The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1862-07-22
Extract from the Speech of Gen. Lew
Wallace.

. | am no politician. Cries of" Goo
Tor that" and Don't want any nowa
) days" Probably for regular speecl
had been much obliged to some of m,
political friends if they had made it 70
me. e" Keep them in the dark" ant
laughter. If it is expected that am f
speak on subjects of a political characte
tonight, | know I should have beer
obliged for some of them 10 have per
formed the task for me. If | touch upol
them, bear me witness that L speak 0
them not as politician, but as a soldier
Applause. | was at the Senate Cham
ber to-day, They were discussing th,
policy of the war. The question in agi
tation was, or what at least seemed to b.
the paramount question, "Should the ne
gro be used or not ?" Cries of +" Yes, ;
"yes," and mo" emo" Well, fine
my audience precisely as | found the Sen.
ate. Laughter and applause Some
said eyes," and some said no''-ius
as you are saying. Laughter. a
Volce--"Will you give US a soldiers
opinion :? Yes, let me speak about that
as soldier g Good,"l not as a politi-
clan. Don't want any politicians"
He would be poor soldier, in my opin.
ion, who would fail to use every element
of war which God Almighty gave him.
if he could use it to his advantage. Pro.
longed and enthusiastic cheering. !
think you concur with me in that al
least. Cries Of Certainly we do -
Every sensible man will Now, then,
if we find the negro before us, or around
us, as we advance, planted there by some
accident-Provdence may have had a
great deal to DO with it-and we can find
his services available, would not that
General be crazy man who would re-
fuss TO use them? "Most assuredly," /"
and applause. So it seems to me, and
my position may be plainly stated upon
that. If by the services OF negro can
make my soldiers comfortable if by the
services Of band of negroes can re-
lieye them of onerous duties and hard
work; if | lcan make them available to
dig my trenches g That's right" shall
| not do it? Cries of "Yes, yes"
Loud applause. Yes, and will do it =?
Vociierous cheering. A voice" Sol,
diers will follow you TO the death for
that" Another voice" Put no arms
in their hands" Several voices" Oh
yes, as many as they want" Now, then,
let me speak about that. Cries of All
right now )" " You are mighty good
boy" Ii | accept of the services Of the
negro. and he works well and faithfully,
fed by us, clothed By US, and he stands
by my gallant regiment, relieving them
Of the hard duties have mentioned,
would it be human, woull'n. it be cruel,
TO put him into tie army, in the way OF
shot, and yet give him nothing with
which TO defend himself? Cries Of
(" That's so,' and loud and continued
cheering Ny fellow citizens, l speak
as a soldier all the time, recollect, | am
not viewing this matter in its political as
pect, for | have as much prejudice
against the negro politically. and am as
much opposed to Slavery agitation as
any Of you can be. Yet where he can
be made available, let us make him so.
Then what shall we do with him ? IA
Voice" Place him in the rear" "No.
pat him to the front" (Appause,l A
Voice" In the ditch" Stop ore mo
ment, there is policy in war rs well as
in politics. One thing is very certain,
nothing is TO be SO carefully guarded
against as the prejudices Of the soldiers,
and unless it was some desperate occas
vi hon ,Ai .l,a,a
would be grateful for their assistance, |
would not propose 10 put him in the line
Of battle to the front. That's the true
docttine" and applause. But 10 every
brigade | would have q regiment Of work
ing negroes-to every company would
have fair compliment of cooks Ap.
plause. | would feed them, | would or.
ganize them, and to each one who did
good service would at the end of the
war give him or her freedom. Immense
cheering. Let me make one remark
further. Tie common impression has
been that this is 4 war in which we had
all the advantages. Now, then, listen TO
my practical experience. tell YOU it
has not been such war OF inequality in
our favor as many suppose. | have Wis
tied plantations in the course Of marches.
have asked, Where is the man Of the
house? He is in the army. | have
looked around | have seen lis harvest
field full Of stalwart negroes. They reap
his harvest and put il away as well and
rs carefully as if the man had been at
home and not in the army and what was
the result? lie had plenty to eat--a
sup rabundance-some OF which he was
sure would come to the sustenance of
that Southern army. There are suppo-
sed TO be 100000 Of negroes. Do YOU
suppose that Jefferson Davis, If wo went
humbIy to him beseeching such thing.
proposing to him You lave 1000, 900
Of operatives belonging to your people in
the South under our policy we may not
touch them-not molest them. We will
leave them upon your farms 90 work, will
YOU agree 10 leave us 1000 600 of oper-
atiyes home on our farms, III our shops,
unmolested Do you suppose that jeff
erson Davis would agree 70 that? No ! |
Yet he would have to agree to it before
equality Of advantage Was established be
tween US. Applause. Jefferson Da.
Nis is better manager, because he is a