The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-08-01
fThe Want of the Hour

This is the canton nf o-~o''-i 49,
ticIe in the Springfield Republican, demon.
strating that the want of the hour is men,
white men. After alluding to the great,
stubborn facts that We, white men of the
Union-have nationality, political freedom.
personal and political honor. and the interu
ests of republican institutions at stake, facts
which the people are strangely slow to CON-
prehend, the Republican says:
Yet there are white men among US who
fold their hands and whine, and talk about
our "natural allies" and complain that
they are not permitted to " fire into the
enemy's magazine, men who seem to
think that, somehow, emancipation and the
negro will do their work for them, when
they have get to do bigger fighting than
they have done yet to secure emancipation
at all. 1t is all nonsense to lie back and
say that different policy is wanted, and
that we shall have no success until differ.
ent policy shall be inaugurated. The poli-
cy that gives US white men enough to whip
the enemy is the policy that will insure suc-
cess in the task we have undertaken. The
policy that took New Orleans was ships,
guns, white men and pluck. The policy
that cleaned out Tennessee, Kentucky and
Missouri was plenty of white men and gun
powder to match. The negroes of the South
-" our natural allies"-are unorganized,
unarmed, iguorant and Inaccessible. We
cannot reach tenth part of them by PROF.
amation. What is the use, then, in talk
ing about utterly impracticable schemes
when the thing to be done is as plain as q
pike.staf.
The want of the hour, we repeat, is 30O,-
600 white men. We have not the slightest
objection to black men, if we can get them.
We have not the slightest objection to the
organization and the arming of the slaves
of rebels every where, provided they can be
got hold of. Indeed, it would he exceeding.
ly pleasant to have all the fighting done by
those persons. Fighting is not the most
delightful business in the world, and any
amount of it that could be conveniently
turned off upon the negroes would be re-
lief. Unluckily, however, very little of it
can be assumed by them. We should be
obliged to employ one army to free them,
while holding their masters at different points
with another.
We are among these who, from the first,
have be ieved and prophesied that the war
has sealed the fate OF slavery, but we have
Dever believed that the slaves would help us
in any fight with the rebels. They have
not even shown pluck enough to get up an
Insurrec,ion. We have lived among them
10 towns and on plantations, and know them
" like d book" Those who live in towns
aud cities are bright and shrewd, ard some
Of them are doubtless brave; but at least
hve-siXths of all the southern negroes live
on plantations, and while there are among
them a few who know something, and would
&c: offeu sively against their masters if they
had a chance, the great mass are igaorant,
goJd.uatured, indolent and stupid. and
would just as soon think of cutting their
0wn thrOats as the throats of their masters
Plantations of from 100 to 500 negroes are
managed by two or three white men, who
ind 10 difficulty in keeping them in suhjec.
tion. They are brought up to fear guns
powder, and can be driven by hundreds be-
tire single muSket. What education and
drI! would do for these men we cannot tell.
They would do much without doubt; but
we cannot wait for this. We are called
upon &c act in aD emergency. The hour
his bour-has its pressing wants, and this
want is men, and the only available men we
b We are white men. 1t is our business to
save to ourselves country, and to save it
by fighting with our own hands. If we
iaII, it will not be because the negroes did
not help us, but because we were too mean
md too cowardiy to help ourselves.