The southern aegis, and Harford County intelligencer. (Bel Air, Md.) 1862-1864, 1862-11-15
From he Ns.s1nrvpo,t Mass Herald.
THENEGRO QUESTION.

upon our armies in the South. This is
apprent by the correspondence between
General Dix and Governor Andrews in re-
lation to sending five hundred families to
this State. The contrabands come within
our lines, aud as the army move South,
more will be had. The universal testimo-
ny is that they are worthless to us. A
few of them can be put to work, but many
are old and more are children, and great
proportion women, who from state of
comparative innocence are corrupted and
depraved by communion with the soldiers,
and soon die, or what is worse, live to
spread disease and corruption. They have
done little taken as whole, to what has
been done for them. They show no dis
position to render themselves useful-they
have not the the capacity or will to be SO;
and most of them look forward to a re-
turn to their masters plantations. With
these ignorant and simple people there is
great attachment to the places where they
were reared-great love for those whom
they have served, and much more COM
fort there than they can enjoy elsewhere.
While the contrabands can do nothing
for the Government, they are big bill Of
expense. They have occupied the houses
while the soldiers have been without shell
ter, and in some instances they have had
new houses built for them, while white
men defending the country, were left out
doors without tents or blankets. They
have drawn their rations at the expense
Of the Government, and are maintained as
paupers, while the Government never has
aided whites, as it has no authority to-,
and but few years ago refused to distri-
butte wood for which they had no use at
Washington, among the poor of the Dis
trict of Columbia, because there was no
constitutional right SO to do We remem-
Der that in the election of 1874, it was
rung all over the land that Mr.. Polk had
no sympathy for the poor, because he vo.
ted against such disposal of wood
Now it does not appear what we shall do
with these people. We can't turn the
whole Southern country into a "Poor
Farm" and have overseers and send sup
plies forever. They must be placed some
where to earn their living, and be out of
the way of the army. What can be done
with them
General Dix asks Massachusetts, to
take five hundred families, till the Gov
eminent shall be ready to colonize them.
The Governor says no-as any Governor
would and should. To take contrabands
till the Government is ready to colonize,
Is to take them for one century, at least !;
and we repeat-no State will do it. If
there was immediate danger of an influx
of negroes, we should pass "black laws"
like those of the West.
But can anybody tell us what Emanci-
patton amounts to, if the contrabands are
to stop South? We often hear it said
that never will a person who gains his
freedom now be made slave again and
President Lincoln has used some such
words If this amounts to anything, it
implies one of two ideas either the South
by some process not yet pointed out, will
be in favor of their freedom, and willing
to share the land with them, and live with
free blacks, or the white people of the
South are to be deprived of selfgovern-
ment-of the power to make their own
laws. Suppose the war to close some day
and that, we take it, is supposable
case-then either the Confederate States
will be Independent or returned to the
Union; and by what means are black
people to be free, which ever way it is /?
If they are independent, will they recog-
nize the freedom we have given their
slave? Every man will reply no; then
slavery will be re-established. Very well,
if they return to the Union, will they not
have the right to say what shall be the
condition Of their own people For in
stance, will not South Carolina have the
right to say that free negroes shall not re-
main within her limits after a given date ;
and if they do that they shall be sold p
So she said, when in the Union before
how do you Propose to prevent it hereaf.
teri Now every sane man must see
that either this revolution is to sweep away
all States rights, ar there isyto be no free
dom for the blacks in the South after the
the war, if a thousand times they should
be freed during the war
Here is the condition of the contra
bands; they can't get out of the South,
because the government cannot send them
abroad, and no free State will take them |;
and they can't remain in the South with
out returning to slavery, unless this revo-
luton is SO complete as to destroy the
States, when We all, blacks and whste to-