trusr
Let the sane principles Of jnstice apply to-
panpers Of any other color If Justice and
humanity rcqnire aucia restraints to secure
the rights and interests of orphans and pau.
pHrs and non compos Of our own color and
race, how much more dan rerous n ust if be
to place infants and paupers of another race
and color under the absolute control OF self.
appointed guardians withos, the slightest
restraints of law, to be worked or punished
or sold or used as unrestraincd passion or
caprice might prompt. If any of the liberia
ted slaves should prove incapable OF provi-
ding tor themselves, Apply tie same princi-
pies OF justice to them that you now apply
to such persons Of any other class, and tho
whole difficulty will have been met and over
come.. In my State we have the same law,
TOR the protection and management of pau.
pers of all classes, and believe this is done
in majority Of the States without causing
the slightest difficulty. And there is no
necessity for distinction in this respect in
. rebel State. IL large Numbers of these
people are destitute of Intelligence or c,pac-
ity to provide for themselves and to protect
their own intarestsin any given locality, it
creates no necessity for a new rule. The an.
plicatlon OF the principles that protect the
lew Will be sufficient to protect larger mum.
hers. II, therefore, a majority of liberated
Africans were found by experience to be in,
competent to provide for themselves, society
would not receive the slightest shock. They
would receive the protection of guardians
appointed by the courts, under bond with
approved security, responsible to the tribu,
mas of justice for their conduct and society
would receive the advantages of their labor
and service afterwards as before and the Ia,
borer would be secured in the enjoyment of
- F'NS~N@S - h'S toiis
But we have seen that this allegation OF
incompetency to provide for themselves is
not true. 1t may be partially true in limited
localities and in certain communities. but as
general proposition, 1t is totally false. On
this point it might not be amiss 10 give the
testimony of a rebel Senator, by whose side
| sat in the old Chamber for several wears.
| refer to the rebel Robert Toombs. In pri-
vate conversation he told me repeatedly that
there was no practical difficulty in liberating
the slaves; he said it was all pretense; the
men who asserted this doctrine were dema-
gogues; he said that he defended slavery be-
cause, in his judgment, it was right; it was
for his interest and the interest of his people.
to perPetpate it; and almost every old Sena-
tor here will recognize such statement as
characteristic of his holiness and candor.-
My friend from New Hampshire says that
he told him the same thing.
Mr.. HALE. With the Senator's permis.
sion I will state it. Mr.. foombs did say to-
me once and more than once in conversation
that anybody who pretended that white men
could not labor where negroes did, stated
what was not true. He said that wheya
black men could labor white men could; and
said he, 81 do not make my slaves work be-
cause prefer to have them work for me
but the pretense that white men cannot work
where black men can, is all nonsense; they
can; but we make black men work because
we like to make them 90 it great deal het-
ter than we do to work ourselves
Mr.. HARLAN. Wise statesmen and can
did men, all over the slave States, admit the
same thing. It is only from the lips Of pol.
iticians, will not s.y demagogues, for that
would be offensive, that we hear of the i'm.
possibility of preserving peace and order in
community composed in part Of free me-
groes They talk Of the practical difficulties
in the way of emancipation, until they have
impressed society with the conviction th..v
free negroes are exceedingly dangerous to
civil society. When exausiped candidly in.
the light Of our own experience and that Of
other nations, these supposed didiculties
vanish; the mountain becomes at once but
molehir. While the Senator from New
Hampshire was speaking, some one handed
me note stating that tho navy in Brazil is
composed of negroes, with the exception a.
the off .ers MY colleague and the chairmsn