Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1862-08-08
The Tim q -.
BELLOWS FALLS. AUG. s, 1861
What Intelligent sla,es Think.

| have talked with many INTELLIGENT men
of color on this subject. The superior
man Of all is known as " Tom" j one day
drew him out of his guarded silence on this
theme by saying, =" i am surprised Tom.
that the negroes in this peninsula don, Eight
\ for US
Il reckon you amt, Mr.. w. You know
too mnch.'
Why don't they fight for us, Tom?'
They expected to, sir, and all the col
ored men from here to Texas, expected to. !"
why didn't they r
You know as well as /. We were driv~
en- from your lines and camps, and pretty
plainly told that you didn't want anything
10 do with us; that you meant 10 carry on
the war, so as TO leave us in slavery at the
end of the war. So we left you TO carry
on the war as you could, and a pretty poor
fst you are making of it, too, Mr. w."
said Tom, warming into earnestness. sThe
| North cant conquer the South, without the
help Of the slaves. We men of color, who
/ have communicated with each other through
all the states, tthe leading men, ! mean,)
k1,osr this. We know, too, that If the war
lasts, one PARTY or tie oattr party win give
rs our freedom
"What is that you say--the Shareholders
free their slaves!'
"They certainly win do II, if they can't
whip you otherwise. You may depend on
that. Iiy friends all Mrosgh the .SomA tell
ME so.
"Our position Mr.. W., is like the San
Domingo blacks. They put their aid in
the market, between the whit, and the mu-
lattoes-put it for sale. The price was their
| freedom. We mean 10 sell ourselves for
freedom--sre hope 70 yon northern men. If
your politicians and generals kick Us away,
we will try to make our market with the
rebels. But you had better bargin with us
had better free us and arm US. How
long would this war last if we were freed by
act of Congress ard the Presidents procla.
mation-both of them ratified in general
orders by the commanders of all the Union
armies in :ha South Why, the rebel
armies would melt away in week. Every
officer and every private who had any in
terest Of any Kind in plantation, or village
even, would run straight home to protect il
against imagined Injury. Consider us arm-
ed there's no use of thinking Mr.. w
and the Union is saved, uad gots c,a,t sace
Il acithoM The social 1erolatios. And, mark
my words, Mr. W., tie attempt 10 sace IL
soitLout doing as j,sstice, wtU end an gon,
osr,a political slarery. ard yoar rata, and in
this England will be The principal agent
There are colored men in Washington who
know the value of the dinner-tahle talk Of
great men, and jeff Davis, and Keitt, and
Floyd, have always made much of the jeal-
ousy in England of manufacturers of your
| North. You have got to have Us, Mr.. w.
Our climate will kill your troops, save in
December, January, February and March.
| The South is q wilderness. You are isnor-
ant of it, and can be ambushed every day.
And it is so big that if with half million
men you overrun it, ii would take a million
men to occupy it. Md, then, what sort Of
Union will you have saved, in which the
people of thirteen states refuse TO take po-
litical action, and have bat to set them loose
/ upon you, and drive you northward. You
had better take as, Mr.. w. Indeed you
have got to take us. Fer # sea rish 10
back ea Of this scar goa woat Be y,erasi,ted
10 do ft You have got TO conquer or be
conquered. / know the Shareholders. They
went into this war for power, and il you
don't whip them in Virginia and South
Carolina, they win whip you in Pennsylya-
MIA and New Yerk, and then reconstruct the
Union, with themselves at the top and you
at the bottom. Joa ahite men oftle North
teid 90 iato starery, unless yoa take as HACK
men Of he South oa Of siarery; and, III
w., you hare not a great deal Of time lett IN
aohieh 70 decide 'ohat you acM DO f'- James
Ritgcr corr. Of n. Y. Tribune.